anyone using a Roland s-330 / 550 / w-30??

i'm getting an ol school Roland s-330 sampler for cheap and was just wondering if anyone else here was using one or a similar model? i'm also curious to know if there are any programs for importing/exporting that sample format between my mac and the sampler? in any case, it seems like the s-330 is HIGHLY overlooked as a 12-bit sampler... with people paying hundreds for an s950, it's surprising to see the s-330 sell for as low as $40 on ebay. i think most dudes need to do more research when it comes to the vintage gear out there. seems like everyone's just buying up the same 3 pieces of gear.

Great find. Most people don't research anything they just buy something that everyone else says is good.

The 330 is great but the 550 is a better unit with SCSI if you can find one.. Hook up a monitor and you are in a great sampler with crunchy sound way more versitile than an S950.. which by the way are kind of cultural iconic symbols in the hip hop world.. I like 950's but the Rolands give you more for your money..

I've owned an S330 and a S900. Whilst both 12-bit they do sound a little different. Couldn't say one is better or worse but it is the Akai sound that is recognisable and appears in many production studios for good reason. The S330 is a bit cleaner. I loved the S330 when I had it tho, sounds great.

You might be interested in this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0238364439

If the auction is over go back later as he relists.

jellyjim wrote:I've owned an S330 and a S900. Whilst both 12-bit they do sound a little different. Couldn't say one is better or worse but it is the Akai sound that is recognisable and appears in many production studios for good reason. The S330 is a bit cleaner. I loved the S330 when I had it tho, sounds great.

You might be interested in this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0238364439

If the auction is over go back later as he relists.

i appreciate your feedback and that link, man... i'd actually seen that collection on ebay, but i'm gonna wait a minute since the sampler is coming with a stack of diskettes and i wanna see whats already on those first. i was also thinking that like most of those sample collections on ebay, with enough research, i might be able find the same collection of sounds for free elsewhere... i know dudes selling samples on ebay are hustlers like that.

regarding the sound of the s-330... i'm sure it's a lil different from the akai series. it's strange that people say it sounds "cleaner"... i was actually expecting it to be kinda dirty since it only samples at 30khz or 15khz. the interface looks trippy as hell though... the fact that you can edit waveforms on a monitor with an old school mouse just makes it remind me of a fairlight... i love that kinda sh!t. luckily, the one i'm getting also has the old mouse included. i'm looking forward to putting this dinosaur to use.

don't worry it sounds cleaner but still dirty!

I have a Roland s-550 with some sample disks & have to say the sound is amazing! I am using it standalone without the CRT or mouse which makes it harder to use...

I wonder if you can offer any advice on a problem I am having though -

I have been able to successfully sample into it via the audio input but I am only able to sample less than 1 second before the sampling time stops.. The manual says it can sample lengths up to 7.2 seconds... I think my problem is that I am only sampling to 1 of the 18 segments that make up the full 7.2 seconds in the sample bank...

Maybe you can help? or can any s-550 users give me any advice how to sample up the full 7.2 seconds?

Thanks in advance.

You need to set the sample length.. I know how to do it with a monitor but without one I am not suere.. You should get an old TV or something small it will make life much easier...

Roland W-30 is a tight keyboard/sampler it is 12 bit.

i've been doing some online research and i've found a few links that i thought may be of interest to other users of the s-330 and s-550:


roland s-330 system disks + more:

http://www.lilchips.com/roland/roland/s ... /index.asp

--------

roland s-330 guide book and manual:

http://www.generalconcepts.com/sgroup/a ... e_book.pdf
http://soundprogramming.net/samplers/ro ... land_s_330

--------

roland s-550 manual, system disk, and firmware:

http://soundprogramming.net/samplers/ro ... land_s_550

--------

this site is more dedicated to the w-30, but has some disk images of samples for the s50 and s550 as well... this is direct a link to the s-550 samples page:

http://gamelay.usami.com/~netboy/w30/si ... /s550.html

--------

and these are instructions on how to make a mouse converter that will allow you to use a regular mouse with a roland sampler... in case you don't have the original roland mouse which is rather hard to find:

http://home.pages.at/pullrich/mousecon.htm

camtonic wrote:I have a Roland s-550 with some sample disks & have to say the sound is amazing! I am using it standalone without the CRT or mouse which makes it harder to use...

I wonder if you can offer any advice on a problem I am having though -

I have been able to successfully sample into it via the audio input but I am only able to sample less than 1 second before the sampling time stops.. The manual says it can sample lengths up to 7.2 seconds... I think my problem is that I am only sampling to 1 of the 18 segments that make up the full 7.2 seconds in the sample bank...

Maybe you can help? or can any s-550 users give me any advice how to sample up the full 7.2 seconds?

Thanks in advance.

i just got my s-330, but i won't have a monitor for it until monday... so i've been messing around with it a bit without the monitor or mouse, and i found out how you would change the sampling time on the s-330 using just the sampler's front panel... i assume it would be the same on the s-550, so i hope this helps solve your problem...



1) insert the system utility disk and turn the sampler on while holding down the <-- left arrow button... hold that button down from before you turn the sampler on all the way until it starts loading from the disk. [this is to instruct it to use the front panel buttons to control instead of the default mouse]

2) once the disk is done loading... press the MENU button, and then press the down arrow until you see: [MODE] UTIL and press the EXECUTE button.

3) scroll down to UTIL Sampling and press the EXECUTE button.

4) scroll down to TIME and adjust the sampling time accordingly with the INC/YES and DEC/NO buttons.



i hope this works on the s-550 as well... good luck!

hey crossings, thanks for the help. unfortunately, no luck for me. I think the arrow buttons are busted on my 550.. it just does not scroll through any options when I press the down/up buttons.. in fact they do not seem to be responding at all...

I can get it to sample for a split second. I can also load an play existing samples from some disks that came with the sampler. so it works to some extent. might have to take it off for a service.

thanks again, enjoy your s330!

well, i couldn't really get the arrow keys to do much until i discovered that trick of holding down the left arrow while booting up... since the sampler defaults to monitor/mouse mode, it doesn't give as much access to commands on the front panel when it boots up without indicating that you won't be using the mouse. so maybe there is another way for configuring the s-550 to do that... maybe in the manual? best of luck, man...

i gotta a 550 thats just taking up space. it does have a nice sound but having to use it wit a moniter (or tv) is the major turnoff. i still haven figured out how to sample with it. the manual aint worth sh!t.

GRMM D wrote:i gotta a 550 thats just taking up space. it does have a nice sound but having to use it wit a moniter (or tv) is the major turnoff. i still haven figured out how to sample with it. the manual aint worth sh!t.

i find the monitor to be part of it's appeal on the other hand... it's way ahead of it's time for 1988. i like that you can view the sound wave on screen for editing as well as use a mouse for tweaking parameters. i've been reading the s-330 manual and it seems pretty straight forward... i don't see how the s550 can be all that much more complicated. i'm sure you can figure out the sampling issue putting some time into it... if not, let me know if you wanna get rid of your s550 on the cheap and i may be interested... even though i have no need for one right now, but you never know...