Harware Samplers - anyone still rock them?

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snakes and ladders
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Harware Samplers - anyone still rock them?

Post by snakes and ladders » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:01 pm

I'm thinking about getting an EMU - e4xtultra> I heard my friends Emu and it sounded amazing - the filters were incredible.
Does anyone else still hardware samplers anymore?
The emu is sort of a hybrid synth/sampler/sequencer.
I'm amazed at how cheap they are- this was an $6000 sampler 8 years ago and I can get it for $800aud.
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Pitch Black
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Post by Pitch Black » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:11 pm

Still using and touring with my Akai S3200XL. The filters sound like nothing else I own, and the built-in FX board has some things that I can't re-create anywhere else either. Because of these, it's still one of my favourite "analog synths"... and it just has BALLS!

I also have a bunch of library that I've built up since the early 90's that won't convert exactly to other formats (EXS24 and Sampler/Simpler... looking in your direction!) the main issue being whose bright idea was it to have a global filter and envelope setting per patch, instead of per keygroup? - pah!
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snakes and ladders
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Post by snakes and ladders » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:23 pm

So you think it would be a good investment (musically I mean)?
I havent had any real experience with HW samplers but I have friends who get amazing results from theirs.
Has anyone used the e4xtultra?
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forge
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Post by forge » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:28 pm

their beady little LCDs are just too small

sinnatagg
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Post by sinnatagg » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:35 pm

So how do you get your samples into your sampler ? I have a Yamaha A4000 and it's a total chore bringing samples into it over scsi. And at our rehearsal/studio place we only use laptops so the only alternatives would be floppies or burning cds.

I would also add that a hw sampler is more of a long term investment in building your own instrument with the collection of samples you bring into it. This takes a lot of time though so I wouldn't expect to get much mileage out of it before using it for a fair amount of time. Though I might buy one of the newer Akais with USB if someone could confirm that ak.sys software work on intel macs.

And, yes, hw samplers do have their own personality and sound compared to their software counterparts.

-a

Michael Hatsis
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Post by Michael Hatsis » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:38 pm

If youve never had a hardware samplie its a totally diff workflow...but at the same time its very rewarding... you can conjure up some really nice sounds out of that thing. try to get the cdroms that came with it. theres 10 or so ranging from natural orchestal stuff to crazy synth sounds. zplane filters, some of the best digital filters iver ever heard ( besides ensoniq or course ) . most of the params are midi assignable ( so i remember ) The E4xt is the loaded one, so it comes with all the bells and whistles, if you get a good price and your down to experiment, id def recommend that thing to anyone.

Rogue Scrunt
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Post by Rogue Scrunt » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:01 pm

I use a rack full of yamaha tx16w

my favorite
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synnack
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Post by synnack » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:31 pm

I think it is impossible to say if a hardware sampler is a good investment for you.

It depends entirely on your workflow. For many people it would be a bad investment since they'd never use it (like me).

I think a better question is, what is it about a hardware sampler versus a software one that is attractive to you? If you come up with some compelling answers to that, then it might be a good investment.
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cubehog
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Post by cubehog » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:39 pm

I own the little brother of the biggest of the Ultra-family.
You shouldn´t hesitate to buy one if you´re into doing stuff on your own rather than using presets.
You´ll need to get familiar with the Eos-structure and the modulation-matrix and some features are a little bit complicated at first. But once you´ve stepped through it you should enjoy the results that come out of this device.
I use it like a polyphonic, multitimbral subtractive synth.
Therefore I sampled simple waveforms (sine, tri, saw, pulse) and some distorted/processed waveforms. Once this work is done the fun begins. Recording and looping is rather easy and I made some templates and stored them with the autoload-function so that I can use different configs for bassline-mangling, stabs or creating chords similar to the chord midi-effect. In this regard it is even more flexible.
Since the ext-instr. device is integrated in live 7 you´re still able to put some effects behind the incomng audio. So it doesn´t drain the cpu as much as kontakt does.
One feature kontakt has is the flexible effect rack. Also the Emus onboard effects are of a rather "medium" quality. The Emu has just one filter/per voice. But you can put different voices in one preset and treat them seperatly or as a group. It is quite a different experience than working with sw-samplers for sure. The Z-Plane filters and the vowels stuff are quite unique features and add a lot of character to your sound.
Some dnb-artist still rely on these samplers. And there´s great stuff produced with these machines (teebee and calyx i.e.)
if you´re more into preset-jumping stay away from these devices if you´re more into sound-design go for it. For that price you can´t go wrong with it.

noisetonepause
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Post by noisetonepause » Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:23 pm

I have an S900 that I really like for some things, even if it is a bit of a pain to programme. I've also got a Roland W30 sampler/keyboard/seq, but I haven't sampled that much with it.

I really want to get something a bit newer that'll work with Recycle. I almost bought an Akai S2000 a few days ago, but decided that it was maybe a bit much, what with the two-lines-of-text interface... Probably going to spring for an Emu or a Yamaha one of these days, though.. I like not working on the computer 100% of the time...
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Post by STRATEGY_510 » Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:38 pm

noisetonepause wrote:I have an S900 that I really like for some things, even if it is a bit of a pain to programme. I've also got a Roland W30 sampler/keyboard/seq, but I haven't sampled that much with it.

I really want to get something a bit newer that'll work with Recycle. I almost bought an Akai S2000 a few days ago, but decided that it was maybe a bit much, what with the two-lines-of-text interface... Probably going to spring for an Emu or a Yamaha one of these days, though.. I like not working on the computer 100% of the time...
I want an s950 just to run drum hits (and maybe loops) out of.

shit sounds so much better than coming dry out of a DAW. I'm sure the coloration of the s950 could be replicated with efx, but I'd rather it sound how I want it to otb.

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BinaryB
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Post by BinaryB » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:19 pm

sinnatagg wrote:So how do you get your samples into your sampler ? I have a Yamaha A4000 and it's a total chore bringing samples into it over scsi.

And, yes, hw samplers do have their own personality and sound compared to their software counterparts.
My Yamaha A5000 is pretty quick over scsi
and i got an internal HD and internal Zip drive in it
so its never been an issue for me.

The filters are great but the effects are Insane !
+ realtime Timestretching too. Sickness.

I keep on thinking about selling it because its back home in Sydney but i cant bring myself to pull the trigger on ebay.
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DJ VAKIS
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Post by DJ VAKIS » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:00 pm

Where are the MPC users?
http://www.myspace.com/djvakis
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cavern
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Post by cavern » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:28 pm

boss 303

love it

moddog
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Post by moddog » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:13 am

i've used hardware samplers for live performance since the beginning (nothing like swapping floppies as you play). currently using Roland Fantom X, great sampler functions, excellent screen/editing functions. they also make a rack version, but you lose the screen. anyway, a great all in one package with killer sampling.

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