kebzer

Rock, I agree with you 100%, but my comment was not related to this. Maybe I didn't made myself understanble enough. I'm all in with hustling with whatever you have, but if you want to rock vintage samplers and you spend mad money for them, better do it all the way and get yourself the right equipment for the task. I can't stand dudes possing in their home studios with 5 different MPCs and a couple of vintage synths, just to run them through a set of KRKs. It's like sporting a Ferrari with 13" wheels on it. Like already stated in this thread, all great rap albums were mixed in large studios, usually by very talented individuals. Not in the same dodgy bedroom the related beats were made. The greatest example of this is 36 Chambers and the role of Carlos Bess as the sound engineer. The same still applies: you cannot simply recreate that sound by getting yourself just an s950, you still need a lot other equipment alongside - if you are planning to do everything by yourself. This is what most people don't understand in this age of one-man armies. We don't lack any flavor, only the correct tools & process to bring that flavor up.

That Gabriel Roth piece is absolutely 100% on point! It's the same with vintage samplers. I cannot express enough my frustration when I see people rocking MPC3ks with M-Audio monitors or trying to record SPs on 300€ Focusrite soundcards...I mean, seriously dude??? You just spent 3 grands to get an SP only to be able to record half of it??? I always tell people that buying a vintage sampler is not enough. You also need the rest of the audio chain, and usually that alone costs more than the sampler... EDIT: Now that I think of it, the real reason I sold my groove boxes was the immense cost of keeping up the rest of my home studio running, so I could enjoy them in all their glory. I had to spend so much money on outboards, cables, service fees etc. that I eventually couldn't be bothered with it anymore.

The second SP we used to own with my crewsboys now has a Flash drive on it. It's not an urban legend :-) I also *still* own the ultra-rare Spyrus SCSI flash drive that is compatible with virtually any sampler that features a SCSI port, including the s950. I might have sold practically all my samplers but this drive will never leave my house, lol!

Even at best of conditions, DVS sounds max 70% what a real scratch tool would sound. And depending on the DJ style, it might be even worse if the DJ is record hand heavy vs CF.

I see all those questions and I'm excited like an 8 year old that I know the answers, lol! First, that super shiny production value of top producers has an answer: 2 SP1200s chained together. Or even 4 of them slaved to an MPC60. The studios they were renting back in the day would always stock a couple SPs for post production, so most of the times they didn't wanted to use an s950 for added sampling time, they would bounce samples on 2 or 3 floppies on different machines, so that they wouldn't have to crunch samples by over pitching them to save sampling time. Reverb? Your answer is simple: Ensoniq DP4. If you ever used an ASR-10, you would notice the great stock reverb it has. Well, the DP4 has 4 such processors with even more versatility. Forget the Lexicons, these units were too expensive to be used in dodgy rap albums, lol. But the DP4 is still the most affordable pro-level reverb outboard.

You asked for it...The last picture I took before starting to sell shit:

I still have a fetish about the EMAX cause back in 2010 I won one on ebay for 400 and the mofo never send it to me...

Ahm, if you already own a Minitaur, forget the s950, lol. But speaking of 12bit options, I would only get a hardware sampler for that, as I find all software emulators trying "too much" to emulate 12bits and in the end they sound absolutely generic (and horrible to a seasoned ear). Any hardware piece will give you 10x times better result. As for floppies, you can get a modded one with a flash drive. Virtually all such machines can work with a flash drive. Last but not least, if you can't afford an SP1200, look for an E-MU EMAX rack sampler or keyboard (they usually go for less than a grand, but they are rare). And if you can't afford even that, look for a BALDWIN IKE, they were rebadged EMAXs sold in various b-side markets. I've done some homework myself on samplers, lol. Then I decided to go back to turntables, lolol!

Get an s950, forget about the floppies, fire it up with the test tone alone and voilla! you just got yourself the thickest sine wave bass there is out there! (shhhh....keep it a secret yo).

The SP was seized from production cause E-MU run out of the original filter chips and when they searched for a replacement they couldn't get anything to sound even similar. Actually, legend says that the second batch of SPs (the black ones - they grey are the originals) featured a different run of those filter chips and that's why they don't sound that punchy & fat. See, a lot of people drool over the 12bitness of the SP and the ring effect, but the output filters are hands down the best feature on it. You literally don't need to EQ/compress your drums, period. This is what I tell to people: if you can afford such an expensive unit just for your drums, you don't need to use an SP for anything else. As for the MPC60, I'm sorry to say it, but you guys are probably gonna be dissapointed when you hear it. An s950 is miles ahead soundwise,the 60 was never anything special soundwise and I'd say that it actually sounds muddy. What was special about it though is the sequencer. That brick for a groovebox actually had a 1MHz CPU, which made things very "unstable" when you tried to run a lot of different midi notes at the same time. And that's when magic happens. It drifts so randomly (because of the weak CPU processing power) that it actually sounds almost like a "very" good drummer. But it is a nightmare to try and sync it with a DAW session. BTW, both are huuuuuuge in size, for no apparent reason. But they look absolutely gorgeous....Damn, I miss those fuckers now....

I had the priviledge to own at some point both an SP1200 & an MPC60mk1. In all honesty, forget about modelling them, nothing will ever emulate them correctly, especially the "ring" effect of the SP, as the variables are far too many to be modelled correctly. The SP would create different results based on the slightest differences on: 1. Sample Input volume 2. Sample input pitch 3. Sample output pitch 4. Sample output filter (which of the 1-8 outputs is chosen) You can easily "recreate" the SP feel with a ring modulator, but you'll never get that gritty sound. There is a very good reason why they worth now over 3 grands and that's because they cannot be emulated, no matter what. Though, if you are interrested in 12bit crunchyness, try and get a Sequential Circuits Studio 440 (I owned one also - still not cheap). It was the only which could resample real time any incoming sample source at 12bits, so you wouldn't have to actually record something to get the 12bit effect, but you can use it as an effects processor. Regarding those dirt style records, the keyword is Ensoniq EPS (not EPS16 or EPS16+). They are really cheap and have some fun, but nothing too nice or serious.

So, no more shitbox with Intel? New shitbox with Pioneer? And what about that shitbox with DJ Tech?

You can't go wrong with CME. These guys always made great midi keyboards.

You should really go the highest possible. As GNOB said, you will regret it down the line. Tapes don't have much Hi's and the tape hiss is really annoying, but they have those meaty mid's & low's, which will be partially lost even at 192kbps.

The prototype in this video looks bulky and it's rattling, but I guess a production version will come up more firm and in place. Nevertheless, this is a very interesting application.

CnP tools are the new scratch science. I love those records and the sample selection. Only thing I could ask is for prints on thinner vinyl, like the lightest possible (similar to 10").

We are still at a turning point, but I most def think that these fuckups will make such battles obsolete in the near future. All it takes is for 1 battle to be organized normally, at last. Organizers should keep their DJ politics out, in our internet era this kind of shit is completely played out.

I'm gonna order it right away and throw in some extra quids for their kickstarter campaign too #NOT

When official organizations fuck up things, like they did, people lose their trust in them. I.e. fewer DJs will bother to participate if they feel that they are being judged by clowns or under questionable standards. All these battles run under the same format for at least 20 years now (6 min showcase etc.). Therefore, lack of experience is completely out of the question as an excuse. They fuck up either because they're over their heads or because of shady DJ politics. You, Vekked, was the first champ to bring out the issue of unqualified judges and I salute you for that. But I see that the problem is now expanded into other areas of the competitions, and it only gets worse.

I'm aware that all comps had problems in the past too, and we all now that these problems brought them very close to their extinction (ITF actually dropped dead). Though, given the recent popularity of the winning routines, I'm just surprised that the organizers started fucking up things again. Why??? I can hardly believe that they have budget problems right now or lack experience. All I can see is underachievement or low standards that will once more make those battles irrelevant. Popularity wise, I strongly believe that DJ battles are currently at the highest possible level, but I can't see a bright future for them.

Following the cancellation of the scratch category and the clusterfuck of the US final, DMC has more great news: they are practically cancelling all sub-categories in the online championships, but no word yet as to what this will formulate to (as shared by Vekked this morning). Combine this with the ongoing inability of IDA to even keep their judges on a schedule (last year's frustrating case of Q-Bert constantly missing all deadlines for the scratch final) and the monumental fail of the Thre3style Australia final, it seems that we are now reaching a new milestone in DJ competitions: they are becoming obsolete, all by themselves. All I can think of is that the people behind these competitions are still living on a different decade. I cannot explain otherwise how is it possible for so many fails to happen at so many different levels, all within a few months apart. This is sad and in no way I'm happy with their fall. DJ competitions have been a great platform for turntablists to make some bread but it seems that the circle is now almost complete.

I think it's not exactly about the win but more about Perly participating in the US finals, but anyway, I couldn't be bothered to read through it

https://www.facebook.com/notes/kuttin-kandi/dmc-usa-18-years-later-why-we-all-should-give-tribute-to-dj-perly/10154434934608374

I haven't decided yet if I should feel bad for Perly, Traps or Kuttin' Kandi for writing a WHOLE FUCKING ESSAY about the "historic" win of Perly...