The official AKAI S series thread

Lord Toranaga wrote:I still get busy with it.

all serious work is done in Logic 8

No doubt. And believe me I understand the nostalgia. I keep an ASR-X around for nostalgic purposes, but I can't tell you the last time I actually fired it up and used it.

clint246clint wrote:I have a S5000 and an S6000 currently sitting in a cupboard, both recent purchases because I could.

Between the two samplers I have every available option as follows.

S5000
64 voice polyphony
168mb RAM
USB card (option)
ADAT I/O card 8in/ 16 out (option)
8 individual outputs

S6000
FX card
64 voice polyphony x2
136mb RAM
2GB internal hard drive (option)
Detachable front panel
16 individual outputs


I dont need them both so Im planning to combine parts/ options to provide my ideal S5/6000 solution.

At the moment I have no need for the ADAT card, but these are hard to find so I may decide to keep this. The USB is essential for using the sampler in combo with my computer and MPC4000 via Aksys. I would like an internal HD if only to eliminate the need for an external one. But it would be easier to leave the HD in the S6000, the fittings are all in place and it is quite cramped inside the S5000. Perhaps I could upgrade the drive to a larger capacity?

I will keep the FX card regardless of its quality and am in a position to max out the RAM on one machine. I do not really need 128 voice polyhony for the stuff I usually do.

But the finished sampler will be my partner for many years to come as my talent and studio grow.

So I was wondering if any of you that use an MPC4000 with a S5/6000 and Aksys combo could highlight the benefits of this setup. I obviously know what Aksys does and the 4000 so what role can the S5/6000 play?

Also will any SCSI HD work in the S5/6000 and is there a limit to the HD size?

Studio is down until further notice, in the meanwhile im upgrading.

Currently I have the following Akai gear:

MPC60 12 bit
MPC3000LE Vailixi 16 bit
MPC4000 16/ 24 bit
S-950 12 bit sampler
S5000 16 bit sampler
S6000 16 bit sampler
XR-10 16 bit drum machine
ME30P II 8x8 midi patchbay

Too much Akai?? Lol

upgrading to what,a keyboard perhaps? other than that,thats hiphop heaven,if thats what your doing....post some pics when you get a chance.

rookie wrote:upgrading to what,a keyboard perhaps? other than that,thats hiphop heaven,if thats what your doing....post some pics when you get a chance.

I have the following Keyboards.

Korg Triton Extreme 76
Ensoniq ASR-10 w/scsi
Roland Juno 106 (one voice needs repair)

Pics of my gear are posted around here somewhere, here are the MPC's

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=80028&start=150

Will def post pics of the S5/6000, S-950 & XR-10 when I get a chance as they are new in.

Im looking out for a VA synth to cover all the basses (no pun intended)

clint, have you heard about the acetone trick to repair dead juno voices? don't quote me on the details, but basically you soak them in nail polish remover over night, scrape off all the goo, and they are good to go.

I know a guy that it saved his juno. dig around on google if you are interested.

@clint the 3 kings look dope,as far as a VA goes,unless you just want a machine you could get all them sounds on cd-rom and load them in your s5/6000.save some money and get perhaps better recording.

@nogginj

Heard about the Juno voice-fix, but I'm not inclined to attempt the repair myself. I'll pay for a Synth repair proper.

@rookie

Samples aren't what im looking for really, guess im a sucker for tactile controls. I'd actually prefer a real analogue bass synth to a VA, but its' a start. Just really getting into analogue synths proper. Will take your advice and try out some synth samples, see what can be done with them in the S5/6000.

Back to some S Series talk...

Guys I have a chance to get a S6000 + usb card and 196mb ram for +/- 400 usd... Does it worth?
I already have my mpc but the sampler inside doesn't sound very well for me ( I hope the sound quality of the s6000 is better), 32 voices are not enough and I simply love the s- series and I always wanted to have one at home to play with...
Should I go for it??
How does the pitch shifting and timestretching sounds?- are they smoother than on my 2500?
Is it possible to put inside IDE hdd instead of the scsi one?

Please help me asap because I have to make a final decision...

thanks!

Was replacing the EL foil on my S-950 today.

As I tried to remove the two-pin connector from the invertor board somehow I managed to crack the damn screen.

Pissed.

Is the S-900 screen a direct replacement?

I was searching for an s950 for a decent price and managed to snag an s1000 for £21.
It's, hopefully, winging it's way to me.
I've never used an Akai rack and heard the s1000 sounds decent.

I've never been too impressed with the sound of my mpc2500. I mean, I also use a Casio FZ-1, and whenever I use the FZ-1 I love the sound of it, but the mpc2500.... it's ok but does anyone know of an audio circuitry mod you can do to it?

That's a lot of "I's"

S-1000's are great sounding samplers imo just a shame they don't have resonant filters, even though I have external analogue filters to runn things through it's nice to just have it one box.

I didn't find the sound of the S-950 too different from the S-1000

I got a few Akai's round mine at the moment...might do a comparison or something

nice digs

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:S-1000's are great sounding samplers imo just a shame they don't have resonant filters, even though I have external analogue filters to runn things through it's nice to just have it one box.

I didn't find the sound of the S-950 too different from the S-1000

I got a few Akai's round mine at the moment...might do a comparison or something

Aha, you're the fella from the youtube vid's. I just subbed to you last night

I can bang stuff through my SH-09 and MS20, but yeah it'd be nice to have the res filter in the s1000.

anyone knows what's going on?? - s5000
Its not mine but one guy is selling it pretty cheap because he doesn't knows what this error means so I wondered if it could be repaired somehow....

I think you should pass on that, they are pretty affordable fully working.

jimmie wrote:I've never been too impressed with the sound of my mpc2500. I mean, I also use a Casio FZ-1, and whenever I use the FZ-1 I love the sound of it, but the mpc2500.... it's ok but does anyone know of an audio circuitry mod you can do to it?

Mods are possible but not practical, and probably won't make much difference, so I've been told. Basically that's because the opamps are biased to run in Class AB. In a nutshell, that means that swapping in opamps won't make a noticeable sound quality difference. Plus the opamps (and resistors) are SOIC, which is hard as hell to solder. The capacitors are thru-hole, however, which means that they are a good candidate for upgrading/bypassing (note, by bypassing, I DO NOT, repeat DO NOT, mean removing or jumpering). I'm gonna try that one of these days, but I don't wanna deal with downtime, I need my MPC... Maybe I'll get an extra analog/digital I/O pcb and experiement wit that.

I'd suggest getting some high quality outboard. I did that, and I have no inclination to get any more samplers for 'sound quality' reasons. Not when outboard is so much better, easier and faster. No, outboard will not turn your 2500 into a 60. It will make your 2500 bang, however.