Amazing to see people still keeping these alive. Coming from studios and touring in the 90s/00s, I will never, ever, ever use an S2000 again for the rest of my life, but I'm happy to see others jumping into the fray. The power use back in the day wasn't a generic beats sampler, but as a synthesiser in terms of samples as waveforms, and the multis as effectively the routing and envelopes and LFOs you would consider when programming a synth patch. This felt normal for those of us coming from things like the Mirage, versus say the early MPC60 iterations, and it's something that is often overlooked. Be sure to hunt down the many many great sample libraries for the S2000 and similar siblings. The old email user groups as a good source.
I totally understand what you are saying about being sick of that old tech when it was what you HAD to use for years. I'm willing to bet that most of us using old hardware these days will be using it alongside much more modern tech. Or at very least approaching it knowing full well that there is better tech around, but just trying the old stuff will be interesting, and might send us down a creative avenue that we might have missed otherwise.
Before I started using a laptop for making music, my setup consisted of an S2000(the freaking base model!), controlled by a Roland MC-50 sequencer and recorded straight to 4 track tape, lol. The fun part was that the sequencer and the sampler both used 3.5 floppy disks, but required completely different formats (‘high density’ vs ‘double density’) and even in like 1999 for 2000 the 3.5 DD floppy disks that were required for the MC-50 were so close to obsolete that you had to special order them from Staples and wait 2 weeks for them to show up. Literally nothing used those disks at that point. Plus both machines required a boot disk, which theoretically could be duplicated, but I could never get them to boot from backup copies, so I had to baby the system disks, never let them get near magnets, etc. I forget how insane it was to just put together a setup that could just play back songs when you couldn’t afford an MPC2000 or an SP1200 etc. MIDI THRU was your best friend!
OMG! What is this magical accent!? I up thumbed, subbed & belled because I needed these particular pronunciations of 'Akai,' 'Wavs,' '32,' & 'era' in my life forever!
Just wanted to drop a message saying thanks for making this. I just bought a CD3000XL from eBay and this video was massively helpful. It was the first sampler I ever used back in the late 90s, but I didn't have much of a clue about anything back then (and I couldn't remotely afford one of my own) but it feels like the right thing at the right time now.
@@StephenMcLeod loved the video, mate - subscribed instantly. Might have to give the Eurorack elements a wide berth though - I've been carefully avoiding that rabbithole for years now and it's hard enough to maintain that already
I'm considering getting a rack mount, good video man! I'm surprised I haven't seen this yet since it's a year old..... and I'm subscribed lol..... good ol' UA-cam algorithm
That's a great point. Something I didn't consider. I've gotten an internal SCSI installed, but the cost of the drives and also SCSI2SD is dead high at the moment. Something I'm considering though!!
@@StephenMcLeod hi can you tell me witch sampler is worth to buy, I want it to record sound of my hardware, is it easy or its a lot of work, I never had a sampler before witch is the easiest and thanks for your fast reply 👍🎼
Hi there, I'm a new sub. I've got an S2000 - and like you, I thought to myself - was I mad actually buying this? It does record samples in very well, but the menus - are long and drawn out. I'd be interested to see how your learning curve goes with this machine. I'm going to be sequencing mine with an old Atari 1040STF - but I've got to get my head around what are keygroups, programs and modes as of yet. I used to have a Roland VP9000 and was spoilt by the really large intuitive display and great DSP onboard. That blew up on me, literally! So I'm left with this screwey screen - but your video has inspired me to dig in more with it.
I was in a similar position but went with EMU ESi samplers as I got some great deals. Both AKAI and EMU bring different things to the table. My ESi32 has a GOTEK running FlashFloppy for loading the various floppy images I have. I upgraded the GOTEK with a better screen and a rotary knob as well as setting it up myself. Was easier than I thought and all the information is out there. My GOTEK was 14 quid, the screen was 3 quid and the rotary knob was 2 quid. Took about three hours to mod and get the GOTEK running. My motivation was the disgust at people charging 50 quid or more for a GOTEK loaded with FlashFloppy and no upgrades. I also have a SCSI2SD in my ESi4000 and share the storage between the ESi32 and ESi4000 as a common library. It is basically 6 emulated SCSI drives at 4GB each on a single SD card. Wasn't cheap as I went for the V.6 board rather than V.5 but it is worth the investment. I can load floppy images on the ESi32 and save them to the shared SCSI2SD storage so both units can access it much quicker afterwards. The ESi 32 has been upgraded to 32MB (max) and the ESi4000 to 128MB (max) . Both have the optional "turbo" FX expansion card and latest OS chips installed which gives a wide range of effects the ESi units are known for. Lastly, I also upgraded the screens to OLED which has made the units far more easy to read no matter what the conditions are. Don't buy the screens from people selling them stating it's a replacement for model X. Loads of sources will tell you the details of what you need to look for. If you stay away from OLED, you can buy suitable LED screens with superior contrast and pick them up for as little as 5 quid each. I use my old hardware samplers mostly for drum samples sequenced by a BeatStep Pro. I love the individual sound you get from these hardware samplers. Even just sampling a whole track through the sampler can give some colour and grit that sounds just right. I still want to add an AKAI to my rack... it would be rude not to own one something from one of the best known sampler makers.
Your use case sounds very similar to my motivation for just grabbing an Akai. I basically want to replace my TR8S so I've got a 3000XL which I'm intending to use with a Launchpad Pro Mk 3 as a kind of rebirth/update of the MPC2000XL which is the unit I spent the most time with over the years
I learned a bit from your comment, thanks. I have just ordered a Gotek. And i'm looking to use the old Akais (and a Yamaha A3000) i came by mostly for drum samples, triggered by a BeatStep Pro, same as you (as well as Cubase on an old Atari ST520 if i can wrap my head around that). I just need to find out how to get the data off of about a thousand old floppy discs and i can start a remix project i've been meaning to get around to since the late 90's!
I've got the OS upgrade sitting here but I dont want to do it because you have to take the whole logic board out to get at the...what do you call it???
I'm still on SCSI with this thing. Got my hands on a few hdd's, learned how to set the jumper. It's not limited to floppy file size. And no mesa, recycle, whatever - all sampled and chopped inside the thing.
@@StephenMcLeod A guy sold me a few with ibm&maxtor ones, an old computer and a cd drive for powering it up. All for a few bucks. 30 euros, maybe. I've ended up with building the hdd drive into the cd drive's case which provides power. A few of the hdd's didn't work but I believe it's an 500mb Maxtor one that works now. OS loads up from there and I can add new partitions as I want. I know it won't last forever though. :(
@@StephenMcLeod With the 8 out board this is a solid powerhouse. Everything goes into the Mackie 24 4 vlz pro with external effects, I also got an esi4000 that has 4 outs (or two stereo). Yet I'm about to get another S2000 with the 8 out board). I've wanted to go down the Roland way too with the s760 but my item has a missing psu and I couldn't find one for cheap yet. My only concern is that by doing this in a dawless way, zaquencer only handles 4 midi channels and the roland mc 50 is a bit slow to use when building a song. What are you using for sequencing?
I have an S2000 .Bought it a few years ago £30 ,has 32mb and 8 out board .I fitted a Gotek Hxc floppy emulator.I use wav_akai98 software on windows 10 to send samples in to the S2000 ans programs
Got any updates? Managed to get one recently for what seems pretty cheap. Have you put in or know of any sort of HD emulation so that you don't need Flash Rom or to recall all the floppys?
@@StephenMcLeod Hi I’ve got an old computer running xp with scsi card and internal scsi in the computer I can transfer files and edit the sampler settings using software called Mesa. The file format is fat 32 and sample rate is 44.1. I don’t have a usb emulator drive but ..... I’d imagine you’ll format the usb stick to fat 32 put the os on the usb as it loads from there and put 44.1 waves on there too to load samples from usb drive.
@@soundmutant Ah right, yeah. I've seen MESA, but it converts the files into the S2000 format as part of the process. The S2000 doesn't support them natively unfortunately, so you can't load them onto the USB in that way sadly!
I don't really know how to answer that. In theory you can play 32 concurrent separate things, so loops or whatever. That depends on the length of them etc though so it's not as simple as just saying a specific number unfortunately.
If you want to transfer samples over, check out the EMXP software. It's free and was built for Emu samplers, but it can create sample files, programs and disks/disk images in Akai S1000 format. It's text based and a bit fiddly, but the S2000 (and S3000XL that I have) are fully compatible with those formats. Makes it easy to get tiles on there, especially with a Gotek.
@@StephenMcLeod Yeah, pretty sure it's PC only. I'm surprised there isn't more software for converting samples (I know there are some paid programs) but if you want to get into the old school sampler workflow I don't suppose it matters too much - I need to do more actual sampling myself!
@@Bantam80 Yeah! I've been sampling direct in so far and it's been easy. It changes the way you approach samples for sure. Rather than just relying on banks. Thanks for the tip though. I'll look into running it via WINE or something.
You talked about 'hooking up computer to analogue inputs to record a sample'. Which connections would these be at either end and what cable do you use for this? Thanks.
I don't have the Akai S2000 in front of me, but you can just sample using the headphone jack output into it. I think a stereo 3.5mm cable with a jack adapter on the end would do it :)
@@StephenMcLeod spot on buddy, there's a right channel socket and a left/ mono, is there a particular type of jack cable or is required or can you sample in stereo just fine with a standard cable.
@@alexpawson7282 Gotcha! You can use a standard 3.5mm with individual mono jack connections on the other side. Plug both of them in to the Left and Right jack inputs to get stereo, or just use one side for Mono :)
I think how confusing it was for me to use the Mpc workflow for the first time… atnd that was with a live mk1. I can only imagine how much a pain in the ass menu dive this machine is. Have fun :-)
it looks like an economy 7 storage heater.. You instantly made me laugh. The internet is an amazing marketing tool. It's refreshing to know that able bodied people also buy random stuff they wouldn't normally buy online. One afternoon the postman delivered an Ulster flag. The red and yellow one, not the British white and red. After a few days it started to make sense. I rescued a Liverpool Football Club flag from a bush. Hung it on my wall as my maternal granny was from Norris Green and actually an Everton fan but it reminded me of her., So I must of ordered the Ulster one in memory of my Paternal Granny who was fro Fermanagh in Ulster. A MacBook Air M2 arrived last Friday and its the missing link. My Audio interface finally works have changed samples on my circuit tracks. Going to update firmware on that and Microfreak. If I could round up and tame my ferociously expensive recreational pharmaceutical hobby. I would have more spare cash and braincells.
Hahaha I think you're right actually. It does look like an old storage heater. What else is the Internet useful for if not seeing other people buy random crap they don't need?!
Are you still enjoying this machine? I've found one for a cheap price and I'm really looking for something that can pitch samples with a keyboard. I have an sp-202 and I'm also wondering how they compare as far as sound quality and lofi-ness
Sound quality on the Akai is way different as it was a pro level machine. It can do great down sampled stuff, but it's not it's main function. The SP-202 would have you covered there though. I love the S2000 but it does require a bit of patience to set up and understand.
Great video mate! You can check the ram without opening the machine... On power up if it says 16mwords you have 32mb. Did your USB stick come pre loaded with the goetek?
Cheers man! Great tip. Might save someone else opening it up haha. Yeah, the USB stick came with a bunch of samples and the bootloader etc, which was real nice.
Ha haaaa! Really cool that it comes pre loaded and partitioned etc! They are indeed a wicked sampler. Actually a S3000xl without the fancy screen... Shares the same pcb! I've had 2 of these samplers for 15 years and wouldn't sell them. There is a really cool mod you can do at home if you want internal memory if you're handy with a soldering iron. You solder a scsi connection on the main board and use a ribbon connector to a scsi to sd card converter board and partition/format a card in the machine and you will then have an internal hard disk with out any moving parts😉
@@StephenMcLeod I've had good luck it, even though the UI looks Window-ized (for us Mac users). It goes on sale now and then at a good discount (get on their newsletter for announcements). Or maybe find an old copy of version 6, which should be good enough for converting most stuff to AKAI format.
Good video! I've been wanting to upgrade my S2000 with a gotek drive but I gave up trying to find a reliable source that could guarantee me the unit would work on a S2000. May I ask where you purchased yours?
I prefer hardware samplers to software samplers, in fact I have got back into using sound modules ( I never stopped using them but I recently bought a Roland U-220 and an Emu Proteus/2 ). But I am thinking about maybe adding a sampler module sampler to my stack in the future. I still use the floppy drive on my Roland SD-35 as it still works even though I have had it for nearly 30 years but I also have a USB floppy drive to transfer midi files to floppy ( I think you can still get USB floppy drives ). Personally I would only replace the floppy drive with a USB emulator if the disk drive ever ceased to work. At the moment I still use the samplers that come with Mixcraft and Grove Agent One in Cubase for my freeware drum samples even though Kontakt has sort of made Grove Agent One sort of obsolete. The Digitakt might also be worth considering if I just want to trigger drum samples on a hardware unit. I'm not a big fan of those euro conversion plugs and I normally replace them with proper plugs but in the case of my Roland R-8 having the 2 prong plug works in my favor as when the adapter is removed it makes it easier for me to store the drum machine and all it's accessories in it's hard case. My monitor speakers also use them and my SC-88 Pro also has one but I couldn't cut the euro plugs off the speakers because that would have invalidated the guarantee. But I tend to cut them off things like table lamps, hair dryers and toothbrush chargers for safety. I think with this sampler fitting a proper plus is definitely a good call.
Hey! I also prefer hardware samplers. There's something about them that just feels much more fun to use. I can't deal with the floppies though. They are a nightmare haha. I ended up getting my S2000 modified, so replaced the cable with a standard kettle lead thing :D
Sorry for the slow reply. I missed this. A bit shit might be over-stating things, but the cable is a bit short, and is hard-wired. There's an upgrade which converts it to a standard kettle lead which is much more flexible. I haven't bothered doing it yet though. It's not a big deal!
nice :) i dont know if you mention that samples are only 22khz and no 44k.. is important. i have mine for many man years now and i use it to add little samples on top of my modular and other synths in my mixer. i did installed the usb thing but i did not like it so i kept with the floppys : ) i like it better. is a good machine to warm up the studio in the cold winters also :) is nice fol little samples but i wouldnt use it for a kick or stuf like that... nice tatoos by the way sun moon : )
44.1K and 16bit on the S2000 friend. Which felt amazing for those of us who came through the dark ages of early samplers. And it's why it became a default workhorse for most of us in the industry. The stock libraries available were the go-to for all manner of radio and TV work.
ahh yeah.. you can use 44.100. double the space : ) i use 22 quite a bit. also i pitched down a bongo and is a massive kick drum.. listen to Gruvaldo - I am got and get a taste for it.. niam niam : ) S2000 is glory!!!
@@StephenMcLeod I'm sure I will :) I'm using the old DOS Cakewalk 4.0 again with Juno2,DX7IID, U220,D110,TG100 & 500,Minitaur, K-2, TR626, MicroKorg, I just needed this classic for the extra sounds. And then no extra editing in DAW or whatever, just straight out of the mixer. More fun :)
@@StephenMcLeod The floppy disc reader definitely need replacing with one of those USB or SD card readers instead. Over the decades, the record // playback heads go out of alignment. But i got mine for £50 when they were out of fashion, so no worries.
Back in the days when those machines were going for around 50-100 Euro in Netherlands the MPC guys where buying them for the 8 output board. That's why many of these nowdays are bald.
@@StephenMcLeod yep! lucky you! This is a great workhoarse if you want to put the processed sounds out of your main sampler to this one and with the 8i/o board spread to the desk, for example. Ps. I bought mine bald for 30€. Happy sampling! ;)
My s2000 arrives this week. Already got the emulator but no multi board unfortunately. Bought a mpx last week. Tried it sent it back and bought the s2000 instead. Far more useful
Oh yeah?! That's awesome. The multi output board is great, but you can still do awesome things with the stereo outs. Make sure you have 32MB RAM as that's most useful, and pretty cheap/easy to do/install. What do you like about the 2000 versus the MPCX?
@@StephenMcLeod akai stumble with midi support these days. New breed on mpc shipped with Omni midi in only. Took em years to sort it out Mpx is limited to midi ch10 out and ch1 in. No time stretch and a horrible whine that changed pitch as the pads were struck. I'd been trying to grab an s series for a while before trying the mpx
Amazing to see people still keeping these alive. Coming from studios and touring in the 90s/00s, I will never, ever, ever use an S2000 again for the rest of my life, but I'm happy to see others jumping into the fray. The power use back in the day wasn't a generic beats sampler, but as a synthesiser in terms of samples as waveforms, and the multis as effectively the routing and envelopes and LFOs you would consider when programming a synth patch. This felt normal for those of us coming from things like the Mirage, versus say the early MPC60 iterations, and it's something that is often overlooked. Be sure to hunt down the many many great sample libraries for the S2000 and similar siblings. The old email user groups as a good source.
I totally understand what you are saying about being sick of that old tech when it was what you HAD to use for years. I'm willing to bet that most of us using old hardware these days will be using it alongside much more modern tech. Or at very least approaching it knowing full well that there is better tech around, but just trying the old stuff will be interesting, and might send us down a creative avenue that we might have missed otherwise.
Aye.
Before I started using a laptop for making music, my setup consisted of an S2000(the freaking base model!), controlled by a Roland MC-50 sequencer and recorded straight to 4 track tape, lol. The fun part was that the sequencer and the sampler both used 3.5 floppy disks, but required completely different formats (‘high density’ vs ‘double density’) and even in like 1999 for 2000 the 3.5 DD floppy disks that were required for the MC-50 were so close to obsolete that you had to special order them from Staples and wait 2 weeks for them to show up. Literally nothing used those disks at that point.
Plus both machines required a boot disk, which theoretically could be duplicated, but I could never get them to boot from backup copies, so I had to baby the system disks, never let them get near magnets, etc. I forget how insane it was to just put together a setup that could just play back songs when you couldn’t afford an MPC2000 or an SP1200 etc. MIDI THRU was your best friend!
Also I had a 3 ring binder with plastic sleeve pages that held nine 3.5 floppies per page! Gangsta shit!
ALSO! I’d buy another S2000 in a heartbeat for that Akai timestretch alone. Didn’t know how hard it would be to find anything that did that:(
Thanks for sharing! The S2000 is a beauty. Having the USB stick rather than the floppy disks has definitely been a God send!
Did you make loops on the s2000?
OMG! What is this magical accent!? I up thumbed, subbed & belled because I needed these particular pronunciations of 'Akai,' 'Wavs,' '32,' & 'era' in my life forever!
Haha another victim! It's a Glasgow accent, from Scotland.
Just wanted to drop a message saying thanks for making this. I just bought a CD3000XL from eBay and this video was massively helpful. It was the first sampler I ever used back in the late 90s, but I didn't have much of a clue about anything back then (and I couldn't remotely afford one of my own) but it feels like the right thing at the right time now.
Thanks Pete! I'm glad my rambling was helpful in some way. The CD3000XL looks amazing!
@@StephenMcLeod loved the video, mate - subscribed instantly. Might have to give the Eurorack elements a wide berth though - I've been carefully avoiding that rabbithole for years now and it's hard enough to maintain that already
@@PeteSasqwax I would 100% recommend that as a sensible plan hah.
That clicking sound would happen all the time with my s2k. I loved that beast, the clicky sound was always so soothing while setting up for a gig🤘
Love that old floppy clicking sound!
I'm considering getting a rack mount, good video man! I'm surprised I haven't seen this yet since it's a year old..... and I'm subscribed lol..... good ol' UA-cam algorithm
GD UA-cam! Rack mount samplers are epic
The advantage of the scsi drive was that the load times are like 100x faster then a floppy. What about SCSI2SD?
That's a great point. Something I didn't consider. I've gotten an internal SCSI installed, but the cost of the drives and also SCSI2SD is dead high at the moment. Something I'm considering though!!
Hi what do you think I got a chance to get one of these, I like hard ware I won't it to record sound from thanks
I still like mine! It's a bit of a weird device and not the easiest to use if you're not used to it, but it's a cool piece of history.
@@StephenMcLeod hi can you tell me witch sampler is worth to buy, I want it to record sound of my hardware, is it easy or its a lot of work, I never had a sampler before witch is the easiest and thanks for your fast reply 👍🎼
Hi there, I'm a new sub. I've got an S2000 - and like you, I thought to myself - was I mad actually buying this? It does record samples in very well, but the menus - are long and drawn out. I'd be interested to see how your learning curve goes with this machine. I'm going to be sequencing mine with an old Atari 1040STF - but I've got to get my head around what are keygroups, programs and modes as of yet. I used to have a Roland VP9000 and was spoilt by the really large intuitive display and great DSP onboard. That blew up on me, literally! So I'm left with this screwey screen - but your video has inspired me to dig in more with it.
I was in a similar position but went with EMU ESi samplers as I got some great deals. Both AKAI and EMU bring different things to the table.
My ESi32 has a GOTEK running FlashFloppy for loading the various floppy images I have. I upgraded the GOTEK with a better screen and a rotary knob as well as setting it up myself. Was easier than I thought and all the information is out there. My GOTEK was 14 quid, the screen was 3 quid and the rotary knob was 2 quid. Took about three hours to mod and get the GOTEK running. My motivation was the disgust at people charging 50 quid or more for a GOTEK loaded with FlashFloppy and no upgrades.
I also have a SCSI2SD in my ESi4000 and share the storage between the ESi32 and ESi4000 as a common library. It is basically 6 emulated SCSI drives at 4GB each on a single SD card. Wasn't cheap as I went for the V.6 board rather than V.5 but it is worth the investment.
I can load floppy images on the ESi32 and save them to the shared SCSI2SD storage so both units can access it much quicker afterwards.
The ESi 32 has been upgraded to 32MB (max) and the ESi4000 to 128MB (max) . Both have the optional "turbo" FX expansion card and latest OS chips installed which gives a wide range of effects the ESi units are known for.
Lastly, I also upgraded the screens to OLED which has made the units far more easy to read no matter what the conditions are. Don't buy the screens from people selling them stating it's a replacement for model X. Loads of sources will tell you the details of what you need to look for. If you stay away from OLED, you can buy suitable LED screens with superior contrast and pick them up for as little as 5 quid each.
I use my old hardware samplers mostly for drum samples sequenced by a BeatStep Pro. I love the individual sound you get from these hardware samplers. Even just sampling a whole track through the sampler can give some colour and grit that sounds just right. I still want to add an AKAI to my rack... it would be rude not to own one something from one of the best known sampler makers.
Your use case sounds very similar to my motivation for just grabbing an Akai. I basically want to replace my TR8S so I've got a 3000XL which I'm intending to use with a Launchpad Pro Mk 3 as a kind of rebirth/update of the MPC2000XL which is the unit I spent the most time with over the years
I learned a bit from your comment, thanks. I have just ordered a Gotek. And i'm looking to use the old Akais (and a Yamaha A3000) i came by mostly for drum samples, triggered by a BeatStep Pro, same as you (as well as Cubase on an old Atari ST520 if i can wrap my head around that). I just need to find out how to get the data off of about a thousand old floppy discs and i can start a remix project i've been meaning to get around to since the late 90's!
It's the first fully stereo digital sampler. The 9ne before was mono/mono.
Nice bit of trivia, thanks!
Yes this is true.
My first sampler! Bought in back 2000 and as sequencer I had Creator from C-Lab for Atari ST. That's how everything started for me.
Nice!! Do you still have it?
@@StephenMcLeod no but now I have the 3000XL
I've got the OS upgrade sitting here but I dont want to do it because you have to take the whole logic board out to get at the...what do you call it???
@StephenMcLeod Where did you find the USB system disk?
I honestly can't remember. I think maybe eBay? You can get the GoTeks from all sorts of places though. :)
@@StephenMcLeod Oh, I have the GoTek already, but I don't have the boot disk.
I hope you still use this!
I do! I love it. Have a video with me using it recently
I'm still on SCSI with this thing. Got my hands on a few hdd's, learned how to set the jumper. It's not limited to floppy file size. And no mesa, recycle, whatever - all sampled and chopped inside the thing.
aw nice. What drives did you end up using? They've become so expensive. I've thought about SCSI2SD but it's also pure expensive as well.
@@StephenMcLeod A guy sold me a few with ibm&maxtor ones, an old computer and a cd drive for powering it up. All for a few bucks. 30 euros, maybe. I've ended up with building the hdd drive into the cd drive's case which provides power. A few of the hdd's didn't work but I believe it's an 500mb Maxtor one that works now. OS loads up from there and I can add new partitions as I want. I know it won't last forever though. :(
@@StephenMcLeod With the 8 out board this is a solid powerhouse. Everything goes into the Mackie 24 4 vlz pro with external effects, I also got an esi4000 that has 4 outs (or two stereo). Yet I'm about to get another S2000 with the 8 out board). I've wanted to go down the Roland way too with the s760 but my item has a missing psu and I couldn't find one for cheap yet.
My only concern is that by doing this in a dawless way, zaquencer only handles 4 midi channels and the roland mc 50 is a bit slow to use when building a song. What are you using for sequencing?
@@viktorvigh4513 Yeah I got it partially because of the 8 outs. Finding them can be tricky. I am using a Hapax to sequence it.
@@viktorvigh4513 Dang, they are so expensive now. I need to get a hold of a SCSI2SD. Hopefully they come down in price at some point.
I have an S2000 .Bought it a few years ago £30 ,has 32mb and 8 out board .I fitted a Gotek Hxc floppy emulator.I use wav_akai98 software on windows 10 to send samples in to the S2000 ans programs
30 quid is a steal!
Got any updates? Managed to get one recently for what seems pretty cheap. Have you put in or know of any sort of HD emulation so that you don't need Flash Rom or to recall all the floppys?
I believe you can use either a SCSI Zip or hard drive which I think is the best (though spendy) way to go. SD2HD. :)
Hi the S2000 Does except 44.1 wav files
Oh? That isn't my understanding - they appear to have to be a particular format. What's the workflow?
@@StephenMcLeod Hi I’ve got an old computer running xp with scsi card and internal scsi in the computer I can transfer files and edit the sampler settings using software called Mesa.
The file format is fat 32 and sample rate is 44.1.
I don’t have a usb emulator drive but .....
I’d imagine you’ll format the usb stick to fat 32 put the os on the usb as it loads from there and put 44.1 waves on there too to load samples from usb drive.
@@soundmutant Ah right, yeah. I've seen MESA, but it converts the files into the S2000 format as part of the process. The S2000 doesn't support them natively unfortunately, so you can't load them onto the USB in that way sadly!
No their in akai format.
Im not sure how many loops it does??
loads
No really how many loops does it do at one time?
It's got 32 voice polyphony :) @@amonster8mymother
@@StephenMcLeod yes. I know that. Does that mean it does 32 loops?
I don't really know how to answer that. In theory you can play 32 concurrent separate things, so loops or whatever. That depends on the length of them etc though so it's not as simple as just saying a specific number unfortunately.
I've got the manuals 9n my phone. I look back at them now and then.
If you want to transfer samples over, check out the EMXP software. It's free and was built for Emu samplers, but it can create sample files, programs and disks/disk images in Akai S1000 format. It's text based and a bit fiddly, but the S2000 (and S3000XL that I have) are fully compatible with those formats. Makes it easy to get tiles on there, especially with a Gotek.
I'll take a look, cheers! I saw it floating around, but I'm on a Mac so it makes things a tad trickier.
@@StephenMcLeod Yeah, pretty sure it's PC only. I'm surprised there isn't more software for converting samples (I know there are some paid programs) but if you want to get into the old school sampler workflow I don't suppose it matters too much - I need to do more actual sampling myself!
@@Bantam80 Yeah! I've been sampling direct in so far and it's been easy. It changes the way you approach samples for sure. Rather than just relying on banks. Thanks for the tip though. I'll look into running it via WINE or something.
Not a bad idea at all. ❤
I'm worried about doing the mod and acrwwing it up an that'll be the end of it.
How did you load the system disc on the usb
It came with the usb stick for the gotek
Oh bonus 👍👍👍
You can also get scsi to sd things it's a lot nicer working from a hard than even usb floppys.
I'll check it out!
It does program changes on all 8 outputs like snot. You should see it change programs. Brilliante
is snot bad or good
You talked about 'hooking up computer to analogue inputs to record a sample'. Which connections would these be at either end and what cable do you use for this? Thanks.
I don't have the Akai S2000 in front of me, but you can just sample using the headphone jack output into it. I think a stereo 3.5mm cable with a jack adapter on the end would do it :)
@@StephenMcLeod spot on buddy, there's a right channel socket and a left/ mono, is there a particular type of jack cable or is required or can you sample in stereo just fine with a standard cable.
@@alexpawson7282 Gotcha! You can use a standard 3.5mm with individual mono jack connections on the other side. Plug both of them in to the Left and Right jack inputs to get stereo, or just use one side for Mono :)
@@StephenMcLeod You're a legend! Thanks so much for all the info!
If you've got 32megs in there I dont think the floppy emulator is going to be good. I like the HD and it can load entire volume with one load.
My granny used to have that wallpaper!
I think how confusing it was for me to use the Mpc workflow for the first time… atnd that was with a live mk1. I can only imagine how much a pain in the ass menu dive this machine is. Have fun :-)
It's actually not as bad as I expected, at least not once I got used to it a bit more haha.
it looks like an economy 7 storage heater.. You instantly made me laugh. The internet is an amazing marketing tool. It's refreshing to know that able bodied people also buy random stuff they wouldn't normally buy online. One afternoon the postman delivered an Ulster flag. The red and yellow one, not the British white and red. After a few days it started to make sense. I rescued a Liverpool Football Club flag from a bush. Hung it on my wall as my maternal granny was from Norris Green and actually an Everton fan but it reminded me of her., So I must of ordered the Ulster one in memory of my Paternal Granny who was fro Fermanagh in Ulster. A MacBook Air M2 arrived last Friday and its the missing link. My Audio interface finally works have changed samples on my circuit tracks. Going to update firmware on that and Microfreak. If I could round up and tame my ferociously expensive recreational pharmaceutical hobby. I would have more spare cash and braincells.
Hahaha I think you're right actually. It does look like an old storage heater. What else is the Internet useful for if not seeing other people buy random crap they don't need?!
You should use that Zip drive you got with the S2000. It can fill the memory in a few seconds.
It's long gone sadly!
Are you still enjoying this machine? I've found one for a cheap price and I'm really looking for something that can pitch samples with a keyboard. I have an sp-202 and I'm also wondering how they compare as far as sound quality and lofi-ness
Sound quality on the Akai is way different as it was a pro level machine. It can do great down sampled stuff, but it's not it's main function. The SP-202 would have you covered there though. I love the S2000 but it does require a bit of patience to set up and understand.
Halo, so this needs an operating disk?
I am not entirely sure. i believe so - but that is handled by the GoTek floppy emulator.
Great video mate! You can check the ram without opening the machine... On power up if it says 16mwords you have 32mb. Did your USB stick come pre loaded with the goetek?
Cheers man! Great tip. Might save someone else opening it up haha. Yeah, the USB stick came with a bunch of samples and the bootloader etc, which was real nice.
Ha haaaa! Really cool that it comes pre loaded and partitioned etc! They are indeed a wicked sampler. Actually a S3000xl without the fancy screen... Shares the same pcb! I've had 2 of these samplers for 15 years and wouldn't sell them. There is a really cool mod you can do at home if you want internal memory if you're handy with a soldering iron. You solder a scsi connection on the main board and use a ribbon connector to a scsi to sd card converter board and partition/format a card in the machine and you will then have an internal hard disk with out any moving parts😉
@@nickdavis531 do you have any info on suitable SCSI to SD card converter...ones in eBay £100 ish, are there cheaper options? Thanks
@@DiSC0RDUK not sure mate, but if you Google this process then there is information out there with step by step instructions etc.
Chicken Systems "Translator" software will convert WAV (or other formats) to AKAI S2000 format.
Thanks John! It could be an option, though I've not heard the best things about them, and it's 150USD! Too rich for my blood at the mo :D
@@StephenMcLeod I've had good luck it, even though the UI looks Window-ized (for us Mac users). It goes on sale now and then at a good discount (get on their newsletter for announcements). Or maybe find an old copy of version 6, which should be good enough for converting most stuff to AKAI format.
Good video! I've been wanting to upgrade my S2000 with a gotek drive but I gave up trying to find a reliable source that could guarantee me the unit would work on a S2000.
May I ask where you purchased yours?
Thanks! I got mine from a seller called cpmagneticmedia on eBay.
My gear gets so hot I dont bother recording during the summer. I have to wait until late September. ❤
I have the opposite issue!
I prefer hardware samplers to software samplers, in fact I have got back into using sound modules
( I never stopped using them but I recently bought a Roland U-220 and an Emu Proteus/2 ). But I
am thinking about maybe adding a sampler module sampler to my stack in the future. I still use the
floppy drive on my Roland SD-35 as it still works even though I have had it for nearly 30 years but
I also have a USB floppy drive to transfer midi files to floppy ( I think you can still get USB floppy
drives ). Personally I would only replace the floppy drive with a USB emulator if the disk drive ever
ceased to work. At the moment I still use the samplers that come with Mixcraft and Grove Agent
One in Cubase for my freeware drum samples even though Kontakt has sort of made Grove Agent
One sort of obsolete. The Digitakt might also be worth considering if I just want to trigger drum
samples on a hardware unit. I'm not a big fan of those euro conversion plugs and I normally replace
them with proper plugs but in the case of my Roland R-8 having the 2 prong plug works in my favor
as when the adapter is removed it makes it easier for me to store the drum machine and all it's
accessories in it's hard case. My monitor speakers also use them and my SC-88 Pro also has one
but I couldn't cut the euro plugs off the speakers because that would have invalidated the guarantee.
But I tend to cut them off things like table lamps, hair dryers and toothbrush chargers for safety.
I think with this sampler fitting a proper plus is definitely a good call.
Hey! I also prefer hardware samplers. There's something about them that just feels much more fun to use. I can't deal with the floppies though. They are a nightmare haha. I ended up getting my S2000 modified, so replaced the cable with a standard kettle lead thing :D
4U?
2U, though they suggest keeping 1u above and below free (I don't).
Smf?
smf?
Standard midi file.
I have to ask... why do you think the plug is "a bit shit" and what do you possibly think you'll achieve by "upgrading" it?
Sorry for the slow reply. I missed this. A bit shit might be over-stating things, but the cable is a bit short, and is hard-wired. There's an upgrade which converts it to a standard kettle lead which is much more flexible. I haven't bothered doing it yet though. It's not a big deal!
and the software ?
It's a bit fiddly to set things up but once you have templates it's easy enough
nice :) i dont know if you mention that samples are only 22khz and no 44k.. is important. i have mine for many man years now and i use it to add little samples on top of my modular and other synths in my mixer. i did installed the usb thing but i did not like it so i kept with the floppys : ) i like it better. is a good machine to warm up the studio in the cold winters also :) is nice fol little samples but i wouldnt use it for a kick or stuf like that... nice tatoos by the way sun moon : )
Great point! Thanks for noting that, and having a watch.
44.1K and 16bit on the S2000 friend. Which felt amazing for those of us who came through the dark ages of early samplers. And it's why it became a default workhorse for most of us in the industry. The stock libraries available were the go-to for all manner of radio and TV work.
ahh yeah.. you can use 44.100. double the space : ) i use 22 quite a bit. also i pitched down a bongo and is a massive kick drum.. listen to Gruvaldo - I am got and get a taste for it.. niam niam : ) S2000 is glory!!!
My OCD is playing up. I feel like coming round for a quick tidy up. lol.
Do it. I know I never will!
new sub :)
Thanks!! Appreciate it. I've since modified that s2000...
I've got Mesa. 2
What are you running it on?
You can run a mesa2 on a mac g2 Lombard.
Now I need to get one!
Still works!
I just bought one :)))) With the USB fitted
Nice! Enjoy!
@@StephenMcLeod I'm sure I will :) I'm using the old DOS Cakewalk 4.0 again with Juno2,DX7IID, U220,D110,TG100 & 500,Minitaur, K-2, TR626, MicroKorg, I just needed this classic for the extra sounds. And then no extra editing in DAW or whatever, just straight out of the mixer. More fun :)
@@CHARLIEtheCATofficial Smart! I hadn't seen the TR626 before. Nice setup!
@@StephenMcLeod You need one!!
@@CHARLIEtheCATofficial I need everything haha
I have 2.... and the S950. 🙂
Nice!!! How do you like the s950? They go for silly money now
@@StephenMcLeod The floppy disc reader definitely need replacing with one of those USB or SD card readers instead. Over the decades, the record // playback heads go out of alignment. But i got mine for £50 when they were out of fashion, so no worries.
I have two s2000's. iIncredibly easy to use. You won't look back.
They are great! What do you do with the two of them?
the s2000 does read wav files
Pretty sure it doesn't. Any additional info?
good barber🧔
I wish I understood what you are on about
Well stated about modern inabilities to timestretch.
Hell mate, now I want to get one! XD
Not many polyphonic samplers out there with these capabilities...
This guy moves his hands a lot
This guy does.
Getting those palms tats probably hurt like shit
You have no idea...
Back in the days when those machines were going for around 50-100 Euro in Netherlands the MPC guys where buying them for the 8 output board. That's why many of these nowdays are bald.
I've heard that! The S2000XL shares the 8 output board. I'm glad mine is intact!!
@@StephenMcLeod yep! lucky you!
This is a great workhoarse if you want to put the processed sounds out of your main sampler to this one and with the 8i/o board spread to the desk, for example.
Ps. I bought mine bald for 30€.
Happy sampling! ;)
30 Euros!? That's a bargain!!
❤
‘Hehleowwww’
That's my tcheuchter accent
@@StephenMcLeod I love it
@@michaelt_tamtam Yassss thanks
My s2000 arrives this week.
Already got the emulator but no multi board unfortunately.
Bought a mpx last week. Tried it sent it back and bought the s2000 instead. Far more useful
Oh yeah?! That's awesome. The multi output board is great, but you can still do awesome things with the stereo outs. Make sure you have 32MB RAM as that's most useful, and pretty cheap/easy to do/install. What do you like about the 2000 versus the MPCX?
@@StephenMcLeod akai stumble with midi support these days.
New breed on mpc shipped with Omni midi in only. Took em years to sort it out
Mpx is limited to midi ch10 out and ch1 in.
No time stretch and a horrible whine that changed pitch as the pads were struck.
I'd been trying to grab an s series for a while before trying the mpx
😎🤘😎🤘😎🤘
Next... an S3000!
I bought my Akai S2000 for £40 lol.
Lucky bastid.
wahv
Waiv