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

>  I could also recommend the Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg
> which means you have a lot of sounds to play around with before you have to
> load again from the hard disk. I find the architecture very easy for me to
> use. You would have to connect an external CD drive or load sounds directly
> from the computer via usb. The Akai interface software has been easy for me to
> use also.
>  
> 
> 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
> 
>  
>  
>

--- On Thu, 8/21/08, Tom Doncourt <tomdcour@amnh.org> wrote:
From: Tom Doncourt <tomdcour@amnh.org>
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008, 9:01 AM

Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers


> I could also recommend the Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg >which means you have a lot of sounds to play around with before you have >to load again from the hard disk. I find the architecture very easy for me >to use. You would have to connect an external CD drive or load sounds >directly from the computer via usb. The Akai interface software has been >easy for me to use also.

 

i second the akai suggestion.
the newer ones have:
usb available for direct connection to a computer

software [free] that utilizes that interface

allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY importing of just about any audio file you might want to put in it

i have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
they both have serious limitations that cannot be overcome.
they are, in some ways, complimentary, and i use them both all the time.
but... the recent akais have, to put it simply, removed all the limitations that make these others cumbersome difficult and restrictive. if i recall the s5000 and s6000 are both usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify this before purchasing. they are all available on ebay all the time.

some people find the akai operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one of those things that the more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a small investment in time makes it all worthwhile...


>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.


can you please clarify this statement?
midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same purposes.

>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer some questions, >please contact me off list.



>Thanks
>Mark

In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
i_am_zontar@yahoo.com writes:

Re:  [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers

> I could also recommend the  Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg 
>which means you have a lot  of sounds to play around with before you have >to 
load again from the hard  disk. I find the architecture very easy for me >to 
use. You would have to  connect an external CD drive or load sounds >directly 
from the computer via  usb. The Akai interface software has been >easy for me 
to use  also.

i second the akai suggestion.
the newer ones have:
usb  available for direct connection to a computer

software [free] that  utilizes that interface

allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY  importing of just about any 
audio file you might want to put in it

i  have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
they both have serious  limitations that cannot be overcome.
they are, in some ways, complimentary,  and i use them both all the time.
but... the recent akais have, to put it  simply, removed all the limitations 
that make these others cumbersome  difficult and restrictive. if i recall the 
s5000 and s6000 are both  usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify 
this before purchasing. they  are all available on ebay all the time.

some people find the akai  operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one 
of those things that the  more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a 
small investment in time  makes it all worthwhile..s

>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.

can you please clarify this  statement?
midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same  purposes.

>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer  some questions, 
>please contact me off  list.

>Thanks
>Mark






I thought the other guy was Zontar. 



**************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel 
deal here.      
(http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)

I am not clear about this myself.  I know nothing about samplers. I have a midi keyboard. I assume that the keyboard attatches via a midi cable to the sampler. I assume that the samples could be loaded from CD rom directly into the sampler ( my preferred option ) or via a USB cable from a computer. I assume that the output signal comes from the sampler and can then be sent to a mixer and powered speakers.

Is that correct?

Mark

--- On Fri, 8/22/08, lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com> wrote:

From: lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:27 AM










    
            



In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
i_am_zontar@ yahoo.com writes:
Re: 
  [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers

> I could also recommend the 
  Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg >which means you have a lot 
  of sounds to play around with before you have >to load again from the hard 
  disk. I find the architecture very easy for me >to use. You would have to 
  connect an external CD drive or load sounds >directly from the computer via 
  usb. The Akai interface software has been >easy for me to use 
  also.

i second the akai suggestion.
the newer ones have:
usb 
  available for direct connection to a computer

software [free] that 
  utilizes that interface

allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY 
  importing of just about any audio file you might want to put in it

i 
  have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
they both have serious 
  limitations that cannot be overcome.
they are, in some ways, complimentary, 
  and i use them both all the time.
but... the recent akais have, to put it 
  simply, removed all the limitations that make these others cumbersome 
  difficult and restrictive. if i recall the s5000 and s6000 are both 
  usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify this before purchasing. they 
  are all available on ebay all the time.

some people find the akai 
  operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one of those things that the 
  more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a small investment in time 
  makes it all worthwhile.. .

>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.

can you please clarify this 
  statement?
midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same 
  purposes.

>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer 
  some questions, >please contact me off 
  list.

>Thanks
>Mark



 
 
I thought the other guy was Zontar. 


It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.

In the case of my z8 you connect the keyboard by Midi cable. You can
connect two keyboards -one to midiA and one to midiB and play separate
multi patches from them. While there is a usb connection I have not been
able to play the unit through it. If you have an Akai formatted disk (the
Pinder disk is) then you can download it directly from a Cd drive provided
that it is a drive  the Akai recognizes. I have a Sony CRX1750U that works
fine for this purpose. You can edit the samples to some degree using the
Akai software in your computer and send it back and forth via USB. The
Akai has a fairly large hard disk- something like 50G so you may or may
not need to interface with your computer. The sound comes out analog
through a stereo pair of phone jacks.
Have you considered using a software based sampler like Kontakt? If you
are using a computer for recording and have an interface you could use it
live and as a plug-in as well . Personally, the Akai has been much easier
for me to set up for live and is much more versatile. It takes awhile to
figure out some of the bells and whistles but you can really do some great
stuff with it after a little investment of energy. TD

> I am not clear about this myself.\ufffd I know nothing about samplers. I have a
> midi keyboard. I assume that the keyboard attatches via a midi cable to
> the sampler. I assume that the samples could be loaded from CD rom
> directly into the sampler ( my preferred option ) or via a USB cable from
> a computer. I assume that the output signal comes from the sampler and can
> then be sent to a mixer and powered speakers.
>
> Is that correct?
>
> Mark
>
> --- On Fri, 8/22/08, lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com> wrote:
> From: lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
> To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:27 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> i_am_zontar@ yahoo.com writes:
> Re:
>   [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
>
>> I could also recommend the
>   Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg >which means you have a
> lot
>   of sounds to play around with before you have >to load again from the
> hard
>   disk. I find the architecture very easy for me >to use. You would have
> to
>   connect an external CD drive or load sounds >directly from the computer
> via
>   usb. The Akai interface software has been >easy for me to use
>   also.
>
> i second the akai suggestion.
> the newer ones have:
> usb
>   available for direct connection to a computer
>
> software [free] that
>   utilizes that interface
>
> allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY
>   importing of just about any audio file you might want to put in it
>
> i
>   have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
> they both have serious
>   limitations that cannot be overcome.
> they are, in some ways, complimentary,
>   and i use them both all the time.
> but... the recent akais have, to put it
>   simply, removed all the limitations that make these others cumbersome
>   difficult and restrictive. if i recall the s5000 and s6000 are both
>   usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify this before purchasing.
> they
>   are all available on ebay all the time.
>
> some people find the akai
>   operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one of those things that
> the
>   more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a small investment in
> time
>   makes it all worthwhile.. .
>
>>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.
>
> can you please clarify this
>   statement?
> midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same
>   purposes.
>
>>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer
>   some questions, >please contact me off
>   list.
>
>>Thanks
>>Mark
>
>
>
> \ufffd
> \ufffd
> I thought the other guy was Zontar.
>
>
> It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

I purchased on ebay several years ago an Akai CD3000 sampler specifically to
play my Pinder Mellotron CD. It loads "tape sets" directly from its CD drive
into internal memory. I use whatever midi keyboard I want to trigger the
samples. Typically, I will load MKII strings and 8 Voice Choir into memory
and trigger it from my Korg Triton Pro and put the strings on one half of
the keyboard and choir on the other. It's kind of like having a MKII
Mellotron. Obviously I can use any combination of layers or splits as well. 

 

Regards,

Jim Parthun

Parthun Enterprises, Inc.

630/968-8731 Office

630/968-8732 Fax

630/533-8340 Cellular

 



  _____  

From: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Mark Pring
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 5:51 PM
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers

 


I am not clear about this myself.  I know nothing about samplers. I have a
midi keyboard. I assume that the keyboard attatches via a midi cable to the
sampler. I assume that the samples could be loaded from CD rom directly into
the sampler ( my preferred option ) or via a USB cable from a computer. I
assume that the output signal comes from the sampler and can then be sent to
a mixer and powered speakers.

Is that correct?

Mark

--- On Fri, 8/22/08, lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com> wrote:

From: lsf5275@aol.com <lsf5275@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:27 AM

In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
i_am_zontar@ yahoo.com writes:

Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers

> I could also recommend the Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg
>which means you have a lot of sounds to play around with before you have
>to load again from the hard disk. I find the architecture very easy for me
>to use. You would have to connect an external CD drive or load sounds
>directly from the computer via usb. The Akai interface software has been
>easy for me to use also.

i second the akai suggestion.
the newer ones have:
usb available for direct connection to a computer

software [free] that utilizes that interface

allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY importing of just about any
audio file you might want to put in it

i have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
they both have serious limitations that cannot be overcome.
they are, in some ways, complimentary, and i use them both all the time.
but... the recent akais have, to put it simply, removed all the limitations
that make these others cumbersome difficult and restrictive. if i recall the
s5000 and s6000 are both usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify
this before purchasing. they are all available on ebay all the time.

some people find the akai operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one
of those things that the more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a
small investment in time makes it all worthwhile.. .

>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.

can you please clarify this statement?
midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same purposes.

>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer some questions,
>please contact me off list.

>Thanks
>Mark

 

 

I thought the other guy was Zontar.
<http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/smi/0201d20638/13> 





  _____  

It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal
<http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047> here.

You can convert Akai samples like those on the Pinder CD with Halion, although some people consider Halion to be a bit over the hill (like our Mellotrons ). I've used it within Cubase SX to convert the entire CD to WAV files.

A good resource for anything midi is kvraudio.com.

Bernie

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "Thomas C. Doncourt" wrote:
>
> In the case of my z8 you connect the keyboard by Midi cable. You can
> connect two keyboards -one to midiA and one to midiB and play separate
> multi patches from them. While there is a usb connection I have not been
> able to play the unit through it. If you have an Akai formatted disk (the
> Pinder disk is) then you can download it directly from a Cd drive provided
> that it is a drive the Akai recognizes. I have a Sony CRX1750U that works
> fine for this purpose. You can edit the samples to some degree using the
> Akai software in your computer and send it back and forth via USB. The
> Akai has a fairly large hard disk- something like 50G so you may or may
> not need to interface with your computer. The sound comes out analog
> through a stereo pair of phone jacks.
> Have you considered using a software based sampler like Kontakt? If you
> are using a computer for recording and have an interface you could use it
> live and as a plug-in as well . Personally, the Akai has been much easier
> for me to set up for live and is much more versatile. It takes awhile to
> figure out some of the bells and whistles but you can really do some great
>; stuff with it after a little investment of energy. TD
>
> > I am not clear about this myself. I know nothing about samplers. I have a
> > midi keyboard. I assume that the keyboard attatches via a midi cable to
> > the sampler. I assume that the samples could be loaded from CD rom
> > directly into the sampler ( my preferred option ) or via a USB cable from
> > a computer. I assume that the output signal comes from the sampler and can
> > then be sent to a mixer and powered speakers.
> >
> > Is that correct?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > --- On Fri, 8/22/08, lsf5275@... lsf5275@... wrote:
> > From: lsf5275@... lsf5275@...
> > Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
> > To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:27 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>; > i_am_zontar@ yahoo.com writes:
> > Re:
> > [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
> >
> >> I could also recommend the
> > Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 512 meg >which means you have a
> > lot
> > of sounds to play around with before you have >to load again from the
> > hard
> > disk. I find the architecture very easy for me >to use. You would have
> > to
> > connect an external CD drive or load sounds >directly from the computer
> > via
> > usb. The Akai interface software has been >easy for me to use
> > also.
> >
> > i second the akai suggestion.
> > the newer ones have:
> > usb
> > available for direct connection to a computer
> >
> > software [free] that
> > utilizes that interface
> >
> > allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY
> > importing of just about any audio file you might want to put in it
> >
> > i
> > have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
> > they both have serious
> > limitations that cannot be overcome.
> > they are, in some ways, complimentary,
> > and i use them both all the time.
> > but... the recent akais have, to put it
> > simply, removed all the limitations that make these others cumbersome
> > difficult and restrictive. if i recall the s5000 and s6000 are both
> > usb-capable as are the z-* series, but do verify this before purchasing.
> > they
> > are all available on ebay all the time.
> >
> > some people find the akai
> > operating system unfriendly, but i think it's one of those things that
> > the
> > more you use it the easier it becomes, and just a small investment in
> > time
> > makes it all worthwhile.. .
> >
> >>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.
> >
> > can you please clarify this
> > statement?
> > midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same
> > purposes.
> >
> >>If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer
> > some questions, >please contact me off
> > list.
> >
> >>Thanks
> >>Mark
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I thought the other guy was Zontar.
> >
> >
> > It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Daily <pocotron@...> 
wrote:
>
> Interesting application, James-
>    I was wondering if one could map & split the sounds as you 
describe.  That would sure make the most of an 88 note keyboard.  Can 
a pitch bend be applied to this setup uniformly across all notes?
>    -Bruce Daily
>   (really appreciating the sampler "tutorial")
> 
> 
>> On my E4 the answer is yes.  Depending on how you map the banks 
when you load them you can assign pitch bend globally or just the 
range of keys on one bank. The thing I like the most as with the EII 
as well is changing banks is quick and can easily be done as good as 
using the 400 track selector.  My E4 has an add on effects card so 
you can program say the choir bank with more delay and echo and run 
say the flutes with almost no processing as well as balance the 
volume output.  I just got a Yamaha SY99, 76 keys, and am looking 
forward to doing a lot of splits via the E4. 
The other thing is with all the stuff you can do with sound files, as 
importing wav files and writing them onto a proprietary disk ready to 
use in your Korg or whatever, why be bothered with USB?  Back in 
spring I received an old Mac for my Emulator II and after getting the 
proper interface cable I can now dump the data on all those 5.25 
floppies into the Mac and then load them directly to the hard drive 
on the EII or convert them to load into the E4.  Why it took 20 years 
to be able to do this is beyond me(along with just about everything 
else).  Just rambling on....Doug





> 
> 
> 
> I purchased on ebay several years ago an Akai CD3000 sampler 
specifically to play my Pinder Mellotron CD. It loads "tape sets" 
directly from its CD drive into internal memory. I use whatever midi 
keyboard I want to trigger the samples. Typically, I will load MKII 
strings and 8 Voice Choir into memory and trigger it from my Korg 
Triton Pro and put the strings on one half of the keyboard and choir 
on the other. It's kind of like having a MKII Mellotron. Obviously I 
can use any combination of layers or splits as well. 
>  
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Jim Parthun
> Parthun Enterprises, Inc.
> 630/968-8731 Office
> 630/968-8732 Fax
> 630/533-8340 Cellular
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com [mailto: 
newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com ] On Behalf Of Mark Pring
> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 5:51 PM
> To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am not clear about this myself.  I know nothing about samplers. I 
have a midi keyboard. I assume that the keyboard attatches via a midi 
cable to the sampler. I assume that the samples could be loaded from 
CD rom directly into the sampler ( my preferred option ) or via a USB 
cable from a computer. I assume that the output signal comes from the 
sampler and can then be sent to a mixer and powered speakers.
> 
> Is that correct?
> 
> Mark
> 
> --- On Fri, 8/22/08, lsf5275@aol. com <lsf5275@aol. com> wrote:
> From: lsf5275@aol. com <lsf5275@aol. com>
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
> To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com
> Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 10:27 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In a message dated 8/21/2008 5:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
i_am_zontar@ yahoo.com writes:
> 
> Re: [newmellotrongroup] Off topic Samplers
> 
> > I could also recommend the Akai Z4 or Z8. You can expand it up to 
512 meg >which means you have a lot of sounds to play around with 
before you have >to load again from the hard disk. I find the 
architecture very easy for me >to use. You would have to connect an 
external CD drive or load sounds >directly from the computer via usb. 
The Akai interface software has been >easy for me to use also.
> 
> i second the akai suggestion.
> the newer ones have:
> usb available for direct connection to a computer
> 
> software [free] that utilizes that interface
> 
> allows direct importing of .wav files for EASY importing of just 
about any audio file you might want to put in it
> 
> i have an ensoniq asr-10 and an emu esi4000.
> they both have serious limitations that cannot be overcome.
> they are, in some ways, complimentary, and i use them both all the 
time.
> but... the recent akais have, to put it simply, removed all the 
limitations that make these others cumbersome difficult and 
restrictive. if i recall the s5000 and s6000 are both usb-capable as 
are the z-* series, but do verify this before purchasing. they are 
all available on ebay all the time.
> 
> some people find the akai operating system unfriendly, but i think 
it's one of those things that the more you use it the easier it 
becomes, and just a small investment in time makes it all 
worthwhile.. .
> 
> >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.
> 
> can you please clarify this statement?
> midi and usb are, obviously, not the same, and not for the same 
purposes.
> 
> >If anyone can help with advice and has the time to answer some 
questions, >please contact me off list.
> 
> >Thanks
> >Mark
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I thought the other guy was Zontar. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel 
deal here.
>  
>