S950 vs. S3000

Manilla wrote:thats like buying benz even though you wanted an '88 ford escort and then asking how to drive it

We all can learn something! I hope you did!!!

I sample stuff with my mpc60 and then sample it back to my 2000XL if I'm doing something more complex that needs more sampling time. Seems like the 2000XL sounds like what ever you sample in it. I don't hear any difference in the sound. Maybe some do..

I just ordered a s950. Cant wait to get it..

Markus

Well, I have an s950 and i'm planning to get the s3000xl as well

The s950 is better than the s900 cuz it has slightly more features, more memory and uses HD floppies instead of DD.
Also with both it is possible to use Floppy Drive Emulators to use USB sticks instead of floppies
(beware you'll need the right emulator and format the usb stick the right way.)

I'm using Ableton live 9 as my DAW which means I easily play sounds with my DAW
and record it in the s950 make a program with it etc.
then afterwards I can just easily use ''external instrument'' and play midi sequences in my DAW while the s950 sends back the audio (in real time)
so you can even continue making a whole beat around it and editting the sequences and shit, you dont need to bounce anything before you're truly done with the track. even with latency it'll still work smooth.

it works so relax the only hampering in work flow is the sampling and programming
but I see it like this... first I spend a couple of hours making a floppy or 2 or more
it's just like starting by making a sample library
But afterwards you'll only need to pop in the floppy you want
and it works just as fast as producing in Ableton itself...
I easily make more than 3 beats with one floppy and then I still haven't used all the samples on the disk.

the sound of the s950 is superb in warmth and gritty-ness, really nice for oldschool drums or oldschool anything, making drumkits with this sampler automatically gives you that raw 90's hip hop sound

back in the day it wasn't recommended cause it sounded dirty and everyone wanted to up their quality
today everybody wants the s950 cuz you can't get this gritty-ness from a computer production. it also has a super nice low end and and LowPassFilter
even the standard ''Tone'' is awesome for making basses.

the S3000 has more processing options, more memory and samples at a higher bitrate/quality, but if I'm correct you can re-sample sounds in it at half the quality, and even do so a couple of times over.

the quality in the Akai S series got gradually better which makes that the newer samplers just don't sound as sick as the s950. however like I said re-sampling at half the bitrate is still possible and will still give you that sick sound.

S950 is harder to come by and is way more expensive these days. (I bought mine for 120,- in euro's)
Not that I would sell mine... like ever.... but if I would I know I'd easily get 350,- for it or more.
the S3000 is likely to be less expensive but with both samplers the internal parts are extremely expensive if they need replacement. Some parts or addons like memory etc. are even more expensive than the darn units themselves.

all & all they would both be a great addition to any modern day studio setup

you'll just have to take a little time figuring out how to work with it and afterwards you find yourself using it so much you'd wish you could marry the damn thing.

yess having a 15 kilo modderflocka just for the sound is totally worth it!!

A 7 years old thread revive. That's a spirit.

unannouncedguest wrote:

unannouncedguest wrote:
back in the day it wasn't recommended cause it sounded dirty and everyone wanted to up their quality
today everybody wants the s950

funny how that works huh, it's the only way to preserve old school I just got done maxing out mpc 3000 I bought couple of weeks ago, and got mpc60 is on its way, looking forward to running samples through them joints

where are all these cheap s900-s950s yall are talking about??

I don't see them

That's a S3000XL, not an S3000. He however has an S2800 which is the same engine as the S3000.

I emailed him 3 weeks ago and he doesn't respond to emails so screw that.

yea i see s3000s from time to time. didnt know that the s2800 has the same engine, nice! im looking to get a s3000 or s2800

mindcontrol wrote:yea i see s3000s from time to time. didnt know that the s2800 has the same engine, nice! im looking to get a s3000 or s2800

You're seeing 3000's in Toronto?

By the way, getting memory for the S2800/S3000's is expensive. If you're thinking about getting the sampler to have the MPC 3000 sound, you may be disappointed. More than half that 'sound' that people are in to has to do with the timing of the MPC 3000 sequencer in my opinion.

the s1000 was the first 16bit akai. so it's probably the one to go for for "retro 16bit sound"(is that even a thing?) no idea how it compares to the mpc3000 though.

richie wrote:

mindcontrol wrote:yea i see s3000s from time to time. didnt know that the s2800 has the same engine, nice! im looking to get a s3000 or s2800

You're seeing 3000's in Toronto?

By the way, getting memory for the S2800/S3000's is expensive. If you're thinking about getting the sampler to have the MPC 3000 sound, you may be disappointed. More than half that 'sound' that people are in to has to do with the timing of the MPC 3000 sequencer in my opinion.

sometimes not often tho..

hmm well the s3000 has really good fx too supposedly so that's good enough for me

Where though?

I suppose the fx is 'good' if you like a flanger and and echo delays. :/ It would've been nice to have at least some sort of reverb on this thing.