Should it stay- or should it go?

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Last week, I purchased a boss sp 202from eBay .
It's almost 20 years old.
It's very easy to use.
The only problem I have , is that it needs a smart media card . ( the equivalent of an s d card)

I've only seen one available . Of course I have to go to eBay , and an American seller has it.
It will cost between£50-55.
I do like this sampler, and would imagine something else would be more complicated to use.
Not sure whether to keep it , and get the expensive card , or sell it .

Your thoughts ?

Edited February 25, 2016 by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

[neepheid]

Sounds like the kind of "junk" that some geek would have in a drawer/box somewhere and would probably help you out.

Ultimately, it's not really about the cost versus the thing, it's the cost versus the amount of use you'll get. Also £50 is a night out, or a nice meal for two, for perspective.

[synthaside]

ERM .... Neeph is bang on .....<-- hoarding IT geek here. Ray , i'll check my random old crap drawers ...
i think i might have old digital camera ( from the 1 Megapixel era) that used to use those to store media ...
I might even have a usb Card reader that reads them too.

Do you know what the manual says about Min / Maximum capacity for It I have a feeling mine might be 8-16 meg


then again my googlefoo is strong

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00005KHXG/ref=sr_1_6_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1456401019&sr=8-6&keywords=smart+media+card&condition=used

£9 quid plus pnp is a LOT better value even if i cant find mine.

lyle

Edited February 25, 2016 by synthaside

[DaveFry]

I just searched the UK site named after the river in South America for " SmartMedia " (no gaps ) and found some for £13 to £20 .

[Stylon Pilson]

If you like it, then spend the money. You'll be still enjoying the sampler long after the £50 expenditure is forgotten.

That said, if you're going to go for it, then you need to treat that smart media card with kid gloves. If something happens to it, then it'll get harder and harder to replace.

S.P.

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='DaveFry' timestamp='1456401093' post='2988554']
I just searched the UK site named after the river in South America for " SmartMedia " (no gaps ) and found some for £13 to £20 .
[/quote]

The problem is that OP needs the older 5.5V variant (he doesn't mention this in this thread, but has done on other threads) which are far harder to come by.

S.P.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thanks guys . Yeah , I've posted a few threads about this In such a short time
2mb /5 volts .gold dust .

Only used it a couple of times , and like it .
Frustrating tho' about the tiny amount of time to record each sample .
Looks like i should bite the bullet.

[synthaside]

Wow i had no idea that stuff came in different voltages .. im pretty sure that means mine will be the more common 3volt stuff .

[color=#252525][font=sans-serif]SmartMedia cards came in two formats, 5 V and the more modern 3.3 V (sometimes marked 3 V), named for their main supply voltages. The packaging was nearly identical, except for the reversed placement of the notched corner. Many older SmartMedia devices only support 5V SmartMedia cards, whereas many newer devices only support 3.3V cards. In order to protect 3.3V cards from being damaged in 5V-only devices, the card reader should have some mechanical provision (such as detecting the type of notch) to disallow insertion of an unsupported type of card. [i][b]Some low-cost, 5V-only card readers do not operate this way, and inserting a 3.3V card into such a 5V-only reader will result in permanent damage to the card.[/b][/i] Dual-voltage card readers are highly recommended.[/font][/color]

looks like you might have to , that guy who's selling it for a MASSIVE mark up is on to a winner though :-P

[colgraff]

I am no expert about these things or voltages, but there is an adaptor for Smart Media to modern readers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XD-SMC-Adapter-SMC-Interface-XD-Card-to-SmartMedia-SM-Card-Adapter-Convertor-/221334849483?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thanks for that . Mmm, maybe someone on here could tell me if it works ...

[synthaside]

Nope .... doing a bit of reading around ( yes i'm that sad and geeky)

This is 5Volt smart media [b]Note the [color=#252525][font=sans-serif]reversed placement of the notched corner.[/font][/color][/b]
[url="http://www.goudentips.org/smartmedia/img/2mb-smartmedia-roland.jpg"]http://www.goudentip...edia-roland.jpg[/url]

The adapter is unlikely to work in your slot and you would also have to find and XD card of the max capacity of the device , I've found some resources talking about this very topic .

Edited February 25, 2016 by synthaside

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thank you
Looks like £50+ it is then .
I was thinking of buying another Roland sampler ( same one as mine)that comes with the media card, and sell mine . Decisions decisions

[synthaside]

what the price difference tween them .

[keefbaker]

I'd bin it. Get something else with some decent storage in it. 2Mb these days... christ.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Mmm. You're not wrong ( sampling time - pitiful!) keef. The thing is , what would I get in its place ? It's so easy to use .

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

What would today's equivalent of that sampler be? Nothing complicated obviously . Maybe I should offload this and get something with more time ??

[bartelby]

Have you looked at the Akai MPX8 or MPX16?

[url="http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx16"]http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx16[/url]

[url="http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx8"]http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpx8[/url]


There's Korg's Electribe Sampler

http://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/electribe_sampler/index.php

But that's significantly more expensive than the Akais

Edited February 25, 2016 by bartelby

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Yeah, the akai looks good . Looks like the Roland is going on eBay .

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

As I've only had this unit a few days, I've decided to keep it .
I will buy the card on the bay ( and any others I can find as and when).
I will erase the samples I had from the factory.
This will give me more room .
Final answer !

[steve-bbb]

buy the card and keep

and if you don't get on with it you can sell it WITH the card and emphasise the convenience of that in your advertisement

hope this helps

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thanks Steve it does what I want . So easy to use . As new condition too. And ..has the manual:)

[fleabag]

I know you're sorted now, but re. the AKAI's..

If you want to sample, it will have to be the MPX16. The MPX8 only plays back samples stored via SD card

Also, the MPX8 is a right bar steward....finicky about formats ( 16 bit WAV only and stereo WAVS halve the memory ), getting samples to load can be a pain, lots of load time if samples are big MB's

Maybe the MPX16 is a similar nightmare, only with the ability to sample being the difference

Best avoided

Edited March 5, 2016 by fleabag