The SP-606 is proof that looks can be deceiving. It's so light and seems so fragile that you might think it is musically similar, but it's really a sturdy machine the functions well in both a studio and live environment.

This new workstation is a compact, stand alone unit, with an external sequencer sampling and new phrase generator/virtual groovebox P606 software all over and above it’s predecessor - the SP-505. It packs 16 velocity sensitive pads, new effects, D Beam and V-LINK control, USB capabilities (with USB audio I/F functionality), a CompactFlash card slot and S/PDIF I/O.

What does that mean? Well, it really means it’s a lot more user friendly and allows you to not have to buy as much gear.

Samples are as expressive as you make them. Quality-wise it sounds very good to the ears and is fairly easy to use. There aren’t too many sub menus or multiple button pushes required. I think it is suitable for any style of music based on what samples you use - you can loop samples or have them as one shots and it can read Acidized files for loop points etc. There is a D-beam controller which can be used to trigger samples, control effects/filter sweeps etc and also trigger a basic monophonic synth. The first two are very useful.

The presets are standard hip hop/house/r’n’b type safe samples. However you can of course get rid of them all and put what you want in. Editing patches are fairly straightforward - there are only a few parameters. The one glaring omission for me is 'normalise’, although you can edit samples on your PC and transfer them to the SP-606 so it is not too big a problem.

The SP-606’s polyphony is 8-mono, 4-stereo - depends what you need as to whether this is limiting or not. The touch sensitive pads are expressive and light up when played which is a good visual cue, and laid out intuitively in a 4x4 grid for greater control over rhythm programming and phrase audio operation. Additionally, Roland’s D Beam controller and V-LINK video control features have been added to enable unique phrasing and real-time effects generation during playback. When used with Edirol’s DV-7PR or P-1, you can trigger video clips in sync with playback.

The effects section is also good - there are two Multi Effects units which can be tweaked in real-time with the three controller knobs. There are 45 effects algorithms, all the usual suspects plus some nice bpm synched stuff (tremolo, pan for example) and an independent mastering effect for final mixing. Effect settings can be added and tweaked in real-time via the SP-606’s front panel knobs, or you can re-sample to another pad in real-time.

The SP-606 uses compact flash cards up to 512Mb. A big plus is that it streams directly off the card giving access to large samples immediately (great if you want to get yourself some Kanye West/Just Blaze sounds goin’ on). Easy for transfer and non-volatile.

MIDI in and out, Digital in and out (co-ax type) as well as analogue in/out. The External Sequence Sampling feature allows you to capture audio loops generated by MIDI-based machines with ease. Simply connect the SP-606 to an external MIDI workstation, such as the MC-909, and press the Sampling button. Using MIDI information the SP-606 is able to detect the start and end points of the audio loop and perform a perfect capture. It is also USB enabled so can act as both a MIDI and audio interface on a PC. The flash card can be mounted as a drive in Windows to transfer files, but I found it quicker to use a USB2 card reader.

It has 25 song and 140 pattern memory. 4-track basic sequencer - again it was all we needed but some may find this limiting.

The SP-606 comes bundled with powerful software from Cakewalk, eliminating the need for a static CD library. The PC-based P606 software functions as a phrase generator/virtual groovebox, integrating with the SP-606 via the USB MIDI/Audio interface. Three kinds of software synthesisers - analog modeling, groovesynth and ACIDized file player - are offered, as well as a loop sequencer, eight effect plug-ins and onscreen control over mix.

As a master controller, the SP-606 can seamlessly import, edit and playback P606 tracks and includes USB cable, CD Rom, and A/C Adapter.

After only a couple of weeks of playing and creating on the SP-606 we didn’t really get to uncover all of this machine’s amazing features, but we quickly adapted our previous production techniques from software to hardware, which was something we’ve been trying to do for a little while. Unfortunately we also didn’t get to use the system in a live environment, however we feel the SP-606 would benefit more of a dance/electro performance over and above a hip hop orientated one. All in all, it’s a great little machine - something that can readily make life a lot more methodical and a lot more 'natural’ in the beat crafting/producing area.

Mark Thomson is the CEO of 833 Records and a freelance hip hop journalist.