AKAI S-20, whats the word on that machine

[springwater]

I've been reading up on that machine and im just wondering whats the deal with it? How is the sequencing? Sampling? Effects? How much space and sample time?
If you know anything, fill me in?
Spring!

[KOMSAT]

My buddy has one he picked up for cheap. I couldn't figure out the sequencing but the sound is nice.

[springwater]

yeah, i see it sequences and tried to check out the manual, i guess its pretty basic.

[kel]

ask ormo, he does alot of his stuff on it i think. If so, the lofi sounds amazing

edit: oop, found the thread
http://sp-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=11 ... on+so+hard

[Headphones]

Just picked this up at my local GC for $50. Didn't come with any manual or floppies. The manual I'm going to print up at work tonight, and floppies I managed to locate at a computer recycling place for .15 cents each. What I have found out about using it is, you have to do most of your samples in mono if you want to fill up the pads, because the stereo samples is what sucks up the memory, and you'll be lucky to be able to get more than a pad or 2 if you must sample in stereo. I can see why so many of you find a SP and the S20 such a great combo, so that you get the lo-fi sound of the S20, with the easier/longer stereo time available to you with a SP. This is making me think of getting a 202/303/404/505 to use with this, but I might want to get a Behringer Tweakilizer and a Stanton CDJ at my local pawn shop to use with this thing first. Just get a dj mixer with 3 or 4 channels, and you could bang/sample/scratch all day with that setup.

For now, I'm sampling directly from my laptop, and it's okay, but kind of a pain in the butt to sample in bed, and accidently knock out a cable or by accident turn the power off and lose what I just sampled (before I could save it), but when I discovered how slow(and deep) the pitch bend was, I knew I didn't lose $50 on this thing. I'll have to practice some more with the sample editing, once I read the manual through. I wish it had some effects, but there are things like the Tweakilizer and Korg Kaoss pads for those.

Would I recommend this thing to anybody? Depends. If you're poor like me, can live with it's limits, and don't expect it to do much that a sp is better at, then sure. If you need lots of sample time, waveform editing, effects, and all the bells and whistles, then no, go get a SP505/606/808, or a MPC, or a laptop and some software. But because it's so old, it forces you to think about what you'll sample/chop, and to use your ears more than look at a perfect wave file. You're either going to love this thing, or give it to your kid brother. (Or sell it on eBay)