Okay, so while I've elsewhere been somewhat foot-in-mouth about the iconic Fairlight, it occurs to me that there's no way I could afford one of the beasts in the best of circumstances.

While there's plenty of virtual & rackmount sampling options afoot, I like the idea of an all-in-one sampler with a proper keyboard. I still use my old S-10 (waiting for the drive belt to shatter) & have laid in a small cache of the ghastly little QuikDisks. I bought it used for $100 some years back, before Roland put all the manuals online, & figured out by main force how to use it properly.

But it's horribly primitive, with low sample rates & four sounds maximum. And I hate the idea of trying to perform & flipping through a hundred disks between songs, so a hard-drive (or at least the capability) would be ideal. As I'm slowly (very) getting back to live work, can anyone recommend a half-decent upgrade path, that won't require me to mortgage the house?

What sort of thing are you hoping to do with it?.. what kind of sounds?.. without wanting to sound mean, anywhere from an S10 will be a step up.. not much in the way of facilities on those puppies.

If it's a S/H keyboard sampler you are after, then I still think Emax IIs offer the best VFM.. a great combinations of great sound, very easy to use, great build quality and fantastic synth functions.. but I am rather biased as you can see from my sig



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MBP 17", PC 100(Nubus Protools) Motu 896, X-Station, Logic9, Reason6, Korg legacy, ACE, Alchemy, Emax II, E-Synth, Evolver MEK, Waldorf Pulse and Blofeld, AS Telemark, AS Leipzig-S

Edited by Chevytraveller (22/04/11 07:32 PM)

It's an early S-10, & I like the keyboard feel. I suppose what's kept it around this long is ease-of-use (after the initial learning curve).

Yah, I've heard praise of the E-mu's filters. Seems what I'm looking for may be mostly decades-old kit. Aside from the Korg MicroSampler, what I've thusfar been pointed to:
-- Roland S-550 (rackmount, but good filters)
-- Casio FZ-1
-- Akai X7000
-- Ensoniq Mirage
-- Korg DSS

Naturally, I want a device that'll do everything. But I'm thrashing. A friend produces video documentaries & training films, & is interested in having me do soundtrack work that involves occasional Foley, which of course makes me want the Fairlight's power (for instance, smoothing applause transitions after the video is edited). For stage & studio, I want access to Mellotron-like pads from my own samples. And it'd be nice to have the time to hold an entire bar of a drum/bass rhythm scheme at a keytouch (the S-10's limit is 1.1 seconds!!).

EMU E4K
Ensoniq ASR-10
Akai S-1000KB

Quote Tony Raven:

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Naturally, I want a device that'll do everything. But I'm thrashing. A friend produces video documentaries & training films, & is interested in having me do soundtrack work that involves occasional Foley, which of course makes me want the Fairlight's power (for instance, smoothing applause transitions after the video is edited).

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The Fairlight's power..? Have you seen what a laptop will do these days..?

Seriously, I have to question anyone who thinks an S10, or any 80's sampler, is going to be a useful foley tool for video...

Please see previous -- should indicate reasons why I've already managed (all on my own -- wow!! ) to determine that the S-10's all-tooth for my proposed purposes. (e.g.: heavy, underpowered, fragile...)

Some of the venues I propose to play hereabouts are NOT the sort of place I'd put a laptop computer without heavy chains or maybe an armed bodyguard; at least somewhat more difficult to sneak out the door unnoticed with 61 fullsize keys. (Also why the MiscroSampler isn't a stronger contender -- its specs certainly put the 1980s devices to shame.)

While having access to software is clearly a strong path, for an all-round machine such as I propose finding I'm not able to go the way of a NeKo or even MiKo.

A laptop with Kontakt is the way to go. Seriously. Hardware samplers were always a compromise that's why the Fairlight was great- it's a CMI.

Kontakt will even import your Roland library if you can get disk images made (a long shot I know). There are several groovy laptop flight case things out there, if you're worried about security. I recommend a Mac.

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

Roland W30?

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Original artwork and unique devices inspired by vintage technology http://www.thisisobsolete.com

Quote jellyjim:

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Roland W30?

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That's what I was thinking if you want something cheap, disposable, and sequencery.

However, *any* of those early samplers are so limited in terms of memory, storage space and usability it would be really painful. Still, it would be a step up from an S10...

Quote Tony Raven:

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It's an early S-10, & I like the keyboard feel. I suppose what's kept it around this long is ease-of-use (after the initial learning curve).

Yah, I've heard praise of the E-mu's filters. Seems what I'm looking for may be mostly decades-old kit. Aside from the Korg MicroSampler, what I've thusfar been pointed to:
-- Roland S-550 (rackmount, but good filters) - Nice filters, but hard to find and painful, floppy based operating system.. A S760 is many times better in every way and the same filters

-- Casio FZ-1 - Yuk Were breakthough because they were cheap but horrible filters and very clunky/crap disc filing system

-- Akai X7000 - no better than the S10 except that it can store 6(16 with mem exp)Samples rather than 4

-- Ensoniq Mirage - Again.. cheap at the time, but ghastly operating system.. great if you speak fluent Hexadecimal

-- Korg DSS - Not much to recommend this one either very limited memory(256K exp to 512)

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If it's a Fairlight you aspire to, then just get one of THESE




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MBP 17", PC 100(Nubus Protools) Motu 896, X-Station, Logic9, Reason6, Korg legacy, ACE, Alchemy, Emax II, E-Synth, Evolver MEK, Waldorf Pulse and Blofeld, AS Telemark, AS Leipzig-S

Well a current Fairlight, or even an MFX 3 actually is a good tool for foley. If you must get an old sampler, get an Emax II. It still has usefully bad transposing, nice filters, reasonable memory when expanded, sensible UI, and with the SCSI you can get a memory card on there. The disc filing is slightly annoying, but it's OK.

But seriously, laptop, Kontakt.

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

Actually I'd say hexadecimal is relatively easy if you know what numbers are. Other than that, there's very little you have to do with a Mirage in hex. I think it's something like two or so parameters, most of 'em are decimal or on/off.

Not saying the Mirage is a good bet though - I like mine very much for the lo-fi joy it brings, but it's too limited and clunky for anything but careful studio work.

The W-30 is more like "a poor man's Fairlight" than the others IMO as it's a sampling keyboard, 8 outputs, onboard sequencer and multitimbral. There was a SCSI kit available but not as standard, so if you find a W-30 without it, best of luck finding the parts - it needs a SCSI chip installing before you can think about attaching a drive. The W-30 sounds good though again maybe not the best bet for a modern setup.

Quote vinyl_junkie:

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EMU E4K
Ensoniq ASR-10
Akai S-1000KB

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Actually.. if you want the best all-in-one out there.. then it has to be the E4K
76 full size keys, can hold internal HD(up to 9Gig I think), 128Mb RAM and the best (morphing) filters on any sampler. Later versions also with a fully functioning sequencer..

ASR-10 Keyboard.. nice machines, but not that reliable and difficult to find

S1000 KB.. Basically, like a big White Elephant but rarer

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MBP 17", PC 100(Nubus Protools) Motu 896, X-Station, Logic9, Reason6, Korg legacy, ACE, Alchemy, Emax II, E-Synth, Evolver MEK, Waldorf Pulse and Blofeld, AS Telemark, AS Leipzig-S

Quote Chevytraveller:

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S1000 KB.. Basically, like a big White Elephant but rarer

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That's your second funny post. I have an Akai MX-1000 that looks the same, better keyboard though.

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

This could be just the thing you need:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may06/articles/alesisfusion.htm

They seem to go for around £500 on the second hand market.