Hardware Sampler Death Cult

[verdelay]

My sampler committed the capital crime of being turned on...in the wrong country.

Duly sentenced to DEATH, the judgement was carried out by means of ELECTROCUTION and 240 volts was blasted through its frail 120 volt-capable frame. The Yamaha A4000 was pronounced dead on Saturday 10 February at 1:25pm.

It was all a dreadful mistake, of course. They got the wrong guy.

Just moved from the States to the UK and the damn mains power difference slipped my mind.

Now, there's a chance at resurrection. Could just be a blown fuse (he said hopefully). But it's got me thinking of new possibilities.

You see, I've recently upgraded from my old (also dead) Beige G3 for a gorgeous (noisy) dual boot 2x1GHz 1GB RAM G4 tower running PT LE 5.0 through my trusty, dusty Digi 001.

Software samplers were not really a viable option with the G3 (233Mhz processor, 500MB RAM), hence the Yamaha; but the G4 seems to be quite the beast. Not that I really let rip with the old sampler - actually I just used it for sample playback - orchestral sounds and basses, mainly (I have the extensive - now useless - Yamaha A-series library). But it was an integral part of my studio setup nonetheless, and I'm sorely lacking without it.

One issue, of course, is my version of pro tools (5.0) - a bit creaky, not so good for the newer software. So should I upgrade to the 6.4/OS10.3 version (my system can boot from 10.4, 10.3 and 9.2)? That would mean losing my 5.0/OS9 compatible plugs, of course.

Never having thought about these things before, I am bewildered by issues like DirectConnect, and AU-compatibility. Lots of the good stuff appears to be VST-oriented, which I realise is not much good for us lot.

Any advice on (soft) sampler possibilities?