Re: AKAI S900 won't output any sound. Bycrossings Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:32 pm well the problem is definitely somewhere within the voice board top circuit board in the machine. Because if i disconnect the cable that runs from the power supply to the voice board and power it up, the s900 turns on and functions identical to how it is. One of the most popular hardware samplers over the years for hip hop producers was the Akai S950. Essentially an upgraded version of the S900, this sampler became popular amongst hip hop heads, namely for its 12-bit linear sampling capabilities. Most producers would stack this with an E-MU.
April 23, 2011
Very useful “must have” tools for akai S1k/S3k samplers:
Omni Flop – reads and saves akai floppys and images (Win XP)
Wav2Akai – converts wavs to akai s1000 *.p programs (Win 98, XP)
EMXP – soft for Emu and Akai for reading and saving akai programs or wavs to floppy (Win XP)
Akai Util – reads akai disks and images (Win XP) project homepage
Akai Disk – reads and saves akai floppy programs (Win 98)
Akai Sex – converts floppy disks, programs between s900 s950 s1000 s3000 formats (for Atari ST / TT/ Falcon only!)
AWave – shareware sample converter, program editor, reads and saves in akai s1000 or s3000 formats. Reads akai floppy images from Omni Flop. Also it can read edit and save akai s5000 *.akp format (Win XP)
Chicken Sys Translator – commercial powerful sample converter. Read, save, format akai jaz disks, zip disks, hard drives, cd-roms. Convert many free available soundfonts to akai and save it directly to akai disk! Must have!
C6 SMID sample dump utility free tool for uploading samples via midi (mac and windows) / local copy: macwindows
Wav2Akai – converts wavs to akai s1000 *.p programs (Win 98, XP)
EMXP – soft for Emu and Akai for reading and saving akai programs or wavs to floppy (Win XP)
Akai Util – reads akai disks and images (Win XP) project homepage
Akai Disk – reads and saves akai floppy programs (Win 98)
Akai Sex – converts floppy disks, programs between s900 s950 s1000 s3000 formats (for Atari ST / TT/ Falcon only!)
AWave – shareware sample converter, program editor, reads and saves in akai s1000 or s3000 formats. Reads akai floppy images from Omni Flop. Also it can read edit and save akai s5000 *.akp format (Win XP)
Chicken Sys Translator – commercial powerful sample converter. Read, save, format akai jaz disks, zip disks, hard drives, cd-roms. Convert many free available soundfonts to akai and save it directly to akai disk! Must have!
C6 SMID sample dump utility free tool for uploading samples via midi (mac and windows) / local copy: macwindows
PDF Manual Download: AKAI S950, AKAI S900 The S900/950 8 Voice MIDI Multiple Point Sampler was the industry standard back in the late 80's and you can get it for about $300 or less. When I started to do production my setup was an S900 and an SP1200. Also many DI's can have a flattering effect on drums/bass etc that you run through them. Many people like to run their drums for example through good class A DI's to give them some flavor. An S950 will still sound good tracked without a DI. I tracked for years from S950- great river mp2nv DI. I liked the tone and the way transients sounded.
Ok this is an issue. If you scan the net most people is telling that you need AKAIDISK. And most people is telling one needs Win98 tooWRONG!
You can read/write Akai S900 disks with Omniflop, and it works flawlessly under XP. (actually ONLY XP is supported!) (EDIT 02/18/2010: Omniflop 2.2c has been reported to work with Vista)
WHAT YOU NEED:
- PC with floppy drive (not USB!)
- Registered Onmiflop program (it's free)
- AKAI S900/s950
- Floppies (Modern HDs work ok, just put some tape on the HD hole...)
- Samples
- Patience :)
WHAT TO DO:
First install Omniflop. Later on, when trying to read a disk it will ask for a key and if you don't have it already the wizard will ask to mail the author to get one. Mail him and get your key. (he's very kind and usually replies within 24h. EDIT: I see from the site that now registration is done via WWW...)
Get a floppy, if it's HD put some tape in the hole.
Format the taped disk in the S900 and save some samples on it.
![Akai s950 vst Akai s950 vst](https://78.media.tumblr.com/971977d1b3d08c63ecc66a878b782f22/tumblr_o1ozwfosnI1t93x20o1_500.jpg)
Fire up your Omniflop, do the free registration thing, and set it in READ DISK mode using its simple wizard. When it comes to select a format choose the following:
Akai S950 Tone Programmer
Now insert the AKAI floppy in the PC drive. and go 'NEXT'
Akai S950 Tone Programming
REMEMBER TO WRITE PROTECT THE DISK AND PUT SOME TAPE ON THE HD HOLE! If you don't write protect it and something goes wrong you may lose you data. You've been warned...Now save the file, use .img extension.
Akai S950 Manual
Your backup is done. You can write it back to a floppy at anytime, remembering to put some tape on the hole. The best is to format the floppy on the AKAI before writing back images on it.
![Akai S950 Tone Program Akai S950 Tone Program](/uploads/1/1/9/6/119679576/334189665.jpg)
Akai S950 Vst
With Omniflop you can also write back to floppy the new OS 4.0 and load it into the AKAI. Instruction will follow. Information about the new(er) OS 4Akai S950 Sampler
Next article: How to load samples from AKAI floppy disk images.