Akai S6000

Hi everyone, new to this so here goes !
I have an S500 and I think its brill. The huge screen and buttons that actually line up are a magor improvement on the S3000 series. The OS is simple and to be fair, if you cannot use it without a manual, then maybe you are in the wrong game ??

My machine has the extra 128 voice card, but no USB or FX card installed. I see these all the time on E-bay, but they are way too expensive. I find the layering possibilites and the re-sampling to be aboslutly invaluable. The lack of sequencer means it will always be hooked up to a computer so why is the USB not buit in ?? The multi mode is a huge advance on previous models and really, everyone should be doing this way, if not why not ? Loading times are slow from anything but internal HD. Having so much ram (256mb fitted) means it has become a mega synth with an infinate pallet. The synthesis is good, but 2 LFOs are really not enough for those of us who like to create. The ENVs are too limited for serious programming but the filter section is easily a match for any current synth even in 2005 ! ( With the excetion of Emu's Morpheus and thier Z plane equiped samplers).

I down loaded a pile of the net and if anyone out there wants to share, get in touch : chris@wotifgrp.com the lack of FX means the separate outs get used and the strain is then placed on my G5. not that this is a prloblem, it is just that it woudl be great to have something buit in. I find the sound quality is good, but I am really glad we have all gone 24bit. You can really tell the difference. These machines represent the pinicle of 16 design and to be fair, few could tell in a mix.

No problems other than I send it crazy once whislt auditioning a loop and changing the loop time ! Mine was cheap because is was supposed to have a fuat where the audio just drops out. The original wowner said this hapend twice in the last year. Big deal ! I upgraded the OS via a download from Akai and it is sweet !

There is no for something this old apart ffrom dedicated users. Downloads are avaiable but its the users who can help the most. Spares are impossible to find, so if yours had died, sell it for spares !

Definatly worth the money. the only thing stopping me from buying another wold be becayse I would rather have an S6000 and the removable screen. Programming from the rack is tiresome.( Hold your arms in front of you at chest height and see how long you last !! ).
I bought mine because my S3000 died and it was a bargin. Although I use EXS24 on Logic with a galactic library, I still prefer hardware. Maybe I am to old to think software is tangable ?

Very untuitive and straight forward<simply the best Akai made before the z series cae me along which isnt as nice and organic sounding as the s6000 / 5000

allmentioned below . . .loads - - very cool.

All depends on samples used.Checkout these guys for the cheapest and best sounding akai s5/6000 samples i ever bought.

http://uk.geocities.com/studioosound/sampleroms.htm

solid as a rock

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very cool- the best akai built - best screen ans ese of use.

never bothered to read the manual - it's so simple and intuitive.

I use mine for experimental / ambient stuff - i don't complain about the quality of fx. if i were interested in acoustic emulations, i might consider using better reverbs, but i've no problems whatsoever.
the fx board works great for routing external sound sources [nord modular in my case].
i have used the midi file player live - works great. i wish it could record midi though.
i have used 'virtual samples' - 20 min. long - read directly from the hd - no problems here, either.

i sample my nord modular a lot. have done some a / b testing - can hardly spot any difference: very faithful reproduction of sound. also works fine on some radical lo-fi sounds. i used to own a roland s 750 and sometimes i feel NOTHING can beat roland as far as punch and sound quality are concerned. but overall - no complaints.

very sturdy. used mine live - never experienced problems.

once i needed to install the internal hd and it turned out there was no power supply cable. i emailed their japanese service dep. to find out whether i could order one, but never got a reply. i don't know - elsewhere they could be more helpful...

superb sampler - the ultimate machine. i used to own a lot of analogue / digital synths but now basically the only hardware gear i'm using is the s 6000 plus the nord modular. great stuff, very flexible [even though i don't have the usb option].

2.12; transferred sounds from ASR 10 (via rubber chicken Translator) & ESI; created sounds from scratch; looking forward to USB interface.

64 polyphony; no effects yet,
will add usb board soon; memory maxed out @ 256mb; only Midi file playback

theorecticly, a(top notch) sammpler is a sampler...

Rock Solid ! I leave mine on for days.. weeks..., loads while playing
(it has crashed a few times loading..scsi errors, but that might be case specific; reg scssi stuff)... Comparatively - Electonic, computer stuff My experience has been very positive !

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Overall, personally, the S6000 is the best sampler I'ved owed so far.
Mirage, EMax II, ASR 10, ESI 32
I wish there was more memory (1 Gig or more), Be able to save sounds in the Akai 1000 format.

V2.13
Everything fine except of:
The saving performance - 256 MB take more than 35 minutes!!! on a IBM HD 9 GB.
I really wonder if this is "my" or an overall S6000 problem. Everyone invited to help me....

MOst of its fantastic features has already been said.
I'd like to add: You can place the unit anywhere you want in your studio.The only thing you need in front of you is the removable front panel.
Just connect a simple monitor cable the length of which you decide.

To me Akai samplers beat the rest in sound.
The other day I sampled some acoustic drum sounds with only a Tube! Microphone (BPM TB94)+ a soundtracs analogue mixer
Crashes, hihats and rides still sound very lively and are perfect for unpretentious but effective tasking. Just imagine those sounds sampled with a good tube preamp!!
CD-Rom Libraries sound GREAT through the S6000 but don't forget every sampler's RAM Limits. If you need absolute realism try GIGA or ask your symphony orchstra in town if they play something for you .........

Crashes only when trying the "impossibe" like
attempting to load from E-mu HDs which you can not do(as far as I know)
So a good overall reliability

Contacted them via e-mail because of my "saving" problem.
They were eager to solve the problem - good!
but left off keeping in touch when they had to realize that this issue is probably "incurable".

A big machine!!!!!!!!!!

os 2.11
sampler : in = out
editing is very easy

128 voices
eb 20 effects is great for chorus/flang stuff. Don't use it for reverbs.
USB card is buggy with akai.sys
32 midi channels : great

It's a sampler.
IMHO sounds great.
Emu is, just a little bit warmer, (I have the platinum)
XV 5080 sounds almost like the Emu 4 : a bit warmer
Akai is punchier and works better for acoustic instrument, although gigastudio beat them all for orchestral simulations.

But if you know how to program, you really can make fantastic analog stuff on the s6000.
Anytime I said that in studio, men started to laugh. Then I loaded my MMoog programs (sampled the memorymoog itself), then the guys would go: come one, tell us ! How did you do it ?

have you seen how many emu samplers you can buy now on Ebay ? Are those samplers that much fantastic ?

don't use akai.sys
It sucks !

No probs.

If it were lost, I'd sure buy it again, no question.
Has replaced every piece of synth I had in the studio. sampled evrything.
Note that to warm up a bit the beast, you need to add a tube preamp such as manley (like I do), and then...woaaaaah.

You see, I'm tired of all those guys who goes : "emu is better, warmer....gna, gna"
Man I have the PLATINUM. RFX 32 is wonderful. BUT 128M? ain't enough for me. Emu OS is BUGGY! BUGGY ! Man, i've never seen (except on emax 2) such a bad Midi timing : try to trigg the emu 4 with a drum sequence and a synth bass. If for you there's no prob, well... we can't do anything for you...buy a casio !!!

Emu 4 is too expensive. Also it can't work with hd bigger than 20G?.

This is an "has been" sampler.

What's better than my s6000 ? I believe the k2600RS, i've tested a lot and that I'm gonna buy. The k2600 has a more delicate sound and VAST is very very powerful, endless.

I like my 2 s6000 a lot. Never had crashes for 6 months ('cause I don't use akai.sys anymore). Powerful, reliable and very very hot is you plug'em in an tube preamp.

If you wanna go for american stuff, don't go emu, go kurzweil (well it's Young-chang !)

By the way my "platinum" is for sale", in europe.

Akai z8 : will be great, sometimes, when BUGS have disappear...

V. 2.11

256 RAM / 20G? SEAGATE INTERNAL HD

It's a sampler. I had the Emu 4XT. Solde it because I needed more Ram and also while I believe emu sound is a bit warmer, you don't get "out" what you send "in".


Editing programs and multi is very very easy. One of the easiest interface ever, except analog front panel you find on vintage synths.
Manual is ok.

128 polyphony voices : woaah !

Build in effects (on S6000) can do smart chorus and flang effects.
Forget the reverb presets : buy a lexicon like I did.

I don't have the USB board. I don't miss it.
32 midi channels : great.

16 individual outputs make it easy to send dry audio tracks into a digital board.

I don't use the on-board sequencer.

Well you need to buy good libraries (expensive but it's worth it).

I sampled a lot of analog gear : I really could get real OB8, JP8 and memory and Prophet VS pads and keys sound exactly like the real beast.
But I added a tube preamp at the output of the S 6000 : terrific !

Some people argue that sample stuff is too mechanical compared to real analog stuff : I don't agree if you teweak the filters inside the S 6000 with velocity action : there's alot to be done, really.

You can make it sound real.

On the classical side : sounds very very good : But 256 RAM is not enough to load an entire orchestra.

Very reliable.
No bugs.
Forget all that was written (and was true at THAT time) about OS bugs.
V 2.11 works very well, hours after hours : no probs. Who can say that with a soft sampler ?

Well I had no problem, so.

For me, definitly a must buy.

You see, I already own a XV 5080 with expansion boards.
XV converters are clearer and cleaner that akai ones : it's 24 bit 44,1 / 16 bits 44.1 S 6000.

XV 5080 sounds warmer. BUT for strange reasons, in a mix with same samples, exactly the same (eg : OB8 pads, Prophet VS Keys), you get better results with the S 6000 than the XV 5080.

I believe that Roland XV had to much 'Roland colours' in the same sound so that you loose a bit the initial "grain" of the samples".

That said, for orchestral stuff , XV 5080 allows me to write and compose very very fast with very good results. Though it's not as realistic as giga sampler stations.

For everything else my S6000 has become my master piece of the studio.
(Pro tools TDM / Mackie DB8 / lexicon stuff / Avalon and Manley comp).

I tried a lot soft sampler :
- Halion : full bugged sampler : can't serioulsy use it in pro contexts
- EX 24S : great and reliable : but I whish my mac has more DSP farm.
- Giga sampler : very very unstable although sounds fantastic with some audio cards.
- Sample tank : a joke !

They still don't compete because we need real faster computers (G5 mac or 64Bits Intel processors).

I'm still very very happy with my S 6000.
I don't believe I will buy the Z8 : only 64 voices polyphony
Only 512 M? Ram.

The S6000 is basically a PC dedicated to playing back sound. Everything in the operating system is laid out logically, editing is very straight forward and if you've used an Akai sampler before you can do everything you want without even opening the manual.

The feature list is very impressive, 128 voice polyphony, numerous filter types , sample RAM expandable up to 256MB, quality 4 BUSS effects processor, numerous IDE, USB and SCSI expansion capabilities, a huge amount of outputs, a good sized screen and a very cool detachable front panel. I've got the USB board which enables remote editing and allows me to backup to my PC.

It adds a nice amount of gloss to samples of a mid or high frequency nature. The effects are of a good quality but perhaps lacking in adjustable perameters. The filters are great but it can be tricky getting them to respond to velocity by just the right amount.

Can be fussy about the type of memory that you put in it. The shop originaly supplied it with simms that were too slow and this caused samples to crackle. However they replaced the RAM and now it sounds fine.
The build quality is excellent and timing is rock solid. I've had it for 3 months now and its never crashed.

Never dealt with them.

If it were lost or stolen I would definatley buy another. It may of cost a small fortune but you get value for money. Other gear in my studio has been made redundant by this BEAST.

V. 2.11
It's a sampler. With a good cd rom library or good peripherical, you get very good noises
Editing is really, really EASY !!!

Much easier than on others synths I own or have owned : kurzweil K 2500, XV 5080, Emu E4XT, JV 880
Manual is clear : no problem

128 voices polyphony
256 M? RAM : Wooaah. That's why I sold my Emu 4 XT : only 128 M? RAM.
All my friend told me I was an idiot, a fool, told me that the S 6000 was the buggiest thing ever made.

Well... I have no problems ! I bought it as a second hand. It does not have the USB port but has the internal effects card :
the card sounds great : much better than the effects on the emu (except on the rfx 32 card that I haven't heard).
This card can't compete with a lexicon reverb unit such as PCM 80
MIDI stuff is ok : no bugs, good triggering.

I bought an internal 30G? IDE IBM HD (Yes !!! 30G?)
IT DOES WORK OK : I really have 30 G?

SOUND : transparent. I mean what get's in is what you get out.
Drums are really punchy, punchier than on the emu.
Emu sound is may be better on synths stuff, i really agree.
But XV 5080 roland sounds better on strings and brass stuff.

Expressiveness is ok.

Never did a gig with it.
I had 2 freezes when i tried to import s700 roland samples that were very strangely tuned. BUT it imports ok 99% of roland stuff. No problem with akai and emu 4 library. Imports emu 3 library with sometimes clicks and pops on samples, don't know why.

Everybody, every shop, store say it's a piece of @@@@@@
They don't want to spend time with it. They want to sell you an Emu 4 XT ultra (HEY !!! I had one !!! I sold it for the akai !!!)
It's true when you open the beast, you feel the motherboard was unfinished.
The internal IDE connector still does not work. To connect my internal IDE disk I had to use the scsi connector with an adaptator !!!

But it works fantastic !!!

If it was lost or stolen... I belive I buy another one.

This unit has really changed my way of composing arranging and producing.
It's really like a baby fairlight.
Editing is fast easy and powerful : filets work really really GREAT.
Internal memory is big so you can really load big stuff.

Effects are ok for synths stuff or secondary effects.
I'ver transfered all my libraries and cd roms on the HD. I don't have to deal anymore with piles of cd roms.
I only took the best inside. I always have 20 G? sounds ready on board.
I still have XV 5080 (I will soon sell it) 2 k 2500 (for sale)
I sold all my stuff. I've owned : PPG (unreliable but great sound. I have the plug-in, I don't cry any more)
OB 8 (all my samples work ok on the s6000 I don't miss it), JV 880 2080
I forgot them. My EMU 4 XT ? Well, pickaboo...
I don't care. This unit sounded great had great filters (more than on the S 6000) but less memory and
poor filters. I don't miss it.

I love my S 6000 . I have all my sounds in one single unit that can sound like an OB8, a PPG, a Fairlight, a JP 8
that have good punchy drums and percus, terrific brass and strings (now that I transferred them from my Roland library + vitous stuff).

No really it's a dream come true.

In 2 years, when softsamplers get really better
and more powerful, I might buy a powerbook with a softsynth.

We will see.
I've tested on 2 projects GIGA sampler :
AAAAHHHH !!!! AAAHHHH !!! AAAAHHHHH !!!

No really, it's a joke. Giga is a full expanded bugs software with all options
Can't compete with an emu or akai : unreliable.

My S6000 is fantastic.

Best regards.

Version 2.0. If you understand how to use computers, learning the new O.S. should not be a problem.
Switching all files to .WAV was a bit of a job. But works well with MACINTOSH. Manual was laid out nicely, but wasn't to precise on how to assign and control the sampler through MIDI... SYSEX was non-exsistent.

EB-20 fx sounds amazing. 2 channels dedicated just for reverb. Holds plenty of memory (256 megs)
Complete MIDI routing. FILTERS, LFO's 1 & 2 all syncable to MIDI clock. 4 samples assignable to each key, and each can be tuned, filtered , panned to different positions... Amazing sound creation possibilities.
I don't think you will ever use up all the polyphony, the interface is laid out perfectly. After a day or two, you will have the sampler architecture figured out. MULTI mode is extremely powerful. 32 MIDI channels.

As with all Akai samplers, the sound quality is perfect. Instruments are very accurate. Real time reaction to the master controller and sequencer. I use Akai for Techno and House. The velocity sensitive actions are extremely flexible. Velocity can control almost every parameter in the S-6000.

Well, now that I am running O.S. 2.0, the stability of the sampler has improved a great deal... The first O.S. were full of annoying bugs, would crash the sampler, lock up midi, slow down with just a few samples loaded... etc. But with Ak.sys, the ability to speak with the MACINTOSH is going to be good... (let's hope)
Anything that is as easy as the old MESA days will be welcome by most long time AKAI users.

I found AKAI Tech support to be helpful. With the new release of each O.S. They will send out letters with all the new features to come. Some emails have turned up only half the questions asked... But good for the way most companies respond to problems nowadays.

If this sampler was to be stolen, Yes I would get another one in a second. Although no one could ever get close to my studio without getting bucked down like a chicken. The features that this sampler has made it the obvious choice. The filters and tuning capabilities are amazing. With this sampler a powerful MACINTOSH and a NORD MODULAR, What else do you need? The S-6000 definitely helps create new sounds that no one has ever heard before ! Awesome.