Yamaha A4000 Sampler

it was very frustrating for the first few days, but if you can buy from someone that can help you (not guitar center!)you'll be fine. now that i have the hang of it, it's very easy to use.

the manual sucks, in my opinion.

it comes with 9 cds of GREAT samples, which is why i bought it.

the effects are excellent. even distortion.

it has expansion board for dig in/out, more outs, etc.

i upgraded right away to 64m ram, which has been plenty.

it has phrase sequencer, which i haven't used.

many control options via midi.

will work well for rock, pop, dance. strings are great, too.

it reacts well to velocity changes from drum machine or controller

very reliable so far. can't afford a backup!

i've called several times, they have been good to deal with.

i would buy another in a second!

the included sounds are great, and sampling is really easy. it rules!

This is not the easiest sampler to use, and I should know. I've had my share of samplers, and this is not a sampler for someone who isn't willing to sit down and read the manual.
HOWEVER... This is definetly the best sampler out there at this time. Editing is a breeze once you understand the new way of sampling Yamaha has introduced in the A4000/A5000.
The manual is well written, and the large 320x80 LCD screen makes it a breeze to work with this box.
I give it an 8 because, while it is hard to get started with, (even for a pro), the only reason it is is because it's a new way of looking at samples. Beginners and experts alike will be on equal ground learning how to work this.
I was sampling on the first day, but it took me a couple of hours and a lot of reading.

The A4000 is a 64 polyphony, 16 part multi-timbral sampler. Built in 3.5" floppy drive which can be switched out with an internal 100mb Zip drive.
It has 3 effects blocks(units), and one can be used as an external effects source for other audio. Comes with 4mb RAM and is expandable to 128RAM through 4 72 pin simms.
You can also put an internal hard drive in, (8 gigs or less), and has an SCSI port for an external cd-rom/cd-r.
The only difference between this and the A5000 is the polyphony,(A5000 has 126, and no that's not a type-o. I don't know why they couldn't make it 128), the midi (32), and the effects blocks. The A5000 has 6.
4 outs, expandable to 6 more. MIDI in/out/through.
There are 99 different effects including some new and odd ones. All are very cool.
Reads virtually all types of samples, and comes with 9 cd's full of sounds and loops.
Has a mini sequencer on board as well.
As the ads say...
The A5000/A4000 are not merely "samplers" - they are advanced synthesis tools that let you process
samples creatively...and easily. Both models provide abundant features for versatile sound production:
16 Types of Ultra Fat Filters that deliver powerful resonance, 96 Types of Effects for creating
never-before- heard sounds, a MIDI Syncable LFO with fully programmable waveforms, unprecedented
Loop Divide/Remix and Resampling functions, Direct-to-CD Burning capability and much, much more!
And with their Large LCD Panel, heavy-duty Real-time Control Knobs and Intuitive User Interface, these
samplers are incredibly easy to operate, allowing you to give full concentration to creating your own
unique sounds music.

Not much to say here. This is top of the line, so everything is pretty much good to go.

This is a 30lb beast. While I wouldn't want to drop it, if I did it would probably survive.

I've never dealt with Yamaha's customer support. But I here they're pretty good.

If this were lost or stolen I would replace it in a heartbeat!
You need to go to Yamaha's web site and see everything this can do:
http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/DsplyModel/?gTGN00005A4000
I compared this to a great many products. And while I really like the AKAI S5000 I think this is better.
If you want to see some of the other equipment I have go to:
http://www.users.uswest.net/~buckskinpotato/equipment/equip1.htm