I would have usually put this in the Vintage section, but this forum does say "gear" so here goes..

Does anyone have any reference on installing an internal HD into the older Akai 3200XL version of sampler?

I've just got one, with no instructions (which is ok as I've used these before) but I've only ever opened these up to add a board or two which clip in place or some memory.

Do I have to get a certain style of HD? SCSI? Do these samplers have a limit on what size they can read etc?

Thank you for any help

I would go with a SCSI to CF (Compact flash) card reader. I did exactly that with my MPC3000 about a year ago and it makes a world of difference. CF cards are relatively cheap and can be backed up easily. Loading samples to and fro computer is easy and fast. There are many solutions available should you choose to go down this route but you'll need to research the correct drive specs to work in your sampler.

Or, you could go with a floppy drive emulator (Google "HxC floppy emulator") but I think this is still in its infancy.

Personally, I wouldn't go with an internal hard drive for convenience sake.

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I'm All Ears.

http://akaiscsifaq.digidude.net/ Have a look through this guy's pages.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Quote Pitchfork:

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Do these samplers have a limit on what size they can read etc?

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Yes, limited by internal memory but also partition access. For example, my CF solution can creat up to 24 partitions. But it doesn't matter if I stick a 1GB card or a 16GB card in there, the sampelr will only access up to 768MB (or somthing close). This is obviously more than enough for me (16-Bit 44.1kHz) on a 32MB sampler.

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I'm All Ears.

Ok thanks for your help. I thought maybe an internal drive would be less fidly and built in, instead of more plugs, connectors and leads ( I used to have a sampler with a Zip drive) so was thinking along a simpler internal line..

Quote Pitchfork:

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Ok thanks for your help. I thought maybe an internal drive would be less fidly and built in, instead of more plugs, connectors and leads ( I used to have a sampler with a Zip drive) so was thinking along a simpler internal line..

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Well, it's all internal so once you set it up, that's it! Hot swap cards in some cases...

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I'm All Ears.

Thanks Ken, can you send me a link or pic to this, as never seen an Akai, with a CF card reader?

I have in some cases seen zip drives built in, which looks good, but maybe a lot of work for someone like me (a novice)!

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I'm All Ears.

Is that a Quasimidi 309 on top?

I was trying to find the SCSI for Samplers site, but they seem to have gone out of business. They appear to have change their name, but even the new website seems to be just a parking window.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

I like the look of that Ken!

So how big did you say those cards hold? And I suppose I can get a simple ext CF card reader from Ebay/Amazon that would do the same thing, if im scared to take the lid off and fiddle with electronics?

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I like the look of that Ken!

So how big did you say those cards hold? And I suppose I can get a simple ext CF card reader from Ebay/Amazon that would do the same thing, if im scared to take the lid off and fiddle with electronics?

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The cards vary from 1GB (almost discontinued) to 32MB if memory serves. The installation is *not* that difficult - no soldering required. I'm not sure what the 3200XL is like inside but you may need an adaptor cable (SCSI male to female).

As Richie says though, the main supplier has gone out of business. That being said, all parts you need should be available on eBay no problem. You're probably lookign at around £80 for the drive and £20 for the adaptors and ribbon cables.

I've PM'd you some contact details which should get you started...

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I'm All Ears.

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So how big did you say those cards hold?

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As Ken says, CF cards hold multiple GB, but those old Akai samplers will not use more than 500MB on any device, no matter how large.

Quote chris...:

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Quote Pitchfork:

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So how big did you say those cards hold?

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As Ken says, CF cards hold multiple GB, but those old Akai samplers will not use more than 500MB on any device, no matter how large.

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Hmmm... if by use, you mean space per partition then perhaps! But my 3000 can store up to 780MB per card (doesn't matter if it's 1GB CF or 32MB CF) I would imagine it's slightly more on a newer 3200XL... not sure though.

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I'm All Ears.

Quote ken long:

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Hmmm... if by use, you mean space per partition then perhaps! But my 3000 can store up to 780MB per card (doesn't matter if it's 1GB CF or 32MB CF) I would imagine it's slightly more on a newer 3200XL... not sure though.

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I only used S3000XL, which was same range as S3200XL, and a little different from orig S3000.

I'm very confident there was a hard limit per SCSI device of 500MB (or thereabouts, maybe 512MB).

You can divide this into (smaller) partitions, but you can't exceed 500MB total on a single device.

FWIW page 230 of S3000XL manual:

"The S3000XL can only read CD-ROMs/hard disk up to 512Mbytes. CD-ROMs or hard disks larger than this can be used but any data stored above 512Mbytes will be ignored."

Quote chris...:

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Quote ken long:

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Hmmm... if by use, you mean space per partition then perhaps! But my 3000 can store up to 780MB per card (doesn't matter if it's 1GB CF or 32MB CF) I would imagine it's slightly more on a newer 3200XL... not sure though.

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I only used S3000XL, which was same range as S3200XL, and a little different from orig S3000.

I'm very confident there was a hard limit per SCSI device of 500MB (or thereabouts, maybe 512MB).

You can divide this into (smaller) partitions, but you can't exceed 500MB total on a single device.

FWIW page 230 of S3000XL manual:

"The S3000XL can only read CD-ROMs/hard disk up to 512Mbytes. CD-ROMs or hard disks larger than this can be used but any data stored above 512Mbytes will be ignored."

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Ah. Makes sense. I thought the XL series would be more. Having said that, 500MB is more than enough!

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I'm All Ears.