Which sampler should I buy to compliment the MPC2000XL?

I want to buy a second sampler that will be sequenced from my MPC2000XL. I've been researching the Akai S2000 and the EMU ESI2000 & ESI4000. Feature-wise, the EMUs seem to be better; they come with 4 outputs (expandable to 10), expandable to 128MB of RAM, have more effects, and for the most part are less expensive. Here are my questions:

1. Can samples from the EMU be used in the MPC?
2. Do they format ZIP disks the same way; i.e. are ZIP disks interchangable between the EMUs and the MPC?
3. I know the S2000 has the same sampling engine as the MPC2000XL, but how does the EMU compare?

I'm very tempted to just buy an S2000 only because I have had so much luck with the MPC, but you have to admit, compared with the features of the EMU samplers, it is a bit weak. I'm open to all opinions.
Thanks in advance,
Ara

emu samplers are nice. I wrote a thread on here called "second sampler review" which is basically my search for the same answer, what sampler do I like to use with the mpc. you should be able to find it by searching for it. PZ

for the record, spend the extra to get a more current sampler such as the S6000. your workflow will thank you for it.

while the S2000 is ok, and certainly its .snd format is good with MPC, i prefer the AK.SYS software for sample dumping over usb and keeping all my samples as .wav files.

S2000 doesnt use .wav files. MPC doesnt have SCSI/MESA like the S2000.

ignore all this if you are on a tiny budget.

If you are bent on using a computer and are on a budget I would go for the S2000. They can be found easily for $200. Using MESA will allow you to send WAV files through SCSI and edit all of the parameters remotely by computer. However all this control comes at a price, namely fewer sampler features. The S2000 and ESI series are about the same age and use the same technology. The ESI series does not have any remote editing and transfer capabilities like the S2000 but it does a have a few more sampler tricks like bunches of more filter types. You can however still perform simple transfers over SCSI.

Just things to check for when buying the ESI series:
Make sure it has SCSI. Some models had SCSI as an option and is not longer made.
Make sure it has the latest OS. You need this to take advantage of the newer sampler features (like those filters). The newest can still be bought from Emu and costs about $100.

I had both the ESI and S2000 and kept the S2000 since it does a very good job at importing the ESI sample libraries. I recently added the 2nd LSI filter board to get some additional filter types, EQ and Tone Control for $120. Well worth it. I also added the 8-out expansion for another $100. Along with the EB-16 effects it is now a souped up Akai for under $450 total.

If you are into serioous sampling you really cannot go wrong with adding a full featured sampler to your setup. They can really do have a LOT of sampler features that were stripped out of the MPC series.

Thanks guys, your answers really helped in my decision making process. Although I hate computers and I would love to get a hardware sampler, I think I'm going to go back to using my computer. The reason being Reason. I bought a copy awhile back and it's just collecting dust right now. The NN-XT is nicer than any hardware sampler I could afford. I just need to learn to hook up OMS on my Mac so that I can use MIDI. OMS is torture. Thanks again.