S01

Back in 1993, this rackmount sampler brought 16-bit clarity to Akai's lineup at a budget price, making high-quality sampling accessible without the heft of pro models like the S1000.

It's a straightforward 2U unit measuring 483 x 431 x 88 mm and weighing 6.7 kg, with a built-in floppy drive for loading S1000 disks (though you'll tweak pitch settings for their higher rates). Sample up to 1MB standard—about 15.6 seconds at 32kHz mono—expandable to 2MB via EXM-01 card, with stereo audio in, mono outs front and back, headphone jack, full MIDI DIN I/O, and sustain pedal port. Editing is dead simple: set start/end points, truncate noise, fine/coarse transpose, velocity response, and program changes for up to 99 samples across 8-voice polyphony and 8-part multitimbrality—perfect for layering drums or quick loops.

Vintage hunters love its no-frills ease for beatmaking, though some note the fixed 32kHz rate and lack of filters or effects keep it basic by today's standards. Still, that pure sample playback grit holds up in lo-fi setups.