the SAMPLER post...

[pk_hat]

you know the feeling: You've looked through all the music catalogs over and over again, and when there was nothing else to read, heck...you picked it up once more and tattered it to death. All the while, you (think) you know what you'll buy 'when the $ comes in'. You want this module, that sampler, that POD, the Triton, whatever... gear lust!

And then comes the day when the ATM slip is like sunshine, and you're ready, finally...
You can go and get the this, that and the other.
My day has come, and I have that nervous feeling of buying the wrong thing. Y'all know what I'm talking about? Those butterflies you get as you've narrowed it down to "that" piece of gear...
I've been eyeing samplers for a long time now(I've never owned one), and I was set on a EMU E5000.
2 months ago, as I was working my ass off to save some money, I had a friend talk me into Gigastudio 160 instead of hardware. Cool, it sounded and looked very impressive, not to mention the attractive price [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Tonight at work, a friend - whom I had no idea was into music production - raves about his AKAI MPC2000. Tells me about all the features, how easy it is to get it going, how this album and that album was made entirely with one of them, etc...

Sigh....

SO here it is, I'm no newbie to all this, but I will admit that when it comes to 'sampling' and 'samplers' in general, I could use a little guidance with making the right choice.

Basically, here's what I'm looking for...

-the ability to create interesting beats from the keyboard (or pads if AKAI), instead of relying on pre-made loops I get from either ACID or music magazine CDs. To clarify, I'd like to make my own loops with interesting sounds loaded into whatever sampler I buy.

-the ability to buy some good quality loops that I see advertised in the mags ad that I've heard in the listening booths at the retailers (there's some great $#!t out there)

-I also would like to keep the whole configuration as simple as possible.
I know that if I went with an EMU, we're talking hooking up a CD-ROM to read sample disks, as well as some storage device (HD- ZIP) to store them. Oh, and max. RAM also!
3 devices in a chain = clutter (although one I can live with)
However, can you just use the PC hard drive and CD-ROM to read and store samples on an EMU?

So, either way, there will be some compromise. I know that Giga will be a clean, non-cluttered setup, good qualty sounds and a great price.

the AKAI has the portabilty bonus, as no one likes to carry a PC tower to a gig.
But on that note, if the AKAI has a sequencer built-in, will that steer me away from the on screen MIDI sequencing I'm used to in PT?

And then the EMU, well...how about that EMU after all?
Or how about the Korg Triton's built-in sampler, which doesn't seem to create much of a buzz for whatever reason?

I really appreciate any feedback about this subject, as I'm sure it will help out many others as well.

Since samplers have become such an integral part of music production, working alongside programs like Pro Tools, I think it would be cool to make this an "official" sampling post.
Give your comments and opinions on what samplers you're using, beyond the 3 mentionned above. Whatever brand and model, what you love and hate about it, how do you have it configured, why it really applies to the style of music you're into, which sample CD library blew you away and inspired you, etc...

peace

pk

[ June 25, 2001: Message edited by: pk_hat ]

[Sofine]

Hi PK,

Would you consider a Sample Cell II card. I bought one recently and it works great! Fits inside your PC / Mac - 8 outputs - 32MB Ram (Maxed out) - you can buy high quality CDs for loops. All samples are stored locally or read from CD. Though you would have to bring your PC / Mac with you for live applications. If you are a Mac user there is Soft Sample Cell, a software version of this, with huge sample memory (uses hard disk, up to 1Gb I think).

I also have an Akai S2800i which I hardly use any more, I find the Sample Cell much FASTER and easier to use.

HTH,

Simon [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[pcvsmac]

What kind of music are you making? It sounds like electronic to me.

Start small, but invest to grow, as well. What I mean is that you could buy a 2x2 MIDI interface, but for $100 more you could get a really nice 8x8. Why not buy the 8x8 to grow with you? On the other hand, why drop $2400 on a Triton when you could buy an XP-10 for much less?

I highly recommend buying on eBay. I just got a used (but perfect condition) JP8080 for $800 (normally $1200). I love the sounds that come out of that. I bought a Korg Triton when I had the money, but am now selling it on eBay because I don't like the sounds. I was new to it all, and was told it was an awesome synth. Well, yes, it is, but not for me.

And that's what it is all about, and that's why you should start small. Buy small things, buy cheap, and learn how YOU work and what YOU are comfortable with and you won't end up wasting any of your money. You don't have to spend it all just because you have it. Save your money until you can make more educated decisions.

Personally, I think Propellerhead's Reason in combination with Recycle is an excellent start. But, that's just me. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[da BaSsTaRd!]

i know i'm probably sounding like a broken record on this, but i'm totally sold on my soundblaster live. its not the most versatile "sampler" out there, but it certainly is the cheapest. i use it for drums. there's a lot of great free soundfont drumsets on the internet. if all you need is some rock drums, then this will work great. if you need more, then you should look into a hardware sampler or reason or something like that. some cool features are that you're not limited to onboard ram like the samplecell card and you have a s/pdif digital out and you got 32 voices. use vienna (comes with the card) to create your own programs.........

[cutman707]

it all depends on what music you want to make. i use an mpc2000, and a s3000xl along with ptle, to make big beat music. to me playing with the mpc is a must. sure there are limitations, you need a zip drive, and you cant place a sample across a keyboard, but it has excellent strenghts. for playing live you cant beat the two separate midi outs, and sixtyfour track sequencer. if you want to make interesting loops the 16 levels function is really cool. and finally when it comes right down to it, you get to bash something in your studio [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

chris

[Plastik909]

This is a hard one to call as there are so many products to choose from that achieve similar results. I have a EMU E5000 and have found it to be excellent. It has a modular design that will allow you to upgrade and expand as and when necessary. It has inbuilt filters and effects that can create some really whacked out sounds. I use PT to trigger samples via midi and also use the sampler in live situations triggering samples via and electronic drum kit.

Hope this helps...