Akai S950 - Is it worth it ?

I'm seein alot of posts from people with s950's and MPC-60's / 3000's in their labs. I wanna get some feedback from some y'all on whether or not it makes sense for me to cop an S950, since I already have Reason, which as you know, comes with software samplers. I'm only considering it for the 12bit sampling capabilities. Lemme know what ya think.

peace

at the prices they go for? hell yeah. Software sampler have an easier time competing with 16 bit samplers because they offer the same fidelity and more features, but they can;t emulate 12 bit as easily, or the really nice UI many of these samplers have.

Yea I have been debating this 12bit thing myself. I've been thinkin about copin either a sp1200, or a mpc 60 myself. As of right now I own a mpc1k. I can't decide, maybe I'll just get the emu for drums.

metafor wrote:Yea I have been debating this 12bit thing myself. I've been thinkin about copin either a sp1200, or a mpc 60 myself. As of right now I own a mpc1k. I can't decide, maybe I'll just get the emu for drums.

You should be able to resample to 12bit on your 1k, but if you just wanna get another piece of gear, cop the 60.

peace

elmacaco wrote:at the prices they go for? hell yeah. Software sampler have an easier time competing with 16 bit samplers because they offer the same fidelity and more features, but they can;t emulate 12 bit as easily, or the really nice UI many of these samplers have.

So El, you don't think that would be overkill, seeing as I already have the MP3k ? Or are we talkin apples to oranges ? I'm assuming that the s950 wil have more features that are specific to sampling.

Finally, how do you guys use your s950 in conjuction with your MPC ? Pardon my ignorance, but I have no real knowledge of the s950.

peace

All the mpc1k has is the bit cruncher, as someone else has mentioned it sounds like a distortion pedal for a guitar. not exactly that 12bit crunch I'm lookn for. Though I wish it could resample like the 2000xl. that and i want a little peice of history along w/ the 12bit grit.

LOL. I hear ya on that one!!!! My first MPC was a 1000... Yeah the true 12 bit grime comes from the MPC-60 and the SP1200. Elmacaco can testify to this. I'm really wantin' to hear how cats use the s950 with their MPC's. Anyone ?

peace

What ya'll fail to realize is, dropping bit depth sounds like shit. Taking a sample at 12-bit from jump is totally different.

Heres some technical knowledge for those who give a fu*k:

!2-bit sound punchier and fuller because it's taken less sample points from the waveform. This causes a closeness which translate to a audible compression characteristic. ie. warmer, punchier.

Another thing your software, or modern 16-bit machine can't duplicate is the DAC (digital audio converters) of the classics like the 950/SP-12. They were propritary DACS designed by outside manufactures contracted by the companys who wanted them. Meaning, E-mu's R&D team came up with a DAC design then contracted Toshiba or whoever, to mass produce the chips for them. Same thing with the filter chips. Akai, E-mu, and Ensoniq all had unqiuely different ideas on how to go about filtering. As a result, each sampler rocked a very characteristic like sound. Now-a-days, the industry is about compatability. So they make every sampler to sound like one another so that thiers a streamlined sound. Do the math..

Bottomline, thier is no Lo Pass Filter out there 12-bit to 9000-bit that sounds like the 950s. Don't waste your time trying to disprove me ether, because it won't happen. You can not emulate that sound, period. Same thing with the SP. Unemulateable.

RedGreenz:

Get a 950 and thank me later. Best time stretch ever made, fast processing time, saves files incredibly fast, filter is incredible, and the machine itself has a vast range of sonic capabilities. You can go glassy and bright, or murked out. The choice is yours with the 950.

I use an MPC3000 with an S950. You will get something different sonically out of the S950 compared to the MPC, or even a 16-bit rack. It's a very warm sound, even using timestretching. The S950 is a genuine article thing, you'll recognize its sound straight off. If you crave old school warmth, it's not a bad buy at all.

That said, it's not going to capture EVERYTHING you might love that is 12-bit.. The S950 doesn't sound like an SP1200 or an MPC60. It is less snappy than those machines.

FYI:

The ASRs are best resamplers ever made. 2000XL sucks d*ck in comparison. Takes like 5-10 minutes to resample anything over 20 seconds on an XL.

It's good for multisamples, which the 3k cant really do too well, and racks are generally more flexible sampling wise, sampling rates, filtering, outputs, can be all or just some of the pads/keys you have. Working with an MPC and a rack is really ill. But if you already have an MPC I think getting two is kinda weird, at least to me. Cuz MPC's tend to take control, so one of them has to win.

I would gt an SP-1200 on the side to mess with, less redundancy ther because you have another classic piece with it's own working methods.

RedGreenz:

Get a 950 and thank me later. Best time stretch ever made, fast processing time, saves files incredibly fast, filter is incredible, and the machine itself has a vast range of sonic capabilities. You can go glassy and bright, or murked out. The choice is yours with the 950.

Thanks for the tip Lo Pass, and that was a top notch overview of how 12-bit sound is really achieved!!!! That should probably go into the MPC-60 Bible/sticky that Elmacaco setup, as I know it would probably help alot of first timers. There's a couple of s9fiddies up for sale on ebay... so I'm on my way to place my bid.

peace

Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate it. I know what I need to do now.

peace

OK....

"E-mu's R&D team"

ha! It was probably some summer interns...

Good lookin Lo pass.