I’m thinking about getting a S2400 since some months, I’ve watched the video manual many times, read the manual, listened to demos etc etc. I’d like to make some questions to the long time users here on the forum because it would be a big investment for my pockets and I’m going carefully.
First of all I’ve never had a sampler, I have some mono and poly synths, a drum machine/synth (Vermona DRM1 Mk4) and a sequencer (Squarp Pyramid).
I am not much attracted by the aliasing features and I don’t think I will ever sample vinyls, I’m not much into hip hop/house, more into electro, techno, drum n bass, so I am afraid this already blows away half of the unique features of the S2400 unfortunately.
I enjoy the cleaner side of S2400, I like what its sonic “color” does to the sampled sounds but I was wondering if it could also deliver clean modern “crisp” sounds if desired.
I also thought about just getting a TR8S to use it for drums and avoid the sampling affair at all, or even getting a Digitakt.
In short: would you get a S2400 to use just for drums and occasionally sample some guitar/bass, synths or it would be overkill and maybe better to get something simpler and cheaper to pair with the other gear without sampling anything?
I would also probably not use the S2400’s internal sequencer and the midi tracks because I already learned the Pyramid and I prefer to use one single sequencer for all the instruments.
P.S.
I’m located in Europe (Italy) anyone has experience with local places for eventual maintenance/repairs?
Hi, welcome here.
Answer: overkill
The machine can also deliver a crisp sound by the way.
In my opinion, if you don’t really need the “12 bit” stereo sound, the potential aliasing and the flters you don’t need to buy it.
It seems that you’re looking more for a all-in-one box with a different approach.
The s2400 has been my all-in-one box since it was released for the following reasons:
-Excellent sound overall
-Possibility to have a 12 bit like sound with aliasing or not
-Possibility to have 12 bit stereo sound
-Possibility to have both 12 and 16 bit style sound in the same song
-Analog and digital filters
-Possibility to plug turntables directly
-Good OS updates
-First inspired by the SP
That’s what I thought, I agree on the excellent sound of the S2400, I’ve listened to a lot of demos and I was also intrigued by the possibility of using analog filters on samples but I’m not sure I enjoy the high aliasing option and I’ve never heard of the SP12 until I discovered the S2400
I agree with the comments above, the S2400 is overkill for what you want it for. If you aren’t interested in the sound of the S2400 and you don’t want to use its sequencer… why would you want it in the first place? You’d be missing out on the whole magic of the S2400. There are plenty of other machines that are much cheaper that can play drum samples and do 16 bit sampling. Even something like the old Akai rack samplers could do that really well since you don’t want a sequencer. That being said, the S2400 can also sample at 16 bit and sound as clean or as crunchy as you want it to.
I think the three machines you are looking at each have a different style and workflow. In music stores i find elektron gear frustrating without study. Others love them. They all sound great but that personsl connrction and flow matter so much. You are at the watching you pennies and unsure of where you want to go. So try out as much gear as you can and form opinions on what feels right to you. It wouldnt suprise me if the s2400 shows ip at the berlin synth show in the spring or someone local to where you are might be kind and give access to theirs. Ask around. Ive handled 4 s2400s. They Re built like the best pro gear there is. As is my old minimoog. Some of the best techno in the world was made on small budget gear. Rent something for a month is another way in. Hands on, ears open.
Cheers,
I’ve excluded the Elektron gear because I already have a sequencer that I intend to use (Squarp Pyramid), I think the strong poit of Elektron is the sequencer rather than the sound, so wouldn’t be smart.
I’ll see if I can test something in the future
Although the S2400 might be overkill for you, the workflow as a drum sampler is fast and intuitive. You might end up using the features that just now seem kind of redundant.
Having said that, if I was looking for something in the same ballpark as you I’d be checking out the 1010 Blackbox sampler and even the TE KOii. Both of these can sample as standalone boxes but can use drag n drop from a computer (well, the 1010 has an SD card). Happy hunting.
I think you might want to consider a MPC which may do all you want (and much more) for the price given.
I use the S2400 and Live 2.
Both have their own pros and cons but in the end the MPC will give you more as you might want to expand.
Thanks, I think you are right.
I saw the 1010 Black box, I loved the individual outs but didn’t like the touchscreen.
The TE KoII looks like a lot of fun but I dont’ know if it has any way to export separate tarcks to the DAW, very cool device by the way
I checked some Mpcs and I think those that would fit my set up at best would be the 1000 or the 2500 because they have individual outputs, I need to export separate tracks to the DAW and I would like to avoid doing it via software/usb/sd card
Understand that you can easily hook a (newer model) MPC with support for class-compliant audio interface devices, access up to 32 inputs and outputs for routing audio quickly and easily via a single USB cable.
No need for a computer.
Just the interface as a breakout box to get you all the analog connections.
No hassle with drivers and crashing computers.
But I want to use the computer to mix and master
Also I prefer to avoid every sort of audio through USB and prefer analog outputs also to route outboard gear, make gain staging decisions, etc etc etc etc
That’s what you can do after the digital to analog conversion with the interface.
It’s not any different than having built in outputs a choose your way to any other gear, do you gain staging and routing etc.
I mean the possibilities are almost endless.
You mean to send usb audio then route it from the d/a converters outputs and back again into the a/d inputs?
I don’t use the in/out of my interface I have a RME Digiface and 3 RME Adi 8 ad/da converters, the interface runs only the software
