Akai S20 Sampler

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Akai S20 Sampler
zZounds Gear Experts Say...
16-bit, 8-voice stereo phrase sampler. 1 meg RAM. Floppy disk drive.

Plunge your hand into its naked, throbbing heart and pull out the music
Trance or dance, drum 'n' bass or jungle... When you're ready to Frankenstein your own grooves, this is the box you need. The S20 is a pro-quality phrase sampler with everything you need to slice it, dice it, and stitch it back together again. It's as easy to use as sampling gets, but it's powerful enough to take you to the outer reaches of Electronica. Best of all, it won't have you digging down to the lint at the bottom of your pockets.

When you're ready to dig in up to your elbows...
When toys won't cut it and you need the real thing, check out the S20 Stereo Phrase Sampler from Akai. It's about the only real sampler you're going to find that's made specifically for phrase sampling. And, you won't have to sell anything major — like an internal organ, say — to get one. The S20 is from Akai, the worldwide leader in professional sampling, so naturally you'd expect nothing less than true stereo sampling and a 16-bit linear data format, along with the power to loop, edit, and synchronize phrases at your command — everything you need to bring those monster grooves to life. (And with its complete MIDI implementation, it'll even function as a multi-timbral sound module.)

Of course, using a sampler shouldn't be like performing brain surgery. You just want the thing to work so you can make music. So we made the S20 incredibly easy to use. Whether you're in the studio or performing live on stage, the functions… read more you use most are always at your fingertips. And to make your life even easier, we built in the doktor's own Beat Loop Function: to match any phrase to the tempo of your mix, just enter the number of beats and the tempo you're looking for, and the S20 automatically adjusts the phrase to play at that tempo. You're welcome.

You'll also want to know that we've included a built-in disk drive, so you can save samples and sequences on regular old (cheap!) floppy disks. You can expand your S20's memory by plugging in a standard (cheap!) 72-pin SIMM. You can record your performances with the S20's 4-track sequencer. You can even load samples from sound library disks for any of Akai's other S-Series samplers. Hey, about the only thing the S20 won't do is sit up and say, "Hello, master." (Actually, it might.) So if phrase sampling's your thing, shamble on down to your Akai Professional dealer and pick up an S20. Then, when lightning strikes, flip that switch and warn the villagers.

An affordable stereo sampler designed specifically for phrase sampling and live performance

Features
16-bit linear stereo sampling

8-voice polyphony

Sample, loop,and playback in realtime

16 pads for triggering sampled phrases

"Hold" mode to automatically repeat beat loops

Tap tempo

4-rack sequencer

Built-in floppy disk drive for sample and sequence storage

1 MB of RAM standard (expandable to 17MB with standard SIMM)

Powerful (but easy-to-use) editing

Sample compatibility with the entire range of Akai's "S" Sries samplers

Functions as a conventional MIDI sampler with multi-sampling and multi-timbral capability

The mind-bogglingly hip Beat-Loop function

Makes it easy to synchronize multiple phrases

For each phrase, input the number of beats and the desired tempo

The S20 instantly adjusts the phrase to play at exactly that tempo read less

Sampling method: 16-bit linear encoding

Sampling frequency: 32 kHz, 16 kHz, 8 kHz

Total sampling time:
with 1MB memory (STEREO, MONO): 32 kHz: 7 sec., 14 sec. 16 kHz: 14 sec., 28 sec. 8 kHz: 28 sec., 56 sec.
with 17MB memory: 32 kHz: 131 sec., 262 sec. 16 kHz: 262 sec., 524 sec. 8 kHz: 524 sec., 1048 sec.

Polyphony: 8 voices

ADC: 4th order delta/sigma 64x oversampling

DAC: 4th order delta/sigma 64x, 8x interpolation filter

Internal memory: 1 MB (expandable to 5MB or 17MB by 72-pin SIMM)

Data storage device: 3.5 in. 2DD/2HD floppy disk drive

Edit parameters: Trim: Start Point, Start Fine, Sample Length, Length Fine; Loop: Loop/One Shot, Discard, Loop Length, Loop Fine; Pitch: Transpose, Sample Tune, Constant Pitch, Bend; Level: Level, MIDI Velocity, Release, Mono Trigger, Resample; Prog: Keyrange High, Keyrange Low, Prog.No., MIDI Channel, Priority;

MIDI: MIDI Transpose, Master Tune, Program Change Channel, Note Assign, Out/Thru;

Disk: Load, Save, Delete, Format

Loop Function: Beat, Sample Tempo, New Tempo, Master Tempo

Panel Controls: Main Volume; Rec Level; +/- Cursor Keys; Rec Erase (Delete); Hold/Loop (Play); Stop; All Stop (Stop); Reverse; Tap; Seq; Bank Keys 1-16; Coarse (Stereo/Mono); Edit

Connectors: Input: 2 x RCA pin jack/47k-ohms; Output: 2 x RCA pin jack/270 ohms; MIDI: 2 x 5-pin DIN (In,Out/Thru); Phones: 1 x 1/4 in. (6.3Ë mm) stereo phone jack/100 ohms

Power source: 120 VAC 60 Hz 18 W for USA and Canada; 220 - 240 VAC 50 Hz for
Europe

Dimensions W x H x D: 300 x 86.9 (108 max.) x 323.9 (329.5 max.) mm

Weight: 6.0 kg

Accessories: AC adapter; 4 sound disks; operator's manual

Note: For improvement purposes, specifications and design are subject to change without notice.

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 401-658-4032
Web: http://www.akaipro.com/support
Owner's Manual

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. (12 ratings)
Submitted April 30, 2004 by a customer from eminem.com

"Hip-Hop Toy"

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Very good product. I think it was made for live dj's mostly but it works great for whatever. Im still not sure what it was actually made to do, but it works great for MC's tryin to write to a track. If a producer already has a beat for them to write to, he can put a loop into the S20, save it to floppy, then the MC brings the disk home and puts it into his S20. You can slow the beat down. BPM is a little off, but most equipment made before 1990 usually has BPM a little off.

Sound
Great sound. You can record at 16, 8, or 4 bit. And Whatever you record it in, you can Resample a sound back to whatever bit-rate you want. You can have average cd-quality(16 bit) at the best. Or get it all the way down to 4 bit which is a real grimy almost distorted sound. A lot of people wouldnt mess wit 4 bit, but those of you into hip-hop know you like static and grimeyness.

Features
This piece of equipment has some pretty useful features. I think it would still be fine without MIDI, but MIDI is a plus sometimes. You can cut the beginning and ends of samples pretty easy. Reample easy. Midi programming may take a little time for those of you that are new to MIDI. Also, very good to make loops on.

Quality
Akai cant be touched when it comes to quality, even though its made in Japan. The only problems or bugs with this product are the power transformer. IF YOU OWN THIS, I REALLY SUGGEST UNPLUGGING IT FROM… read more THE WALL WHEN NOT IN USE. THE S20 HAS BEEN KNOWN TO GET HOT IF ITS NOT IN USE AND ITS PLUGGED IN. JUST DONT TAKE THE CHANCE OF HAVING TO PAY $80 TO GET THE TRANSFORMER REPLACED AND INSTALLED.

Value
If you get it for $120 or below, it is a great deal. If its more then that, its worth it, but its possible to find it around $80. Look around first.

Manufacturer Support
Akai is very helpful. Even with there Discontinued products. If you dont live near California, and you dont want to send it somewhere, find a local Licensed Akai Dealer. Very Good Support though. www.akaipro.com

Musical Style:
Hip-Hop read less
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