26 thoughts on “Torso Electronics Intros S-4 Sampler”

1. I might be too old, but this seems like an update of the Roland SP-808. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is deja vu all over again.

   1. My first thought was it being their take on the Korg Wavestate, especially due to the generative aspect of it. Owning their T-1, I’m going for it… As I suspect their interaction with their users will blow this instrument way beyond its original intent, as with said sequencer.

   2. The 808? I got one boxed up in the garage and I think you made a mistake. The 808 was closer to the 202/303/404/505/555. No sequencer but 4 audio tracks and millions of FX and parameters. Best machine until the zip drive goes bonkers. No really seeing the comparison beyond the 4 tracks.

2. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m old but I keep seeing the term “sampler” used to refer to a device’s ability to fuck with a .wav file and not, necessarily, to what I would call sampling. If this is a ‘sampler’, wouldn’t it be prudent to include specs such as how much sampling memory is included, what bit rates and quantization resolutions are supported, etc. Looking at this description, I have no idea what this device actually does. Is this thing a “sampler” or just another lame ‘sample modification’ device?

   1. It has sampling, 2 inputs plus an in built mic, to sample hence sampler

   2. They did a thorough Q&A on their Discord channel. So yeah, I agree they should have made their product page a whole lot clearer. Especially when they want to get people to pre-order this.

      It’s basically an 8-tracker (2×4 stereo) that has a sampler function, as in… It can trigger samples if you want it to, but it seems to be more about looping samples than triggering samples. It for instance, lets you feed the output of one channel back into another channel. So if you messed with tape of cassette in the past, the basic idea should become clearer.

      Bitrate is 24-bit / 48 kHz stereo audio in and out. It streams the sample from USB, so length is essentially endless.

3. Given their other product, seem odd this has no sequencer in this (or maybe they want you to buy both?). So its a creative sampler you just plug a keyboard or hardware sequencer in to play?

   1. maybe it’s mean to be like a desktop looper companion to instrument players?

4. “Right, get me a stack of at least four Torso S-4s and we’ll get this outsider dub folk tango record cut within 70 minutes and still have time to catch the game on television.”

   -Rupret ‘Hitrecordsmith’ Simms, Captain of the Yale Music Production Society

5. Wish it had an oled screen and a sequencer

   1. Everyone raves about an Ipad th emoment gear cost too much so I assume everyone has one or is aware they exist and what they’re capable of. So Ipad= tons of sequencer apps. There you go. Curios to know how it works with no sequencing. Just tape loops, if so, then it’d be weird to have a sequencer on, lets say, a Tascam running tape loops.

      1. no apple products for me

6. Ok….. I’m over the tiny box and high price. There is not 900.00 worth of stuff in that box…. Sorry not sorry.

7. The generic 8 encoders and buttons with screen user interface could easily be replicated on something like the Ableton push, which says to me that there isn’t much value in this hardware over a software sampler.

8. Would be interesting if it could actually automatically sample synths using MIDI – then you could sample your mono-synths, vintage gear, or whatever, and play them polyphonically with all sorts of interesting effects!

9. I guess $900 is too cheap to have a an SD card slot smh.

   1. You can use an external HDD for this.

10. At $900, I would get an iPad with Garage Band or Logic Pro iPadOS and take it from there. A lot more power for half the price.

    1. Right on cue ^

    2. its not about your idea of “power”,

       also apple sucks balls

    3. Another one of those kids raised in front of a screen? :’)

    4. Or use 700 dollars for Asus Zenbook Oled and get a real daw and stil have dough left for apples and pears

    5. For $900 you can be roped into Apple’s cycle of perpetual updates and planned obsolescence

       Your iPad will be worth fuck all in 3 or 4 years because it will have been replaced by newer versions and the second hand market is already saturated with old iPads

       You’ll eventually be locked out of using newer versions of GarageBand and Logic on your old iPad and forced to upgrade

       Whereas a T-4 will always be a niche instrument with appeal to a small number of people. It’ll be worth more or less the same in 10 years as it is now

       1. I have 3 ipads, including the original from 2009 or whatever, integrated into my studio and all are useful to this day. All still work, all can hold a charge for months, all look and work like new.

11. i got 4 ipads, but no apps that can do this( maybe spacecraft).
    want this probably. t-1 is amazing. hope for the best.
    waiting for youtube though.
    4gb is to little i think. and i dont care so much for resonator, but the modulation sounds nice

12. My octotrack from 13 years ago still works, my ipad 2, 4s, 6 from about ten years on wards dont.