Akai is supported well because it allows for translation paths to certain instruments. Many samplers can translate Akai format, and there are a plethora of Akai CD-ROM's (not that it makes them any better...). We are especially jazzed about the S-5000/6000 samplers - they're powerful! Since they use the DOS FAT disk format, it makes the translation that much effective and easier easier.

Reality is exceptional because it supports such a large parameter set - 4 oscillators, 4 envelopes, 4 LFO's. Great software; great musical instrument.

Our company has been supporting Ensoniq samplers for the last 12 years and have already released products for that sampler line. Very powerful, with an underrated file format and capability.

The ASR-X is a strange beast. It implemented the great features of the EPS/ASR line, but made the files undeditable from the sampler itself, and uses a translation method of EPS/ASR sounds that is almost unusable.

Emulator E3 and ESI formats are currently included. The ESi-32 and ESi-4000 (and now the ESi-2000) use the same file format that ran on the E3x. The E3 uses a slighty different format (only 100 presets and 100 samples). We hereafter just refer to this as the ESi format.

Many SoundFont sounds are available. This DOES NOT mean they are really good. Some are not, and some are just simple things that could just be .WAV-AIFF files. But there are quite a few good ones, and SoundFont is an effective method to store drum maps, for instance. The SoundFont format was originally the file format for the Emu8000 sound-card chip, then it was spun off in an attempt to make it a portable sound format. It is capable of this and fairly effective, but is just like any other format - it has it's limits and is not capable of storing every possible parameter that a manufacturer may require. Nevertheless, this format is gaining, or has gained, wide acceptance and is worthy of translation.

Gigasampler is becoming the darling of the industry - capable of streaming from disk - it's quite an instrument.

Great modular software synth/sampler. Reaktor uses a .MAP file, which is a basic keymap. We have heard that future plans probably will consist of layering options.

This newly released sampler is creating "waves"! The current version contains a "wave-only" translation, but upcoming there will be a Program file attached that stores the different Program parameters translated from other instruments.

The Pulsar is a sound card that has software specifically designed for importing sounds in - it uses Akai .p files (Programs) and Akai .s files (Samples).

Another soundcard-based file format.

Includes Emulator 4, E-Synth, E64 and 6400, etc.

.WAV and AIFF translations are obviously simple wavedata extractions, with start/end/loop info along with perhaps a couple of other things. Attention is being paid to how popular sample editors interpret certain .WAV and AIFF chunks, especially PEAK and Sound Forge.

Kurzweil is an obvious current omission, but it is being worked on. The delay is due to complexities in the disk format and the VAST system (and the cryptic interface!!). K2000 and K2500 format will be supported.

Roland is extremely popular in the LA area - it probably is the basis of many movies and TV shows you've seen. It certainly has "a sound."

We are especially jazzed about these samplers - they're powerful! Since they use the DOS FAT disk format, it makes the translation that much more easier. Currently not supported, transaltions should be available soon.

Very popular software synth - the native Unity .uds file format should be included shortly.

We wanted to include this for the current version, but priorities (and available engineers) squeezed it out. Should be avaialble shortly.

This new sampler is targeted as as a module to Logic Audio users. Looks exciting - we'll have more information as it becomes available.

These look "giant killers"! Chekc out the feature set - quite astonishing. Let's hope these samplers don't fall into the same fate as the A3000, and let's hope people buy them, so Yamaha will supports them more.

The minimal acceptance of these "samplers" makes us resort to putting these machines at lower priority. Please have your voice be heard if you want this translation. The A3000 is more likely to be supported, since the A4000/5000 will be supported, and the technology should carry over.

If it wasn't for the fanatical following, we'd probably bypass this translation. However, quite a bit of info has been passed on to us, so expect at least some support shortly.

Since there are a number of ripping programs available, this is of lower priority than it ordinarily would be. It will be included in a future release.

These synths are quite old and may not be worth making the translation effort, unfortunately. That doesn't rule them out, but it does make them less of a priority. Please make your voice heard if you are desperate enough to want these translated.

Awave Studio
A massive amount of translations are available. See their web site - www.fmjsoft.com - for details. Awave does not read or write to proprietary disk formats (Akai, Roland, Emu, Kurzweil, Ensoniq); but supports most of the DOS counterparts (.efe, .krz, .p, .s).

CDxtract
Reads Akai S1000/3000, Roland S-700 Series, Emu EOS formatted SCSI-ATAPI Drives and converts to many formats. Demo version available - only reads first Instrument in a collection. See www.cdxtract.com for more info.

S-Converter
Available from NemeSys, the Gigasampler people. Converts Akai S1000/3000 disk format from CD-ROM's into Gigasampler files. Comes free with any Giga purchase. See www.nemesystech,com for details.

Osmosis
Converts Akai and Roland disks and files into either SampleCell or Unity DS-1 native format. See www.bitheadz.com for more info.

Osmosis
Also available as Windows program - see above for explanation. Mac demo available from www.bitheadz.com

TransferStation
Reads only samples off all Akai, Roland S700, Emu E3, ESi, and EOS SCSI volumes. Supports SMDI transfer of samples. Does not support keymaps or writing to native disk formats. www.imuse.com/TS.html

Gallery Software's Interpreter
Reads Akai S1000/3000 SCSI Drives. www.demon.co.uk/gallery/Interpreter.html

RAIFF
No information as yet. Older program

Samplifier
Transfers samples between Mac and a MIDI sampler which supports the MIDI Sample Dump standard. With a Roland S-760 sampler, Samplifier can also transfer sound files over SCSI, and provides some utilities to automate common tasks.