Pioneer Toraiz SP-16

Adonis, can you hook your SP16 up to your mpc via usb, does the mpc recognize it ?

Thatā€™s a good question. To be fair though, the boxes sit on different tables in my little studio space. But iā€™ll try; however, I donā€™t have a lot of faith. The SP doesnā€™t send audio over USB

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If anyone else is reading this and looking for a good deal on an SP 16 then I have one for sale at a very reasonable price in the Sell section. Uk only.

I like to use the scale mode on the sp-16 and midi sequense my as-1 or sh-01a. Then sample the result through a couple of effects. For my kind of music, the basic features of the midi sequenser is more than enough and easy to get some great grooves going. Itā€™s the brain in my set up.
I guess it is quite limited compared to other sequensers but there still are great possibilities with use of p-locks etc.
I got it new for like 15.000SEK (1500 euro) a couple of years ago. So at the ā€newā€ price, around 1000 euro, I think itā€™s a good deal if you like the way it works.
Will never sell it.
I hope. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Wow, thatā€™s a bargain!

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flames doused a bit, :disappointed: that could have pushed me over the edge man, ok never mindā€¦ I thought it was updated to be an interface (donā€™t know why)ā€¦

Second impression (after a couple of hours or so) - this thing seems quite powerful. Itā€™s pretty much everything I wanted Maschine Mk3 to be but failed to deliver. The sequencing is quick and easy, parameter locks work well, the interface is easy to navigate, the slicing is easy, the sound design functionality is modest but enough to take a static loop or a one-shot and make it into something brand new and the FX are enough to add some flavour. It all works well together and Iā€™ve hardly had to look at the manual. Also, the MIDI sequencing looks very easy as well so Iā€™m looking forward to trying to integrate with Bitwig or Reason, although of course I canā€™t be sure how well that will work having not yet tried.

I think others have already said this but Iā€™m surprised that these arenā€™t more popular because it comes across as a pretty powerful groovebox, especially at the reduced price.

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Nice one

Did you buy new? There are not too many new available

Yes I did. There were a fair few around at UK retailers (not sure where you are) and I got one at Juno, although they only had a single one in stock. They seem happy to knock money off if you ask (they even tell you to ask for a better price on the product pages) so I got one for Ā£809.

Some of the European retailers do a free extended warranty for 3 years but Iā€™ve read all sorts of horror stories about import taxes and other issues since brexit and Iā€™d prefer to support a UK company. Juno have always been good to me and accepted my (buyers remorse) returns without a fuss so Iā€™m happy to support them.

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Cool, yes I am based in London and buy from Juno too

I ll check them out

If youā€™re in the Netherlands, there is one for sale on Marktplaats for 650euro, looks almost new.

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Glad you like it! I didnā€™t have trouble getting one from a US company in the US. Seems quite a few retailers still have them. I didnā€™t know it had officially been discontinued. Or maybe they are just having trouble getting chips like everyone else? If/when I had the money Iā€™d seriously consider buying another one NIB just to keep around, thatā€™s how much I like mineā€“but Iā€™m not currently gigging or anything.

But Iā€™m like you, relatively new user totally shocked they are not more popular. At the current price point if you are already invested in the Pioneer DJ system/DJ Link (I am) it costs less than most of the new CDJs and brings a lot more to the table.

Mine has just arrived-not had much time with it yet-20 mins but was immediately able to load some samples and make a couple of beats without so much at glancing at the manualā€¦ so promising start. I love the step sequencer and 16 pad work flow-think it makes a very good combo.

Iā€™m new-ish to samplers so Iā€™ll have to look at sampling in some of my own sounds but looking forward to diving in.

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It hasnā€™t been officially discontinued. I donā€™t think anything in the Toraiz line has as of yet? That said, it doesnā€™t look like theyā€™ve been manufacturing them recently and itā€™s only stock that was produced in the first few runs that are available. Both my SP-16 and Squid (purchased ā€˜newā€™ in 2021 from large vendors) were stock that was manufactured in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Of course, I canā€™t empirically state that as fact across the board, but from at least my experience and others posting similar it appears to be consistent.

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if you havenā€™t updated your sp-16 to v.1.60 yet, drop (literally) everything youā€™re doing and update it. then print out/keep open the so called ā€˜Firmware Version 1.6 Operating Instructions Addendumā€™ - itā€™s a document covering everything added/fixed on the sp-16 since itā€™s initial release. the original manual is 47 pages, and the 89 page Addendum is twice as long and only covers new material. let those numbers sink in. (after doing this, either go back and pick up whatever you dropped earlierā€¦) . https://www.pioneerdj.com/-/media/pioneerdj/downloads/firmwares/productions/toraiz_sp-16/tsp-16_addendum_ver160_en.pdf

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the tr-8s faders are very nice, and the ability to reassign is well thought out and useful. But one nice feature about the sp-16 is itā€™s CC abilities. there is roughly 25 controllable parameters available for CC mapping ā€¦but that is per track/pad/sample aka per midi channel, which means:

if you had a midi controller with 360 encoders, 16 faders, 16 toggle buttons, etc, you could have a fair amount of real time midi control over the sp16ā€™s sixteen tracks.

the tr8s does have the sp-16 beat in regards to Program changes thoughā€¦itā€™s like Pioneer DJ engineers just sort of forgot how sequencers, 40 years of Midi driven music, logic, etc on Program Change day.

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Thanks, already got it sorted last night although it took a while because my USB key was playing up. Definitely some great stuff in the newer firmware(s) Also found the various manuals

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You can send program changes from the sp-16, but only when changing scenes and not patterns.

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totally correct. and that would work just fine if the sp-16/DJS-1000ā€™s workflow was designed in a way where SCENES were not independent units of samples/tracks, patterns, etc. AND if the basic workflow didnā€™t completely favor a SCENE1,PATTERN1-16 -> SCENE2->PATTERN1-16, etc approach.

pioneerdj forum is littered with posts asking/begging for more sensible approach to how Program Changes via midi are handled on the sp-16 and djs-1000, (and the Squid). about half of them contain some sort of official reply by PULSE and RHYTHM DROID, all of which are totally useless to users. EXCEPTā€¦

ā€¦EXCEPT for a single thread started on SEPTEMBER 23 2020 which features official replies from both PULSE and RHYTHM DROID more focused on the Squid but applicable to the DJS-1000/Toraiz line/all of Pioneer DJā€™s products:

this might be my sincerely most favorite official post in the history of the pioneerdj forum.

not only does it contain at least ten solid topics near and dear to my heart: missing song modes, missing drum modes, the rs7000, origin stories, thinly veiled contempt for corporate BS, the pain of watching understaffed, over qualified tech support staff (of two) suffer daily for a company they obviously love and really believe in, empty promises, the Polyend Tracker, the word ā€œSQUARPā€, and the phrase ā€œthank you for your interestā€ as one of the best ā€˜helpā€™ sign offs everā€¦besides all that, there is some actual Truth in the official reply (well, Droidā€™s anyway)
https://forums.pioneerdj.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/900001512686-Is-the-Squid-still-alive-