Can We Share our Knowledge and Akai Sample CD Libraries?

[scorp_lover]

Hello Daws,

I got to thinking there are ALOT of us with Akai sample CD sets with archives, vast treasure troves of Akai CDS. is there any way (with the moderator's approval) we could set up a sample library with various Akai sample CDs that have been uploaded for members to download along with the users review of the sounds and banks (if any)? I know there many here that are willing to share, no need to horde anything as we're all starving musicians here with the same philosophies I would imagine.

Also, the CORRECT protocol should be explained in step-by-step detail how to make, mount and save an ISO or MDX Akai CD file, as well as the software needed to convert as, there are plenty of us whom don't know how to do this correctly with Dameon Tools especially, if it involves copying, saving and mounting a Akai cd to hard disc that can be opened and used at a later date. Peace~Out!

[chrisNova777]

you are free to post whatever information you feel is relevant to the other users of this site
you are also free to post links to whatever files you've posted online via whatever filesharing service you use

[Mixermap]

Creating Akai CD-Roms from disc images is not a problem in Windows, even in Windows 10, although it might be trickier on a MAC.

The main thing is to convert the images to ISO first (many of them are MDX and require Daemon Tools to convert).

When you have the ISO file, DO NOT mount in in Windows.
Use ImgBurn (it's free) to create CD-Roms straight from the ISO. You will need a USB CD Writer if your computer does not have a built in one.

There is a link on this site to a huge libray with almost 150 images and most of them are MDX.

I downloaded them all first, then installed the trial version of Daemon Tools (15-day free trial) and converted them to ISO.
Bought a whole load of blank CDs and now I can burn them at leisure
Make sure you have an external hard drive with around 200GB to back up all the ISOs

I recommend you get quality blank CDs and do not burn them at more than 8 or 16 speed: old SCSI CD-ROM drives that work with AKAI samplers will struggle reading the faint tracks that are recorded when you burn at more than 16X

BTW if you are getting an external SCSI CD-Rom drive for an AKAI, avoid NEC early models and, to be safe, avoid Apple branded ones as they used NEC drives.

I found that Toshiba and Panasonic ones are safe.

[chrisNova777]

did you mean how to create your own personal AKAI sample cd? full of your own custom samples?
because this is something i very much wanted to cover on this website
and to find the best/easiest way to do so - perhaps a modern new solution -
i read that the old way to do this involved using an external hdd + using it to save the samples to
directly from the sampler and then taking that same hdd and cloning it to a cdrom

[Mixermap]

Yes, you are right. However, nowadays it would be impossible and/or extremely expensive to do on a Windows 10 machine (SCSI to USB adapters go for £100 or more second hand and are VERY slow!)
The best/cheapest way to create AKAI format CDs with YOUR OWN samples on a modern PC is to use TWO ZIP drives. Best are the 250MB models cause they can fit more.

One needs to be a SCSI one (to connect to the AKAI) and the other a USB one (for the PC).
Connect the SCSI one to the AKAI and do your thing.
When you have saved all your stuff on it, move the DISK to the USB drive connected to the PC (Windows 10 64-bit is OK too) and use an imaging program to create an ISO of it. Unfortunately IMGBurn cannot be used here because it can only image CDs, not hard drives or Zip disks. I forgot what I used but will post again in a couple of weeks when I have time to test it again.

Once you have the ISO file, then you can use IMGBurn as explained in my previous post, to burn the ISO to CD.
The CDs can then be used in the AKAI with an external SCSI CD drive.
Remember: the CDS CANNOT be read by the PC

This kind of old gear is becoming more and more expensive as people are getting back into doing music on real hardware. Last year you could have bought SCSI zip drives and CD drives for a fiver. Now it's more like £50...
The USB ones are still a tenner though and the disks are dirt cheap, like £1 each or so.

[MV-GTOW]

The best way to do this is with a dedicated PC with scsi card fitted. If you install a scsi2sd card into your Akai https://amigakit.amiga.store/product_info.php?products_id=1264 which is cheaper than a zip drive. Then it is possible to convert the iso files and load them onto the scsi partitions of the SD card.

Here is a tutorial on how to do it.

you will need Awave studio & Chicken systems translator.

The loading times are almost instant with the sampler connected to the pc via a scis cable.

If you need more information about the scsi2sd card install, then take a look at the other videos Paul has posted on his youtube channel.

Another bit of software that might come in useful is the CDXtract for dealing with the samples on an iso disk, Chris has posted this in another thread.

Unless you have a lot of old samples already on a zip disk and you want to have access to them, then i don't see the point of mucking around with zip disks.