Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

haydenvan · Post by **haydenvan** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:48 am

I want to sample my analogue synths capable of making some nice drum/percussive sounds because I cannot practically sequence them all live to do what I have envisioned in my head unless I had many more synths and a lot more money. Sounds lean towards early synthpop, darkwave, minimal wave, etc...I've been looking at a couple Akai (S900 and 1000) and Emax. I would like to have something with nice warm analogue filters. Affordability, reliability, usability, and old school sound are key in this. Thanks!

haydenvan · Post by **haydenvan** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:49 am

Oh, and I would be sequencing the sampler probably from my SQ80 sequencer or my computer.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:11 am

Budget?

If I were you I wouldn't be worrying about analogue filters on the sampler, just make the sounds you put into it sound good and they'll come out the same. It's not like the vintage stuff you like doesn't sound vintage when you play it back on a CD, is it?

Taking 'old school sound' out of the equation (which you can as long as you make the sounds that go into it old school) then affordability, reliability and usability is pointing to an MPC1000 or SP404 I reckon. Both have built in sequencers so you wouldn't have to worry about triggering them from the SQ80.

haydenvan · Post by **haydenvan** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:24 am

True on the filters...Yeah my analogue synths can fend for themselves just fine. I still want that "gritty" sound ala Depeche with those 12 bit and below samplers. I suppose the fx on a sp404 or mpc1000 would achieve that (can anyone verify that?). Those samplers are a little bit out of my price range at the moment, but I could save up if it's worth it. I was looking for around 300 or below which lead me to my initial choices since I could sequence with things I already have. I've already had an ESX1 in the past and found it's timing and sound quality (noise, signal bleed through to other channels) quite sloppy.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:41 am

I find that sequencing a rack sampler (especially one that needs some form of SCSI storage) is neither reliable nor very usable. I used to gig with an S2000, wasn't much fun and needed to arrive at shows early to set everything up, load up my samples then had to leave it set up and turned on while the support bands played.

I think if you want grit, get it on the way in to the sampler by bouncing through a cassette tape or using a Sonic Alienator or something like that. Haven't used a 404 (would like one though) but the MPC1000's fx aren't that special.

I'm finding your former ESX is pretty decent for drums.

Have used it on a couple of tracks and remixes, although I'm not that fussy about timing (it is what it is) and haven't had any bleed problems, but I don't crank up the tube gain much.

Post by **nadafarms** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:19 am

I would just suggest getting a cheap rack sampler they are so powerful and not that hard to use, sound better than most computer samplers too. Just try using effects and good preamps when making your own crazy synth drum samples.

I just got an Emulator III tonight that works great, it's taking me awhile to understand but just sampling my 808 into it so far is amazing. Not a very practical instrument for the price or reliability... but has 16bit sampling with analog filters and proper envelopes

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:48 am

The guys wants something to gig with, rack samplers are terrible for that. I know this cause I gigged with them for years. Never again.

Shreddie · Post by **Shreddie** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:25 am

Stab Frenzy wrote:The guys wants something to gig with, rack samplers are terrible for that. I know this cause I gigged with them for years. Never again.

Then why do so many bands still use Akai S5/6000's live?

Post by **Ashe37** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:40 am

Were you loading samples from an internal drive? CD-ROMs? The load time for a bank of samples on my EMU isn't that long and it can load banks while playing...

Post by **nadafarms** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:51 am

I would totally gig with a rack sampler, especially a s5000-6000 or akai z4 or z8. I mean if you just have a nice hard drive and a midi controller you'll have no problems and rack samplers are a lot more durable than a laptop.

For the price rack samplers go you can grab a couple extra for backup

haydenvan · Post by **haydenvan** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:16 pm

Mmm, I think there was a little misunderstanding. By live, I meant all at once, but not necessarily on stage. I would mostly use this in the studio and sequence it. And, I've heard that the midi timing response of the Emu is slow compared to the Akais? Probably just have some kind of hard disk recorder or something live. A reel to reel would be a nice touch but that is so impractical on many levels.

However, I might eventually want to hook up my Octapad to the sampler live. I don't think there would be many drive changes on stage in that scenario if it could hold enough sounds in one bank.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:40 am

Shreddie wrote:
Stab Frenzy wrote:The guys wants something to gig with, rack samplers are terrible for that. I know this cause I gigged with them for years. Never again.
Then why do so many bands still use Akai S5/6000's live?

Define 'so many bands'. A few still use them because they've been using them since the days when computers weren't powerful or reliable enough to for live use and that's what they're comfortable with. The majority of live electronic acts I've seen lately have been using either laptops, ipods or MPCs. And I see and play with a lot of electronic acts.

Ashe37 wrote:Were you loading samples from an internal drive? CD-ROMs? The load time for a bank of samples on my EMU isn't that long and it can load banks while playing...

No, from an external Jaz drive and then an external SCSI drive. The Akai I had can't load while it's playing.

Anyway, now we know it's mostly for studio use a rack sampler should be fine. I'd recommend a SCSI HD rather than using floppies or Zip or Jaz drives. The Yamaha A series have some nice effects built in, they might be good for this purpose. The Akais (2000/3000 series onwards) are pretty vanilla, you'll get out pretty much exactly what you put in. Haven't used any of the earlier ones, they're supposed to have more character. I like the sound of the filters of the later E-Mus, and they have a lot more mod options for mangling stuff, but I'm not sure if you'd need those.

Another option for gritty sound which has a built in sequencer would be the ASR-X. Early E-Mu sound and it's made for sequencing drums and samples. You could play the samples in with pads rather than on keys, I find it's a lot nicer that way. And you should be able to find one in your budget. ASR-10 would be another option, it's pretty much the same thing but in keyboard form.

Shreddie · Post by **Shreddie** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:38 am

Stab Frenzy wrote:
Shreddie wrote:
Stab Frenzy wrote:The guys wants something to gig with, rack samplers are terrible for that. I know this cause I gigged with them for years. Never again.
Then why do so many bands still use Akai S5/6000's live?
Define 'so many bands'.

Well, I have seen a few in recent times with two or three S5/6000's on stage but I will admit that most of those were older artists.

The majority of live electronic acts I've seen lately have been using either laptops, ipods or MPCs. And I see and play with a lot of electronic acts.

Firstly, the ipod (or any mp3 player) won't be getting used as a sampler, it'll be there for backing tracks. Laptops though, yeah, fair enough, I've seen a few of those on stage too but I still hear of relibability problems from time to time. As far as MPCs go, they're basically rack samplers with sequencers and a control surface... The MPC4000 was based on the Z4/8 sample engine. Other MPCs are based on the S3000 or 5/6000 engine IIRC apart from the MPC5000 which is based around the Alesis Fusions architecture.

Ashe37 wrote:Were you loading samples from an internal drive? CD-ROMs? The load time for a bank of samples on my EMU isn't that long and it can load banks while playing...
No, from an external Jaz drive and then an external SCSI drive. The Akai I had can't load while it's playing.

I'm not aware of many older hardware samplers which can. The S5/6000 can't load banks while playing, but they can stream samples directly from the hard drive in a limited fashion.

The Yamaha A series have some nice effects built in, they might be good for this purpose.

+1!

They can also be used as stand alone effects units if you wish.

The A series samplers do have a reputation for being awkward to use though... The A3000 is probably best avoided because it has a useless screen and needs alot of menu diving.

One problem with rack samplers is that they haven't been made for a while so some may be old with reliability problems waiting to appear in the near future. A good alternative would be an MPC or MV 8800.

Post by **Ashe37** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:09 am

The Emu EOS 4.0 samplers can load samples while playing and are set up to take an internal IDE hard drive. They can use up to 138 GB PATA hard drives, don't boot from floppy (boot is ROM-based). Most banks will load from the hard drive in about 15 seconds.

haydenvan · Post by **haydenvan** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:43 pm

Another option for gritty sound which has a built in sequencer would be the ASR-X. Early E-Mu sound and it's made for sequencing drums and samples. You could play the samples in with pads rather than on keys, I find it's a lot nicer that way. And you should be able to find one in your budget. ASR-10 would be another option, it's pretty much the same thing but in keyboard form.

I checked out the ASR-X. Of course, I could only find hip-hop demos, but it does seem like a good, easy, inexpensive sampler. Does anyone have opinions about these? Sound, easy to use, good timing?

Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

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Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

Re: Which sampler for analogue synth drum sounds?

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