S950

“This is THE VINTAGE SAMPLER TO OWN. There are few left in great working order. Comes with a library of discs upon request.” Click here to visit listing on eBay

“Akai S950 Digital Sampler. Extra memory fitted. Original user imstruction manual. Original power lead.

For sale is my late Fathers’s AKAI S950 Digital Sampler, from his semi pro home studio.

Most of my Dads studio equipment has now been sold, only this, several modular devices, and a couple of drum machines are remaining. If you are looking at this listing, you will know what this is and what it can do. I read that it is regarded as THE vintage studio Sampler to own, and its programing capacity is still excellent.

This was one of the centre pieces of his studio, and he had the memory upgraded. I know this will be classed as ‘Old School’ now as a lot of everything can be achieved with a modest laptop these days… but I understand these samplers are sought after in good condition by traditional musicians. I can’t test its sampling capability, as the studio has been since dismantled, but it powers up, scrolls through the menus, and the relevant functions select from the buttons on the front. The LCD display is clear and legible, but it doesn’t glow blue like some of the new replacement LCD displays that I have seen advertised here on ebay. (For an LCD display which is 35 years old this is not uncommon.)” Click here to visit listing on eBay

” Here we have an absolute classic of a sampler. If you’re looking at this, you know what it is. It has a distinctly raw sound, with that signature filter and timestretch. Popularly used in genres such as Hardcore, Jungle, House and even Hip-Hop. I’ve had this for quite a while, and it’s had a screen upgrade, so it’s nice and bright. It comes with the standard amount of memory (720kb). I’m selling this because I’m running out of space, and it has a few issues, so I’d like it to go to someone who knows what they’re doing!

Cosmetically, it’s pretty average for its age. There are a few rusty marks on the top of the unit, as well as some permanent marker. The paint on the control knob is a bit worn. The playback button is a bit wobbly, but it still works. There’s also a few worn out stickers, and a Toblerone sticker on the front panel, because Toblerone is delicious. Please refer to the photos for more detail!

The unit works, to an extent. The floppy drive whirs up, and seems to load and save just fine. The outputs, including the left, right and mix outputs all work. Sampling into the unit also works, and sounds great. However, it’s had issues in the past, which still present themselves from time to time. Upon playing a sample, it’ll sometimes start off super glitchy, playing back fast, and slowly resolving itself. Also, the MIDI in seems to have some weirdness. It randomly stopped working one day, and wouldn’t receive any MIDI signals (when it did, it would receive garbage). However, I tested it recently and it randomly started working again, but it probably won’t work for long! The MIDI out and thru have always been fine, though.

This unit also has a history of crashing randomly, especially when accessing the floppy drive, and just acting weird in general. In fact, while I was testing, everything randomly transposed itself up for no reason. For all these reasons, it’s listed as “for parts or not working”. There are probably a lot more issues waiting to present themselves, so please bare that in mind. It’s happened plenty of times to me!” Click here to visit listing on eBay

” Akai S950 Sampler immaculate, perfect working order, extra memory fitted + manual + sound library.” Click here to visit listing on eBay

“I am the original owner of this machine. It provided me with many years of enjoyment. It really is a teaching tool with incredible sound. I’ve installed a new disk drive. I recently tested its sampling capability and I almost changed my mind about selling it. The crunch of the 16 bit is unmatched. And the filter is well….. I strongly suggest you do your research before you purchase. This thing is everything you heard about it and more.”
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“Akai S950, Good condition for its age. a bit of rack rash as expected mainly on the top of the unit.
Works as expected. Not sure about the expanded memory.

Selling as i Bought this unit but never bothered to use it on any music.”
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“Akai S950 Midi Digital Sampler Vintage Rare S-950 Sampling Synthesizer Synth.

Gotek drive emulator was installed by Switched On in Austin, Tx

Refreshing my setup so moving out some stuff I haven’t used in quite some time. Also selling an EMU E5000 Ultra and Yamaha TX16W” Click here to visit listing on eBay

“Akai S950 MIDI Digital Sampler. The OG classic 12bit sampler with the handy addition of a modern GOTEX usb drive for sample storage and convienient backup

Selling on behalf of a friend who is only selling to free up money for house refurbishments.”
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“Akai S900 MIDI Digital Sampler.

The rackmount machine that started a revolution in sampling, the Akai S-950 Sampler’s importance in the development of modern music cannot be overstated. The 12-bit stereo sampling, 7.5kHz to 40kHz variable sampling rates, and 63 seconds of sampling time allowed musicians to traverse new frontiers in electronic production and attracted icons from Prince /Dr. Dre/ Hip Hop/Drumb&Bass to Bladerunner composer Vangelis.

Absoulte Classic..” Click here to visit listing on eBay

” Akai S950 Classic Vintage 12-Bit MIDI Sampler.

Very desirable bit of kit in really nice condition, this is the best example I have seen and it has all the best upgrades – Latest OS v1.2, maximum memory (1536 Kwords), a new bright LED display and a new Gotek Flashfloppy USB drive (upgraded with OLED display, rotary encoder and sound). Also includes a huge Akai factory (and others) disk library on a thumb drive. It is a 220/240v UK/EU model and includes the correct original 2-prong UK power cable. Also comes with bound copies of the user and service manuals. I will also include the original floppy drive in case you want to refit it for any reason.” Click here to visit listing on eBay