Akai S3000XL Sampler

**the-music-man** · 01-20-2013

Hi guys,

So i have been offered to buy an akai s3000xl really cheap of a family friend, but im a bit unclear about how it works. Is it a bit like an mpc, just with out the pads?

I have an akai mpd 26, could i plug this in through midi cables and trigger samples from the sampler with my MIDI controller?

Thanks in advance

**ssscientist** · 01-21-2013

Sure you can. Just plug the midi out of the mpd to the midi in of the s3000xl.

Being a machine released in 1995, it's got a miniscule memory compared to today's machines, but if you stick with 16-bit drum samples you'll find the availble memory to be adequate. It's got a floppy disk drive so a pack of floppy discs will come in handy. You can expand the memory to 32 megabytes with 'standard' 72 pin SIMM chips --- note that this is MEGAbytes, not GIGAbytes --- and SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) is available, but it's not clear whether it's a built in feature or an added board or card.

You can also do cool stuff like saving a floppy full of 8-bit drum samples for that good ol' Ensoniq Mirage sound or make it sound like an Akai MPC-60 by blowing the samples down to 12-bit. These are sounds that you just can't get with any software.

I'd recommend you buy it!

**the-music-man** · 01-21-2013

Cheers!

I think i will buy it then!

**SynthHead66** · 04-09-2013

I've owned a S3K XL for about a year now and have gradually got my head around how it works. I use it mostly for drums as it's floppy disc-based and you can get some decent drum samples onto a 720k DD disc! The problem I'm having at the moment concerns outputs.

Assigning a keygroup to a separate output, I've found that it appears at the sep out but also appears at the stereo outputs despite me taking it out of the stereo mix on the MIX page. I've consulted the manual a lot about this but can't seem to sort it. I'd be grateful for any help.

**ssscientist** · 04-13-2013

According to my reading of the manual there are two pages involved and each one has a separate level column. Try turning down the level on the Mix page and leaving at 99 on the Out page and see if that works.