Ableton Forum

i apologize for being offtopic atm, but i'm getting really desperate and i'm way passed being out of ideas. i recently bought a hardware sampler, the Akai S2000 to augument my software, etc. i got an extremely good deal based on the fact that the seller had accidently destroyed his only OS disk. initially, i didn't think it would be much of a problem as i remember from days long past being able to download Ensoniq OSs in emergencies. however, after what has turned into months of internet/usergrmjsoups/craigslist/other electronic music forums/etc scouring that has turned up nothing. not even the akai website can help as it no longer supports that system and you need ancient windows OSs to be able to make a new disk. is it possible that someone out there in ableton land also uses this sampler and can make me a copy? i'll re-imburse for shipping and floppies. thanks for the help!

HardwareExorcist wrote:...however, after what has turned into months of internet/usergrmjsoups/craigslist/other electronic music forums/etc scouring that has turned up nothing. not even the akai website can help as it no longer supports that system and you need ancient windows OSs to be able to make a new disk.

http://www.akaipro.com/archives.php

HardwareExorcist wrote:not even the akai website can help as it no longer supports that system and you need ancient windows OSs to be able to make a new disk.

thanks, but, it DOES NOT WORK unless you have win98 or OS9 or older. i've tried every suggestion posted at akaipro and everywhere. unless you know of some special trick that i overlooked, you simply cannot download the OS or create a new one with OSMaker on an XP machine. i would love to be proved wrong on this issue, so if you know how it's done, please enlighten me. otherwise, my offer to purchase to a copy and pay for the shipping still stands.

would you be willing or able to hook me up with a copy of yours?

the s2000 is not worth all this trouble you are going through.

IMO

go buy a cheap computer from goodwill or the salvation army - most likely it'll have an older version of windows on it

but as stated before, bro - you're wasting time on this one, unfortunately

Rubbish! Die-hard S3200 owner here. The Akai's have some of the best sounding filters IMHO. The only drawback with the S2000 is the tiny LCD makes it quite tricky to navigate, which can be offset by using the MESA software editor.

Found this by Googling "akai s2000 operating system".

Here it is on floppy for $9 on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Operating-System-St ... dZViewItem

It's a good sampler, I think. If you get into the workflow.

Do you have a physical floppy drive? You could try running Win95/98 in QEMU... should be relatively easy to find...

Pitch Black wrote:Rubbish! Die-hard S3200 owner here. The Akai's have some of the best sounding filters IMHO. The only drawback with the S2000 is the tiny LCD makes it quite tricky to navigate, which can be offset by using the MESA software editor.

Found this by Googling "akai s2000 operating system".

Here it is on floppy for $9 on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Operating-System-St ... dZViewItem

awesome! thanks, i appreciate that.

Rogue Scrunt wrote:the s2000 is not worth all this trouble you are going through.

IMO

with all due respect, i paid 40US for a fully upgraded, maxed out hardware sampler with unique characteristics. i bought it specifically to run all of my drums and synths for my live band due to its 8 outputs and 128mgs of ram. it's a sampler, not a POS synth, so 'i' get to decide how good or bad the end result sounds. for my purposes, it's exactly what i need. i don't use computers live anymore, there's been too many crashes, weird glitches, etc. i'd rather use a dedicated chunk of antiquated hardware that's been battle tested and proven reliable. sorry, i just can't bring myself to be cool and go out and buy a mac book with a copy of reason, i choose my gear based on what i like.

HardwareExorcist wrote:128mgs of ram.

hmmm... AFAIK the S3/2000 range max out at 32meg of RAM. It wasn't until the S5/6000 that Akai went higher. Still thats a LOT of drum sounds.

Pitch Black wrote:

HardwareExorcist wrote:128mgs of ram.

hmmm... AFAIK the S3/2000 range max out at 32meg of RAM. It wasn't until the S5/6000 that Akai went higher. Still thats a LOT of drum sounds.

i stand corrected:) without actually having worked with it yet, i wasn't so sure. thanks, heh. after i read your post, i did bit of research and i discovered that in addition to that 32, you can also get 16 more of ROM for a grand total of 48. i don't know what the whole ROM thing is all about, but i guess i'll figure it out once i finally get this thing booted. but you're right, 32megs is still more than enough to cover all of my drum kits, synth patches and whatever other samples i want to toss on there.

Pitch Black wrote:Rubbish! Die-hard S3200 owner here. The Akai's have some of the best sounding filters IMHO. The only drawback with the S2000 is the tiny LCD makes it quite tricky to navigate, which can be offset by using the MESA software editor.

Found this by Googling "akai s2000 operating system".

Here it is on floppy for $9 on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Operating-System-St ... dZViewItem

i'm gonna grab that disc. what's this MESA program about? i'd like to check that out... thanks

Google is your friend!

MESA lets you connect your Akai sampler to your computer and edit sounds and patches on a large screen software sampler-style layout. Much easier than the 2000's 2 line LCD. You need to connect your computer to your sampler via SCSI, so you may need to install a SCSI card in your Mac/PC to do this, as it's quite an old connector format.

You can download MESA here: http://www.akaipro.com/archives.php (scroll down to MESA Mac or PC, and the further down the same page for the MESA 2 manual, again, either Mac or PC).

From what I remember, MESA only works on the S3200 and higher models. On the S2800 I could upload samples and programs but not control anything else (from what I remember). It was mostly programming via the interface, which makes sense once you go through it.

They are GREAT sounding samplers, if you like to use the interface on rackmount gear they're great samplers. The program layering and filters sound amazing. I prefer a more slimmed down rig these days.

If anyone's interested in an S2800, fully expanded (RAM, zip drive), PM me, FWIW.


I had a crazy time trying to find that SCSI cable (a rarely used 50 pin, I think). I checked all the computer shops in San Francisco for one. I finally went to a computer junkyard, the guy laughed and pointed to an oil barrel of SCSI cables and told me to have fun digging. There was one sitting on top, lucky find.