The official AKAI S series thread

Funkologist wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:Anyone else recently get one of these samplers?

Yes! Just got my s950 a week or so ago, lovin it..
Was having a few troubles with it at first - thought the floppy drive had died but turned out one of the cables in the back of it wasn't plugged in properly. Very relieved didn't have to drop an additional 100+ $$ on a new drive

Should sticky this thread imo

those use ds/dd drives same as the 60, right? The s900 and s950... do they both use the same floppy drive?

mr_debauch wrote:

Funkologist wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:Anyone else recently get one of these samplers?

Yes! Just got my s950 a week or so ago, lovin it..
Was having a few troubles with it at first - thought the floppy drive had died but turned out one of the cables in the back of it wasn't plugged in properly. Very relieved didn't have to drop an additional 100+ $$ on a new drive

Should sticky this thread imo

those use ds/dd drives same as the 60, right? The s900 and s950... do they both use the same floppy drive?

The s950 can read HD so I don't think its the same as 60.

s950 and s900 don't use the same floppy drive as far as I know.

i believe s900 reads DD, s950 reads DD & HD

gertie wrote:i believe s900 reads DD, s950 reads DD & HD

does the s950 write both or rather... does the 950 write as ds/dd if that type of disk is inserted? (or if a normal disk is inserted using the tape on the hole trick?)

mr_debauch wrote:

gertie wrote:i believe s900 reads DD, s950 reads DD & HD

does the s950 write both or rather... does the 950 write as ds/dd if that type of disk is inserted? (or if a normal disk is inserted using the tape on the hole trick?)

??
What do you mean with "write as DD"? If a DD disk is inserted it writes on the disk just as on HD. The only difference is the space on the disk.
wait a minute....
.
.
.
just formatted a DD disk in my s950 (original floppy drive) and saved a few samples. Then put this DD disk in my s900 (original floppy drive) and loaded them. No problem, it works.

But the drives are completely different DD only (s900) vs HD (s950) and also the size of the drive.
A working alternative drive for the s900 is easy to get (watch out for the Chinon FB357 or FZ357) but I didnt manage to get a drive working in the s950. Tested many of the Teacs 235 with jumpers and I also soldered some things but it just didn't work.

I just found an article that the sales volume (2009) for floppy disks in europe was 5.000.0000
I'm not alone using this outdated stuff


peace

peterpiper wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:

gertie wrote:i believe s900 reads DD, s950 reads DD & HD

does the s950 write both or rather... does the 950 write as ds/dd if that type of disk is inserted? (or if a normal disk is inserted using the tape on the hole trick?)

??
What do you mean with "write as DD"? If a DD disk is inserted it writes on the disk just as on HD. The only difference is the space on the disk.
wait a minute....
.
.
.

when you put a floppy in the 950 and format the disk... can it format both? or does it need to be a DS/DD floppy... that is basically what I meant.

mr_debauch wrote:
when you put a floppy in the 950 and format the disk... can it format both? or does it need to be a DS/DD floppy... that is basically what I meant.

Yes it work with both. I usually use HD floppys for my 950 cause of the memoryspace and cause they are still available (new). DD floppys are near impossible to find (new). But since I also got a TX16w wich only can handle DD I keep my eyes open for DDs in good condition on ebay.

peace

peterpiper wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:
when you put a floppy in the 950 and format the disk... can it format both? or does it need to be a DS/DD floppy... that is basically what I meant.

Yes it work with both. I usually use HD floppys for my 950 cause of the memoryspace and cause they are still available (new). DD floppys are near impossible to find (new). But since I also got a TX16w wich only can handle DD I keep my eyes open for DDs in good condition on ebay.

peace

you do know that HD and dd floppies are identical... right? the internals are exactly the same.

just scored an s2800 with scsi and digital out for $75

Lord Toranaga wrote:just scored an s2800 with scsi and digital out for $75

I was looking at a post where someone was selling one of those locally for 100 bucks. I didn't buy it however that is fair for prices up here.

What do you think of that machine? That is one model I have heard almost nothing about. the same guy I saw selling that machine was selling a 3000xl also for the same price but the 2800 had extra stuff. it was pretty tempting.

I don't have it yet.
Just going to use to get recycle 2.0 up and running with it.
then transfer the chopped up sample to the MPC.




Does anyone use a castlewood orb drive with an s series sampler?

I've been thinking of picking up an S Series to go with Logic and MPC 2000XL

What are the pros over using EXS24 sampling wise? Is it the converters? I guess I could chop in Logic and then put the sounds into the S series and then back into EXS24 right? I'm fairly new to older harware and have been a software guy mostly but I find some of this hardware so cheap it's hard to resist.

there really are no measurable benefits, it is just a preference.

Infact working with hardware will slow you down.

Really? I mean, I've been sampling into EXS24, using the slash key the slice, drag into EXS, fine tune the start points etc. It's really quick but I do wonder if I could sample into the Akai (whether it be the 2KXL or an S Series) then chop in EXS. There's no sound difference with the converters?

I don't have equipment to measure the difference in sound.

too many variable to just say one sounds better or different.

this day and age it is all "personal preference"

just get to work, don't get too caught up with gear.

that is, unless you want to collect gear then by all means collect gear.

I collect gear to play around with, and make some youtube videos, but all my serious music work stays in the box.
My beats created strictly with logic, sound better than any hardware I have ever used.
That is not to mention the ease of use, swiftness of creation, and many other benefits of staying in the box.

Even when I use a beat machine, I create the beat first in logic, then sample the stems into the hardware unit. After that I chop everything up again and have a little fun



Have Fun, Make Music
JJR