The Mellotron Group

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pring 
<markpringnz@...> wrote:
>
> I am thinking of buying a sampler, but I do not know much about 
them. I would be buying second hand in New Zealand so it would 
probably be be 4-5 years old and would be a very popular model. Being 
a small country there is a very limited choice of musical equipment 
anything even slightly unusual is not likely to be imported.
> 
> It would need to be simple and load from CD rom and connect via usb 
to a midi keyboard.
> 
> If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer some 
questions, please contact me off list.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Mark



>
    Hello Mark.  I remember touching on this a couple of years ago 
when you thought finding a tron was out of reach.  Once again I would 
highly recommend the EMU mainly for its ease of use and warm sound 
quality.  Since I believe you will use it for storage and retrieval, 
the 5000 ultra or 6400 ultra would be most cost effective for you. 
These all come with a built in hard drive and a scsi port on rear to 
connect a scsi cd reader.  I found an old Plextor scsi cd at a swap 
meet for 5 dollars. The ultra series has the latest software upgrade 
and you will want 128mg of memory, there are expansion slots inside.I 
have seen expansion cards for the ultra series with usb ports but 
they are still a little pricey, but if you have a quality audio card 
it should be midi ready.  The samplers are easily found on ebay and 
can be had for between 200-300.  I've had units from Roland and Akai 
in the past but this one is miles ahead.  And you can load the Pinder 
cd and have all those wonderful sounds with a touch of a button.  
Happy Hunting....Doug