Akai S612 Classic 12 bit sampler with Disk Collection

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via this auction - learn how to sell on eBay here
Pics of the inside below.

"Here are some technical highlights [via synthmuseum.com]:
"Realization of super-high-quality sound by 12-bit sampling technology.
6-voice polyphonic performance is possible in connection with MIDI keyboards, synthesizers, sequencers and many others.
Realization of sampling time up to 8 seconds (@ 4 kHz, 1 second @ 32 kHz).
A short sampled sound can be continuously played with no time restrictions and without sounding awkward. The S612 contains an advanced scanning mode system with 'looping' and 'alternating' modes. [This mode plays continuously through the sample, alternately playing it frontwards and then backwards]
The best splicing point for 'looping' can be selected instantly by the automatic splicing system.
A splicing point can be selected at any time by switching to the manual splice mode.
Because the starting or ending point of the sample can be selected at any time, it is possible to play the sound after elimination of an undesired portion of the sample. It is also possible to reproduce the sample in reverse.
It is possible to overdub samples and accumulate various sounds infinitely.
The S612 is equipped with an LFO (sine wave only), which can add vibrato effects with a delay.
The S612 is also equipped with continuous variable-pass low-pass filters for adding a milder touch to samples.
Any type of sound can be tuned to a designated pitch by transposing it by a half step. This can also be done by tuning +/- 100 cent. The sound can then be stored on disk.
The S612 is rack mountable (EIA/2U) for excellent operation in the studio as well as at live performances. It can be handled with ease and offers astonishing performance."
The Akai S612 (along with most of Akai's sampler technology) was designed by David Cockerell, formerly with EMS and Electro-Harmonix. He joined Akai in 1985 when Electro-Harmonix went under. While at EH, he had been working with digital effects processors including digital delays. He designed a digital delay machine that could capture a sound/sample which could be triggered. He developed this technology into a one-shot sampler. When he went over to Akai, this became the S612. David still leads Akai's London Research and Development team.

Everything else you need to know is right here:
http://manuals.fdiskc.com/flat/Akai%20S-612%20Owners%20Manual.pdf"

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Hydrasynth Explorer “Unweather RA” + AKAI S612 “Ice RA”

video upload by the sun god RA

"Hydrasynth Explorer preset A078 layered with AKAI S612 sample of several overdubbed “ice-y” sounds from the Hydrasynth, ping-pong looped."

Hydrasynth Explorer “Ripe Fields RA” + AKAI S612 “Vibe & Vox RA” sample.

video upload by the sun god RA

"Hydrasynth Explorer preset D125 “Ripe Fields RA” layered with AKAI S612 sample “Vibe & Vox RA”. This sample is essentially a S612 factory disk vibraphone sample, overdubbed with a choir sound from the Hydradynth using S612’s wonderful real-time overdub function, and then “manual splice” and “alternating” loop.

The Hydrasynth is a perfect partner for old lo-fi samplers."

Zaphid - 153 in my Mind

YouTube via zaphid
"collage of some short tracks i made may 4th 2009, maybe 2 much inspired by the BOC.."
via David on the AH list:
"Here's a collage of mostly s612 tracks! track 1. 4 s612'strack 2. Perfourmertrack 3. 4 s612'strack 4. 3 s612'strack 5. 2 s612's (drums only)"

Akai S612 - The first and best sampler Akai ever made - Demo/review/tutorial

Published on Dec 14, 2018 Espen Kraft

"When the Hi-Fi home system producer Akai entered the music tech/gear business with the Akai S612 sampler, and the Akai AX80 and AX60 back in 1985/86, no one new what to make of it. Not even Akai themselves. I don't think they knew how successfull their samplers would be in the years to come after this.
This was also the only sampler they'd ever produce that was in black.

The 612, in essence 6 delay lines with sampling functions, was streamlined the year later with the grey S700.
Both have a analog filter, non resonant, but where the S700 is a menu driven sampler, the S612 uses knobs and faders for adjusting parameters and that is very, fast, intiutive and simple. No Akai sampler for many years after the S612 did this.

Unfortunately it does not comply to the "standard" Midi Sample Dump protocol so with a fawlty Quick Disk drive like most of these has today, you have to use some old Atari or MAC to transfer sounds to and back from a computer. Or fix your quick disk system.

The demo track I start off with (Tell Me) is made entirely of sounds coming out of the S612. I've multi tracked it of course and additional effects are being used.
It has that 12-bit, slightly gritty sound I love."

AX60 & S612 Sample

Title link takes you there. Track title is the one with via nematode. via Jon:

"i just got an s612 in the mail yesterday (bought it off kevin, you posted one of his gear sales, so thanks) the 13 pin connectors came in at the same time. so i painstakingly soldered 26 tiny little leads, then i looked in the s612 manual and realized i only had to solder 14 tiny little leads. plugged my new cable in, ran a midi cable from the ax to the s612. messed around with midi channels and worked the static out of the ax's a/b mix slider, knocked over a full stack of 100 blank dvdrs in the process and within about an hour or so was up and running. there's an 8 minute (in two parts) 3 track overdub of just the ax-60 and the s612 arpegiating while i twist and tweak (the sample start/end time faders are awesome) up on my myspace page it's called nematode something-or-other. i was up 'till about 4.30 last night getting that posted, so now i'm going to get some donuts and, if the neighbor kids quiet down, take a nice long nap."

Update via a follow up email from Jon: "this too, i don't know if it's been pointed out yet, but as only audio is being sent to the ax60, there are no control signals envolved, the ax should be able to run -any- audio input through it's filter. all it should take is wiring the leads from an audio connector (your choice) to the ground and signal pin (again, your choice) of the input on the synth."

Akai S612 Sampler to AX60 Demo

Via Architecture on VSE. Finally get to hear what the combo can sound like.

The Akai AX60 has a 13 pin connector that could be used to feed in the audio of the Akai S612 sampler. You could sample whatever you wanted on the S612 and use it as an extra oscillator processed through the AX60. The S612 had it's own analog filter and LFO to process the sample as well.

Akai S612


Akai AX60

AKAI AX-60 ANALOG SYNTH WITH AKAI S612 SAMPLER + DISK DRIVE

via this auction

"Analog synth that connects to 12 bit sampler and becomes 1 device that is quite unusual and sounds amazing, A unique synth with some very unique features..

What you get.....

1x Akai ax-60 analog synthesizer
1x Akai s612 rackmount sampler (2ru) 12 bit crunch !
1x connection cable for connecting the s612 to ax-60, a rare find in itself.
1x Akai s612 disk drive (2ru)
1x hardcase for ax60"

Akai S612 w/FPA Mod. Great fun! + QD Emulator

Espen Kraft

"An awesome mod that makes it possible to control and record the sample Start/Splice - End - Decay - LFO Speed and Filter through Midi CC. Endless possibilities for glitchy fun!

What's the big deal you might ask, I can just move those sliders on the S612 itself? Yes, you can, but you can't record your movements that way. With this you can, and by doing so, you can record these movements into a DAW and later manipulate and adjust to taste to make snippets of cool stuff or whole soundscapes for further use."

Additional demos and details on the FPA mod from Hideaway Studio:

Hideaway Studio · Hideaway Studio's AKAI S612 FPA, FDM and XD-280 Upgrades in Action....

"A few demonstrations of Hideaway Studio's Front Panel Animator Module (FPA), Filter Defeat Module (FDM) and Virtual Floppy System (XD-280) for the AKAI S612 Sampler in action...

The FPA retrofit module allows most of the front panel controls including the infamous sample splice sliders and filter cutoff to be animated in realtime via 5 MIDI CC channels.

These modules have been proving popular with many upgraded units now in the wild. For those interested in further details or wishing to purchase their own module please contact me at: dan@hideawaystudio.net

Please Note: Although FPA and FDM module are a very neat fit once in place it does require strong PTH desoldering skills and patience to fit but it is not difficult for a tech to install each in less than 2 hours."

Additional links in the description here.

AKAI S612 sampler with XD-280 Disk Emulator + Sample Library SN 00820-01247

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Excellent condition AKAI S612 sampler from 1985 with brand new XD-280 Disk Emulator.

ZERO ISSUES. Every knob, slider, output, etc, is PERFECT.

Comes from clean NON SMOKING home studio. USA / 120V model.

Firmware version 1.1A (See picture.)

Includes 217 disk library on quality SanDisk 16GB low-profile USB stick.
You can save THOUSANDS of your own sounds on this drive.

Includes most of the CLASSIC original AKAI S612 factory library plus
new MODERN sample library from Hideaway Studio. Everything is ready to go and set up for you.

Turn the unit on, choose a disk image, wait a couple of seconds for it to mount and then
press LOAD on the S612. After a few seconds, your sound is ready. That's it!"

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Feelings on a screen (akai s612 slowmotion mix) Akai s612 + Korg ps900

YouTube via zaphid
"just me checking out a Korg ps900 before it ships to the new owner in Sweden. I made some samples with it on my akai s612's and made a short track (cover) with it. You should check Bochum Welt's original Feelings on a screen wich is an absolute masterwork of simplicity. Hope you don't mind Gianluigi ;-)"

Akai S612 Sampler with Front Panel Animator (MIDI) Mod with MD280

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

SNs:
01120-00366
00850-14103

"S612
Incredible vintage 2U rack sampler. think this was the first widely commercial available sampler? Incredible 12-bit, 4-32Khz sound (discrete 8-voice polyphonic, each with their own variable sample rate DAC(!)). Hands on control with sample start and end sliders. Paraphonic analog filter.

recently overhauled: full inspection by tech, all controls cleaned, power supply transistors replaced (apparently notorious for blowing and breaking the whole unit), chassis cleaned. in great condition

installed. I'll quote the creator on this:
Quote: The venerable S612 sampler was designed by David Cockerell in the early 1980s as one of the first "affordable" studio samplers on the market. Completely crushed in terms of specification by today's standards with its 1 second sample memory in max sample rate and ultra basic MIDI implementation the 612 still has a following. This is in part because it is remarkably simply to use and has a peculiar manual splicing control permitting the start and end points to be moved and even reversed in real time."

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Akai S612 Midi Digital Sampler & MD 280 Disk Drive w/ Manuals & Disks

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"This listing is for a Nice Used Akai S612 Midi Digital Sampler with MD 280 Disk Drive :

..including (10) 2.8 Quick Disks

(9) are Blanks and 1 Disk I copied an Original Akai Sounds from the 80's LA Studio 20 Killer Bass (Side A), and LA Studio 20 Double Bass (Side B). for you to have a sound on hand when you get this set.

We had the Power Supply Board Refresh with new capacitors, and other aging components.

The Disk Drive Work Great, it has a New Belt, (also come with a New Back-Up Belt ).

Also Included The Original Replacement Felt Pad that came with the MD280 when the original one wear out (see last photo)

Original Akai S612 Midi Digital Sampler Operator Manual

Original Akai MD280 Disk Drive Operator Manual

Inputs/Outputs Have Been Cleaned

Unit Works Great"

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Akai S700 Classic 12 bit sampler (upgraded version of Akai S612)

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction - learn how to sell on eBay here

"Classic 12 bit sampler (upgraded version of Akai S612) Has a much nicer sound than S900/S950 i suspect simpler 12 bit circuitry and better D/A and A/D n the S612/S7000 makes all the difference...

see review soundonsound.com/sos/mar01/articles/retroakais700.asp

For my money, however, it's when you reduce the bandwidth to something less than, say, 6.3kHz and sample a drum loop that the S700 really comes into its own. Bass drums pulse and thump, hi-hat is reduced to a dull tick, and snares become crunchy explosions of something like white noise. Suddenly even the most uninspiring loops from sterile 'session drummer' sample CDs can be transformed into the kind of grainy, lo-fi breakbeats that would make many a hip hop producer proud. Magical.'"

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Akai S612+MD280 MIDI Digital Sampler

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via this listing

Additional Three Wave Music Listings

"Akai S612 and MD280 combo. Units both in excellent condition. Includes 7 disks(see photos). Both units tested and confirmed to function.

The S612 was one of Akai's first professional rack-mount samplers, released back in 1985. Some of its features included 12-bit sampling from 4 to 32kHz with loop and truncate functions, an overdub function and mic or line input jacks. Internal memory is only 128KB which gives a maximum of 8 seconds sampling time at the lowest sampling rate available. An optional disk drive that features the quick disk (QD) 2.8 inch format is needed for permanent storage of samples. Only one sample is stored to each side of the disk."

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Akai S612 MIDI Digital Sampler + MD280 Sampler Disk Drive - Pro Serviced

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Both units are in excellent shape and fully operational.

Minor amounts of scuffs, scratches, & rack rash considering the age of these units—mostly on the upper body area of both. There is also a small inconsequential dent on the top of the S612 ( which I saw for the first time in 25 years when I took these out of the rack for repair ). Face plates/fronts are in fantastic shape. Power cables are like new.

Pro Audio Serviced in June 2023.

For the S612: All connectors, headers, controls, jacks, and switches have been cleaned and reset.

For the MD280: Replaced internal drive belt, cleaned drive heads, cleaned and reset connectors/headers."

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Emu SP12 turbo, MultiMoog, Akai s612

YouTube via zaphid

"I just got this sp12 turbo back from repairs and wanted to hook it up for the first time, syncing it to my Triton. I made some samples with my s612 and the Multimoog and a little track was born.

copyright by David Brans."

Multitron

YouTube via zaphid
"2 Akai s612's with Samples from the Multimoog and Mellotron
copyright by David Brans."
Note the s612 was Akai's first sampler. I actually have one. It is very basic. You can only load and play one sample at a time if I remember correctly. See these posts and scroll for more.

Mangling Audio w/ Akai S612 Audio Demo

video upload by gstormelectro

"Audio + Video by G-Storm Electro c. 2024

Taking an Akai S612 lofi sampler for a spin, various audio sources. Manipulating sample start/end splice points in real time, very few instruments have this ability. Recorded direct via Roland GO:MIXER Pro-X to iPhone."

G-Storm Electro:
MUSIC https://gstormelectro.bandcamp.com/
BLOG http://gstormelectronica.blogspot.com/
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD http://soundcloud.com/gstormelectro
REVERB http://reverb.com/shop/gstormelectro

Akai AX60 S612 and MD280 Sampler System SN 01120-04195

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via this Reverb listing

AX60 SN 01120-04195

"The AX-60 is a really special polyphonic synthesizer. Akai's answer to the Roland Juno Series, it can hit those sounds well but actually has quite a lot of extra features when comparing to a Juno-106. Paired with the S612 and MD280, the possiblities for this synth grow immensley. With crunchy lofi samples and a classic Juno sound, what else could you ever ask for!

The AX60 is a VCO synth and the oscillator section includes a triangle wave as well as a dedicated pulse width LFO. Additionally, pulse width can be applied to any wave! There are two envelopes, an LFO with sample and hold, and the ability to FM the filter with the oscillator. It even has built in chorus that sounds just like the BBD based chorus in the Juno synths. Finally, there is a built in arpeggiator and bi-timbrel keyboard split options. All these features make it quite a fun synth to use with more range than other vintage poly's.

The AX-60 is a great vintage poly option, especially in the wake of the similar Juno series prices skyrocketing!"

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Roland Tr 808 + Akai S612

Published on Aug 8, 2012 by fuckingharpsichord

"Voila : another s612 video on the interwebz.

(i like the potatoness of the image rendering)"