Looking for a simple drum sampler

[kraku]

I'm looking for a following kind of a sampler which I'll be using to play single hit drum samples:
- hardware unit
- you must be able to change the sample on the fly OR the sampler must have in-place auditioning for "the sample to be loaded" (I really want to get the beat going and then browse for the best fitting single hit sound)
- it should be possible to quickly browse and in-place-audition a very big library of single hits (256MB+)
- the unit can be very simple sample player; I just want to get the workflow optimized (selecting the sample quickly and efficiently)

Currently I'm using MPC1000 w/ JJ OS 2, but when I go to the sample loading menu, the sampler doesn't play the sounds at the background with the currently selected sample (it doesn't actually play anything at that point ).

Korg ESX-1 almost works, but you can only fit something like 256 sample in the memory or something...

Does anyone have experience with MPC2500? Can you in-place-audition the samples while browsing the samples on the HD/memory card?

What other samplers are out there which could be worth checking out?

[ramos]

you can get more memory for the esx....

[Dane_Xoth]

you can get more memory for the esx....

I would suggest external storage. There is a Harddrive upgrade for the MPC 1000.

Maybe i'm olds skool with my sampling technique, but my first sampler had 6 secs of memory (x7000), and my second had 2Mb (DJ70). I would only have the samples i needed loaded into memory. For single drum hits (and/or short loops) who needs 256Mb loaded into memory? ( i could see it needing to be larger for 'phrase loops') Or 256 samples? (maybe if the sampler was a person's only instrument)

Building kits offline seems more effecient than 'browsing/changing on the fly'. (Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance)
Sux about not being able to 'load/preview', but if you build kits offline you won't need it.

[Stab Frenzy]

Hang on, the MPC1000 has 128MB of memory. That's a freakin crapload of drum hits, in fact I reckon you'd probably hit the max number of programs before you filled the memory.

Just load all your samples into the RAM of the MPC, then you can change programs (kits) however much you like while the sequencer's running. Spend an hour or so putting all your samples into kits, put them in the AUTOLOAD folder and then never have to worry about it again.