MPCHunter |

“purchased this Akai S3000XL back in April 2009 from acclaimed Metal producer and engineer Andy Sneap: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Sneap It had spent it’s life in his studio in Derbyshire and had been meticulously looked after. It’s in full working order, with a good, clear screen and is in fantastic condition with no dents, knocks, scratches or dings like the majority of units out there (no dreaded “rack rash”). The memory has been fully upgraded so it now contains the maximum of 32Mb RAM. It comes with its original manual (or should I say book ) and the original Akai Floppy Disc (and even the cardboard holder for said disc!) but not the original AC powersupply.

Simply put, this sampler is legendary. There was a time in the mid 90′s where you couldn’t find a high end studio that didn’t have one of these at it’s heart. The S3000XL epitomised that elusive “classic Akai sound”…many have tried to replicate it both in hardware and in software and all have come up short…there’s just something in the circuitry that give it that indefinable quality that made it so popular with artists such as Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy, PWEI, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Peter Gabriel, Jean Michel Jarre not to mention pretty much every House track from that era, and still to this day with the likes of Radiohead, Pulp, DJ Shadow etc. It still has a very active following so, unlike other classic studio equipment, there’s a lot of information out there along with lots of sound libraries, Akai community forums and places to source optional extras such as SCSI drives if required. I’m having to change studios and my new space unfortunately simply doesn’t have room for the Akai, plus all funds are currently being corralled towards a much needed upgrade for my DAW so sadly it has to go.

This unit, unexpanded, used to retail for a whopping £1799 so grab yourself a bargain, a phenomenal bit of studio equipment and a piece of history while you can” Link