Verysickbeats Calls Out the SP-404MKII: What’s Still Missing in 2026?

The SP fam isn’t shy about what they want. JFilt breaks down the poll results: true granular mode, improved MIDI routing, and—by a landslide—per pad effects or FX stacking. That last one? Over half the votes. Imagine stacking effects on each pad like layers of street food—messy, delicious, and totally necessary for modern beatmaking.

He also throws in his own wish: a chord function, so you could bang out harmonies with one finger. But the real juice is in the community’s voice. Verysickbeats always brings that inclusive, streetwise energy—shouting out other creators like SPVids and making sure everyone’s voice gets heard. If Roland’s taking notes, they better have a big notebook.

Let’s talk sample grading—the gritty, crunchy flavor that separates a sterile loop from a beat that sounds like it was cooked in a basement with busted speakers. JFilt wants that raw downgrade baked right into the SP-404MKII, not just as an afterthought. He demos how older SPs like the 202 and 303 can dirty up a sample with a single button, while the MKII makes you jump through hoops, stacking effects and resampling just to get close.

The workaround? Fiddling with MFX, bitcrushers, and resampling until you’re blue in the face. But it’s not the same as having that dirt on tap. JFilt’s point is simple: why should you need three machines to get one sound? If you want to hear just how crunchy those old-school lo-fi modes get, you gotta peep the video—words can’t do that filth justice.

Here’s where the MKII really drops the ball: no dedicated lo-fi button and no subsonic generator. JFilt shows how the older SPs let you slap lo-fi on a sound instantly, keeping your workflow tight and your beats dirty. On the MKII, you’re stuck fiddling with menus and resampling, which kills the vibe when you’re in the zone.

And don’t get him started on subsonic. That feature turns your kicks into bass monsters, letting you ride the low end like a subway at rush hour. The MKII’s sound generator just isn’t the same. If you want to feel your teeth rattle, you’ll have to reach for an older box—or just keep begging Roland to bring it back. This is the kind of street-level detail you really need to hear in the video, preferably with headphones and a face that says, “Damn, that’s nasty.”