The Akai S3000XL
is a
sampler with 32
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...
voices, and 2
MB of built-in
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to:
* A male sheep
* Random-access memory, computer memory
* Ram Trucks, US, since 2009
** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans
** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks
Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
.
For adding sounds to the sampler, the S3000XL features a 3.5"
floppy drive
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...
that reads
Akai
Akai (, ) is a Japanese brand & former electronics manufacturer, established as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo in 1929. It was best known outside Japan for its tape recorders during the 1960s and 1970s. The company became bankrupt in 2000 ...
-formatted floppies, and a
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced ...
port which allows for connection to an external storage device (such as a
zip drive
The Zip drive is a removable floppy disk storage system that was announced by Iomega in 1994 and began shipping in March 1995. Considered medium-to-high-capacity at the time of its release, Zip disks were originally launched with capacities ...
or external hard disk), a CD reader, or a computer for editing samples via the MESA editor. The device can also play back MIDI files, which is useful during live performances, as the Akai can take the role of the computer to trigger internal samples or external MIDI devices. The built-in 2 MB of RAM can be upgraded up to 32 using 2 16 MB
SIMMs Simms may refer to:
First or middle name
* Anna Simms Banks (1862–1923), American educator and politician
* E. Simms Campbell (1906–1971), American cartoonist
* Mary Simms Oliphant (1891–1988), American historian
* Simms Taback (1932–2 ...
that Akai provided; other upgrades include cards such as the EB-16 effects board and the IB-304f filter board.
The S3000XL has 8 outputs, and two
1/4" phone connector inputs, which meant that it could also operate as a
hard disk recorder
A hard disk recorder (HDR) is a system that uses a high-capacity hard disk to record digital audio or digital video. Hard disk recording systems represent an alternative to reel-to-reel audio tape recording and video tape recorders, and provide ...
. The front panel consists of 32 buttons (eight of which are function keys), three knobs, and a four-key
directional pad
The D-pad (short for directional pad) is a compact input method developed for video games, designed to translate thumb movement into directional control through a flat, cross-shaped surface that rests on four internal switches. Each switch corres ...
for navigating the 240×64 display, which is located in the upper-middle portion of the sampler.
It is one of the most versatile and useful
samplers
Sampler may refer to:
* Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal
* Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework
* Sampler (surna ...
produced, primarily due to the large screen and easy-to-navigate interface allowing for quick and in-depth sample editing. However, the
LCD screen
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not emi ...
's backlight fades easily and the memory capacity is comparatively small by today's standards.
The S2000 is a stripped down budget version of the S3000XL featuring a smaller 2×16 character LCD display and no internal SCSI connector; it was usually sold with no options installed. Regardless, it is functionally similar and accepts the S3000XL options listed below (sans internal hard disk), including the IB-208P 8-channel output board, which is exclusive to the S2000.
Although Akai has discontinued production and
product support
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
...
for the S3000XL, many working units can still be found in
recording studios
A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...
around the world.
Options
*Akai EB16 "SampleVerb" 4 × 50 effects board
*Akai FMX008 8MB Non-Volatile Flash ROM
*Akai IB304f "ProFilter" filter board
*Akai MESA editor
*Akai OS v2.0
*Akai SHD524 524MB 2.5" SCSI Hard Disk
References
Further reading
*
External links
Akai S-Series
{{Akai
Samplers (musical instrument)
S3000XL
Japanese brands
1996 introductions