Sold my Akai Z4

Hi All,
Posted my Akai Z4 for sale on Craigslist along with the analog output expansion IB-48P. I did not price them low!
Just sold them both last night to the musical director for Pete Rock's concert tour. We put it through the motions to show him it worked and all of that. We had a great conversation. He has directed many tours and has his own private sponsorship with Pearl Drums. This cat was so cool, even offered me passes.
Turns out the Akai Z series is held in high esteem by quite a few touring musicians. He was singing the praises for this box sampler and said that is why he was willing to drive so far to check it out in person.
Just thought I would make sure I shared this story among those who would actually give a damn. It's 2016 and professional touring musicians are buying up older rack samplers because the sound of the Z series is such a "wonderful representation of the real actual sound"..."When you hear it in a stadium system it is perfect". These were the quotes from the man.
Yes I will be at the concert when they come to DC. You may really want to hold on to your samplers.

Cheers,
Ian

Cool story. I wish I would've bought one when I saw them at $599 back in '05.

the z4 and z8 were going for way less than 600 dollars a few years after '05... they were super cheap. but it makes sense they would be useful for touring, they have a lot of sample time and storage capabilities and the advantages of a dedicated sample (since they are)

mr_debauch wrote:the z4 and z8 were going for way less than 600 dollars a few years after '05... they were super cheap. but it makes sense they would be useful for touring, they have a lot of sample time and storage capabilities and the advantages of a dedicated sample (since they are)

I bought my z4 for $200 or $250. Can't remember. The owner thought it was broken. It was used in a movie studio. The power button needed to be fixed. Akai tech guy in the area fixed it and hardly charged me. I sold it for more. The analog multiple output I was able to fetch a good amount for also.

The thing is, for pros the cost is no big deal. The tour has a budget, the artist tells them the things that are must-haves and the director makes sure the must-haves are purchased or rented. Some items artists don't care too much about . In this case, the man told me that they specifically wanted a z8 or z4 with multiple outputs. I happened to be the only person to have one for sale that is fully functioning. (Just searched on ebay and I see a z8 but it has lines on the screen - I probably could have gotten more for it)

We talked about the mpc4000 for a minute. I showed him ak.sys (which he had not heard) in use with the z4 and he fell in love with the ease of adding samples that way. I explained the whole keygroup vs Drum thing. He ended up saying that he was going to buy himself a mpc4000.
Although he bought and read the manual for the Z4 two days before meeting me, he was thankful that I showed him hands on. It was cool. Made me think I shuld have kept it.
Truth is I was not using it. It is in great hands.

Peace
Ian

yeah for sure.. i knew rock/metal guys who used to tour with an s6000 and i'm sure it would have been better AND cheaper if they went with a Z4.. i just don't think they really knew about them. The s-series were pretty famous and known to be good samplers.. i'm guessing they went with the model that could take the most ram.

Right on! Good story.

The reason they still use old samplers? Those goddamn things do WORK unlike computers.
Ive always said, if I got a penny for each time my Akai or EMU crashed...id have no pennies from that dealio.