12-Bit SAMPLER: Akai S9OO vs S950

A

ajouffa

Guest
Hi,
I'm producing Hip-Hop and R&B.
I'm using a MPC-2000 and an ENSONIQ ASR-10.
I'm looking to buy an old Akai 12-bit sampler, S900 or S950.

Does any of you know the differences of sound quality between the two? They're both 12-bit. The 950 has more memory and options, but I heard that the 900 has a warmer sound.

What do you think?
 
s900 vs s950

i owned am akai s900 and thought i could effectively use it to sample loops and trigger them alongisde DJ mixes. this was before i got into making music using equipment. i went back to making music with my Roland s330 because the Akai s900 wasn't very intuitive in terms of ease of use...it was more meant for creating patches...for example...sampling several sounds and spread them over a keyboard (piano, synths, pads, basses)
one thing the s900 was kool for was drums. It has 8 outs so for drums it is great as long as you make a proper patch and assign the drums to the individual outs you're set.
the s900 has a 8 input trigger board that is hard to find...useful for people with drum triggers or drum pads.

i worked with an s950 to amke some beats and it sounded grat for bass lines and drums however the differences weren't all that great to me compared to the s900 as far as sound quality.

overall i've felt akai samples sound thinner but a good EQ helps this. however the s950 samples at a higher rate in terms of frequency response than the s900

the filters, the time stretch, the memory and storage options make the s950 a better find...

the above is all my opinion.

here are specs from sonic state:
Akai s950
Memory :
Standard : 720k mb
Maximum : 2.25 mb
Sampling Rates :
Minimum : 7.5 kHzkHz 12 bits
Maximum : 48.0 kHzkHz 12 bits
Features : Time stretch scsi interface
Other Features: Ease of use! 10 outs: 2 = L/R + 8 unbalanced!!!
Upgrades: Version 1.2 OS IB-109 interface for SCSI

Akai s900
Sampler
Memory :
Standard : 750 KB mb
Maximum : mb
Sampling Rates :
Minimum : 12kHz 12 bits
Maximum : 40kHz 12 bits
Features :
Other Features: Sample dump bus
Upgrades: Software updates, ASK-90 drum trigger board, 16 bit sampling board

ok these ar things that are not opinions or facts but things i'm not sure about because i ditched my s900 for something lighter.

software upgrades - apparently you can trick the s900 to act like an s950 however the software at the time i had mines was only available through atari 1040st format. You got filters and time stretch.

16 bit sampling board impossible to find, i think marion systems made it and it's pricey...i don't even remember if SCSI was an option. doubt it...and these days essential in my opinion.

Hope that helps!!!

pma@xfader.com
http://xfader.com
 
Thank you for your answer.

I want to use a 12bit sampler to make my drums sounds crunchy and dirty like on most of today's hip hop/r&b production.
I will still use my mpc for sequencing though. I heard that the akai S900/950 and EMU SP-1200 are still use today by top producers . I will basically use that kind of sampler like an effect box.
I heard a lot of people say that the S900 sounds more warm than the S950, and that it was a better buy even though it has less memory and fewer options.

What do you think??
 
warm?????

you wrote:

"I heard a lot of people say that the S900 sounds more warm than the S950, and that it was a better buy even though it has less memory and fewer options.

What do you think??"


I think:

in my previous post i said i think akai samplers all sound thin but that EQ should fix that...

i don't know what "warm" is...

an akai sounding warm?????

they sound dead cold to me...the s900 and the s950 sound COLD, ICEY, Frigid!!!

there's no huge difference in sound UNLESS you use the filters on the s950...then your bass sounds have more bass or the opposite depending on whjich filter you use...but this whole thing about samplers sounding "warm"???

it's bogus...

digital sounds like digital

crunchy maybe
warm? forget it!

you want authentinc 12 bit crunch? get te s950 or better yet get the sp1200 that has outputs specifically designed with nice filters.

you want warm?

run your all of your gear through a huge TUBE AMP or TUBE compressor...and then record to anmalog tape

hope that helps

it's like tha new Korg sampler with the little tube in it...it's just for looks.
 
SORT OF

This may help also. If you want your drums so sound dirtier, and 12 bit, then simply convert them to 12 bit in your sampler. I have used this technique many times in my triton to get dirty sounds. Just hit rate convert and thats it.
 
re-sampling

How many 16 bit samplers out there actually re-sample at 12 bits?

i know the ESI4000 and K2000 can't do 12 bits...but it can sample at lower resolutions which doesn't sound nearly as good as Mirage, Emulators, and RZ-1's (true 8 bit samplers)
 
When you resample in 12bit on newer samplers, it never sounds as good as the old ones. That's why I wanna buy an "old school" sampler. I like the SP-1200 a lot, but it's too expensive.

I'll buy the s900. Again, I asked a lot of people today who told me, that it sounds better (something about the converters) than the s950, and that it was the MPC 60 sound.
 
don't mean to beat this to death but

good choice...hopefully you won't pay more than $150 for an s900

however
mpc 60's have the s950 sound engine.

=)


However if you want the s950 to sound EXACTLY like an s900
you hit the sample menu it asks you what kHz you want to sample at...you turn the dial from 48khz to 40kHz and WALA!!!! you are now sampling sounds the way the s900 samples

i understand budgets are important...
but how can you pass up filters and time stretch and scsi?
the extra 100 bucks for all that? $250 doesn't sound so bad now ehh?
 
On some other dutch forum i read 900 or 950 dont sound like mpc60, and 950 has more crunch/mid. o brother. i wish i had them all so i could do a definitive comparison with all sampled sounds posted so you can decide and make it a sticky note.

I compared my mpc60 sound to the s950 samples from that hiphopwhatever site.
S950 sound more crunchy and has more mid. MPC60i sound more hifi/true to source if you tweak the samples flat before sampling. or else a whole lotta boom and punch will come out that baby!
If you really want the best sounding drums, i heard alot of peeps with their demos and drums from an sp1200. it sounds soooooo cool.
I own a sp12turbo but needs to be fixed first
 
You can find an S1100 for jusrt as cheap(better converters, more memory, faster, ect.) unless you want specific functions only found in the 900/950.
 
this thread doesnt exactly answer my question but I do have to say this. I have an S900 (that doesnt work) and an S2000. I wanna be able to play with em, so that I can be familiar with the functions and later incorporate it with my setup. i've looked everywhere and i'm not findin a whole lot of info on these units. (well up until this thread).

I'm not sure what I need for the S2000 to be able to use it in my setup.

sorry, i'm not tryin to thread-jack but thought that i would throw that out there
 
If you weighing the 900 against the 950 there two key differences:

The 950 has the OS onboard and doesn't have to be booted.

The 950 also has expandable memory.

* The 950 has that classic white finish

There are some minor upgrades in looping but there's not a huge difference in functionality. Get the 950 and you'll save some headaches with that boot disk. Too many OS disk have corrupted because they laid the floppy next some headphones

** Let me add this: bitcrushing alone won't give you that 950/900 or 2000 sound. It's a combination of components that produce that sonic signature.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well there's nothing clean about the 950/900 or the 2000/xl in any sence. There's nothing like using the genuine hardware to filter samples through without the knob twiddling.

To ajouffa" , the 900 and 950 have the same converters and there is no difference in sound signature.
 
Seeing as how you already know your way around the ASR 10, I say you get an EPS Classic for that 12 bit grit. you can pick up an EPS Classic and get right to business without wasting time on learning a new piece of gear.
 
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