Start here

What you do with it

• Capture sound from a mic, a guitar, a synth, a computer or phone, or the 404’s own output. Start with Record a new sample and Resample what the 404 is playing.
• Shape it by trimming, chopping across the pads, changing pitch and speed, and adding fades. See Trim where a sample starts and stops, Chop a sample across the pads, Change a sample’s pitch and speed and Fade a sample in and out.
• Play it on 16 velocity-sensitive pads, with gate, loop, reverse, roll and chromatic playing. See Gate and hold: what letting go of a pad does, Repeat a sample with rolls and Play one sample across the pads in key.
• Colour it with 42 multi-effects and 17 input effects, routed through a set of buses. See How buses and effects fit together.
• Arrange it into patterns, played in live or placed step by step with TR-REC. See Record a pattern as you play and Program steps with TR-REC.
• Perform with it, using two decks in DJ mode or the safety net of live mode.

The four things to know

Sample

A recording plus its playback settings, such as whether it loops and which bus its sound goes to. You play it from a pad or use it as a building block in a pattern.

Pattern

The running order of a performance: which samples play, and when. You make one by recording yourself on the pads with the pattern sequencer (Record a pattern as you play).

Bank

A set of 16 samples, or a set of 16 patterns. Each comes in ten lettered banks, A–J (Play a pad and switch banks, Switch pattern banks).

Project

Ten banks of samples and ten banks of patterns kept together. The 404 holds 16 projects, and you work in one at a time (Switch between your 16 projects).

How it adds up

What sits alongside them

• Banks have their own settings, such as tempo and volume (Choose and set the bank or project tempo, Balance one bank against another).
• Each project also has its own 16 pattern chains (String patterns into a chain).
• System settings and effect parameters aren’t part of any project. They belong to the unit as a whole (Every system setting, Edit an effect and keep your settings).

Connect your audio gear

1. 1Turn the volume down on everything, then switch it all off.
2. 2Run the LINE OUT jacks to your amp or speakers. For a mono output, use only L/MONO.
3. 3Plug headphones or earphones into PHONES, if you’re using them.
4. 4Connect a synth or other electronic instrument to LINE IN. For a mono source, use only L/MONO.
5. 5Connect a mic or guitar to INPUT. For a guitar or bass, move the MIC/GUITAR switch across to the side nearest the jack.
6. 6Once it’s all on (Power up and down in the right order), set the level of whatever is in INPUT with GAIN.

Every socket on the unit

Which USB cable to use

What gets in the way over USB

• USB hubs. Connect directly, because data doesn’t pass between the 404 and your device through a hub.
• Charge-only cables, which carry no data.
• USB-C to Lightning conversion cables, which don’t work here.
• Android devices and some apps. Roland doesn’t guarantee that Android devices will work, or that every app will behave correctly.

Your options

Fit batteries

1. 1Switch the 404 off and unplug everything from it.
2. 2Turn the unit over, taking care not to damage the buttons and knobs or drop it.
3. 3Take the battery cover off the underside.
4. 4Insert the six batteries, matching the polarity marks in the compartment.
5. 5Close the cover firmly.

What USB power needs

• A cable with USB-C at both ends. Other USB cables can’t deliver enough power to run the 404.
• A source with enough current. The right cable won’t help if the source is something like a USB hub that can’t supply it.
• A source that gets along with the 404. Roland doesn’t guarantee that every USB AC adaptor, computer port or mobile battery will work.

Turn it on

1. 1Turn VOLUME and your amp or speakers down.
2. 2Slide the POWER switch on the back of the 404 to ON.
3. 3Switch on your connected gear, then your amp or speakers.
4. 4Set the level of any connected instrument.
5. 5Bring the 404 up with VOLUME.

Turn it off

1. 1Turn VOLUME and your amp or speakers all the way down.
2. 2Switch off your amp or speakers.
3. 3Slide the POWER switch to OFF.

Stage 1: play a pad

1. 1Check that the pads are lit orange, which means you’re in sample mode. If they aren’t, press EXIT a few times. If they’re blinking blue, press EXIT a few times and then PATTERN SELECT.
2. 2Press some pads to hear the preset samples.
3. 3Press B/G to move to bank B and try its pads. Press it again for bank G, and the button blinks to show you’re on the second letter (Play a pad and switch banks).
4. 4If something keeps playing, press SHIFT + EXIT to stop everything (Stop or pause everything).

Stage 2: try an effect

1. 1Press FILTER+DRIVE. The effect turns on and its edit screen appears.
2. 2Play a pad and turn CTRL 1, CTRL 2 and CTRL 3, which control CUTOFF, RESONANCE and DRIVE.
3. 3Press FILTER+DRIVE again to turn the effect off.
4. 4Try the same with RESONATOR, DELAY, ISOLATOR and DJFX LOOPER. Each one’s knobs do something different (Turn an effect on from the keys).

Stage 3: sample something

1. 1Switch off, connect a source and switch on again: a synth goes to LINE IN, and a mic or guitar to INPUT (Plug everything in).
2. 2Press EXT SOURCE so it lights, which turns the input on (Plug in a synth, mic or guitar).
3. 3Press REC. Any empty pads in the current bank blink red. If none do, press EXIT, pick a different bank and press REC again.
4. 4Play your source and set its level with CTRL 3. For INPUT, GAIN sets the level coming in as well.
5. 5Press a blinking pad to choose where the sample goes.
6. 6Press REC to start recording, and perform.
7. 7Press REC again to stop. Pressing the pad you chose does the same.
8. 8Press that pad to hear your sample.

Stage 4: check how to keep it

• Your sample is already saved. There’s no separate save step: it’s on the pad, in internal storage, as soon as you stop recording (How the 404 stores your work).
• Guard the bank so the sample can’t be overwritten or deleted by mistake, with SHIFT + COPY (Protect banks and delete samples).
• Keep a copy off the unit by backing up to an SD card (Back up and restore your data) or exporting the sample (Save samples to an SD card).
• Keep your effect settings by holding SHIFT and holding MARK for at least three seconds (Edit an effect and keep your settings).
• Changed your mind? Press DEL, press the pad, then press VALUE to delete the sample. You can’t get it back afterwards (Protect banks and delete samples).

See which version you have

1. 1Hold SHIFT and press PAD 13 to open UTILITY MENU.
2. 2Turn VALUE to SYSTEM and press VALUE.
3. 3Turn CTRL 3 fully clockwise to reach the last tab, VERSION.
4. 4Read the number, then press EXIT to leave.

What an update involves

1. 1Download the update and unzip it on your computer.
2. 2Format an SD card on the 404 (Prepare an SD card).
3. 3Copy the two update files, SP404MKII_APP0.bin and SP404MKII_APP1.bin, to the top level of the card.
4. 4Put the card in the 404. Hold SHIFT as you turn the power on, until UPDATE SURE? appears.
5. 5Press VALUE to start, and leave the unit alone until UPDATE COMPLETE! appears.
6. 6Switch off and take out the card.
7. 7Switch on and check the version number, using the steps above.
8. 8If you want to, initialise the system data: in UTILITY MENU, choose FACTORY, then SYSTEM DATA, then OK. This resets system and effect settings but leaves samples and patterns alone (Return the 404 to its factory state). When Please Power OFF appears, switch off and on again.

Sound and memory

Sequencer and effects

Controls and external storage

Jacks and ports

Power and size

In the box, and optional extras