Preference: Roland S760 / Akai S2000?

[translucencecs]

Ok - I don't doubt that this has come up a thousand times, but I'm putting a more broad spin on it.

A specific question, but I'm also open to more general opinions...

Which do you prefer - the Roland S760 or the Akai S2000

On a broader level, do you feel the Akai S-series or their Roland equivalents are better?

Just wondering, for research & purchase purposes!

[_seph]

unfortunately there really doesn't seem to be much interest in hardware samplers these days. for those that have been around a while, my opinion on this is fairly well known. i'm just not a fan of Akai samplers and i really don't like the S2000. but, that's just me and preferences. i'm an E-mu and Ensoniq guy, but i do like Roland's various offerings.

i've never owned a Roland sampler S series but i've played with them. right away i like the general sound more and i also like their interface more as well. just off of specs alone i'd go with a Roland. currently i have a couple of their later offerings (SP-808 and VP-9000), in general i think Roland does a great job with most of their gear.

honestly, i really think any of Akai's competitors were much "better" in comparison. IMO the only thing Akai has ever had was the MPC line. they made a great sampling drum machine and sequencer. but i'd rather use anything else other than their S series samplers.

just another example of how being the "industry standard" doesn't mean you're the best. usually that title (like most titles/awards) goes to the most mundane.

[aeon]

Funny this should be asked, because I just bought a used Roland S-760, fully-blown with monitor, library, and drives. I have wanted to do this for some time, and the right unit with the expansions I desired presented itself at a nice price.

Why, in this day and age? Simply-put, the gorgeous sound. It uses the same multimode filter as the Roland JD-990, and the character of the Roland S-760 is absolutely perfect for pads, strings, and atmospheres. It has that "special Roland color" I love so much. I have previous experience with the S-series engine as found in the DJ-70mkII, but now I have an interface to deal with the byzantine, if powerful, architecture.

For me, between these two choices, Roland S-760 all the way.

My other hardware sampler is a Yamaha A5000. 8)


cheers,
Ian

[Alexx]

I had a Roland DJ-70MkII for a while. Lovely warm sound, filter; bass is good. The architecture does your head in a bit at first (especially if you try to understand it via the manual!), but it isn't really that bad to operate.

For some reason I sold it to help fund an E-mu E5000, which I didn't get on with. So I sold that (thankfully before s/h hardware sampler prices plummeted) and eventually started using a computer for sampling type stuff.

However, I too have often longed to have a Roland S700-series sampler again, I do miss the sound.

I don't have any experience with the Akais. But it looks to me that the S2000 has an awful user interface; so if you want an older Akai, go with an S1000/S1100/S2800/S3000/S3200 with a proper screen etc.. I mean hardware samplers are so pathetically cheap now compared to the thousands they used to cost new, that there's no reason to go with such a cut-down model. (S2000 is cut-down S3000-series.)

[Dr. Sound]

I found AKAI S series had clean, almost sterile sounding filters that were great for punchy drums.

On the opposite end of the spectrum (my opinion) is the EMU e6400 series, with very noticeably warm filters. We used to sample whole tracks into it and bounce it out before a final mix.

My $0.02

[TheYorkshireLad]

I have an Akai s2000 and an E-MU ESI 32 fitted with the turbo card, I always seem to use the E-MU sampler far more than the Akai, I think the E-MU is easier to use..

Simon