SP-404MKII notes

Journal ·

Copying the Ableton Latin Percussion pack to the SD card

Ableton Factory Pack samples are encrypted files only Live can read, so they have to be exported from Live as WAV before they can go on the card.

Question

Copy the samples from the Ableton Factory Pack "Latin Percussion" (C:\Users\sebel\Documents\Ableton\Factory Packs\Latin Percussion) onto the SP-404MKII's SD card so I can use them on the unit.

Key takeaways

  • The unit imports only WAV, AIFF and MP3 (FLAC and M4A only through the SP-404MK2 App). (Main specifications)
  • The pack's 345 .aif files in Samples/Combined are encrypted Ableton files: ffprobe could not read any of them, so the SP can't either. The 629 .ogg files are low-quality browser previews.
  • To get usable audio, export it from Live: File > Export Audio/Video as WAV, or Freeze and Flatten / Consolidate (Ctrl+J) clips on an audio track.
  • Files only need to be in the card's IMPORT folder; they then still have to be imported on the unit with SHIFT + pad 14 (IMPORT/EXPORT). (Importing samples (IMPORT SAMPLE))

Details

Nothing was copied in this session, for two reasons.

The pack's samples are in Ableton's protected format. All 345 samples in Samples/Combined (872 MB) are named .aif but are encrypted files that only Live can read. ffprobe rejected every one, so copying them would have put unusable files on the card. The only other audio in the pack is 629 .ogg files, Ableton's browser previews, which are low quality and in a format the unit doesn't import anyway.

The way around it is to have Live write out plain audio:

  • Whole kits or loops: put the sounds on a track and use File > Export Audio/Video (WAV, 16-bit, 44.1 or 48 kHz).
  • Individual hits: drag them onto an audio track, then Freeze and Flatten the track, or Consolidate each clip (Ctrl+J). Claude believed both write normal audio files into the project's Samples/Processed folder but didn't check.

The SD card wasn't visible. At the time only C: and E: were mounted in WSL. The card has to be mounted first (see CLAUDE.md).

Once exported, the WAVs would go into the card's IMPORT folder, organised by instrument (Bells, Bongo, Conga, Shaker, Timbales…), and be loaded on the unit with SHIFT + pad 14 > IMPORT from SD-CARD > SAMPLE.

Still to try / open questions

  • Export the Latin Percussion kits from Live as 48 kHz 16-bit WAV and copy them to F:\IMPORT\.
  • Check whether Freeze and Flatten / Consolidate really writes plain audio into Samples/Processed.