HOW TO: Upload samples from PC to AKAI S900

I've been trying different solutions both floppy or MIDI dump based.

The floppy one was not possible under XP as AKAIDISK don't work with that operating system. MIDI sample dump was the most obvious option but the standard is not that supported by sample editors.

The only working system is S900 Dump 1.0. It's a simple command run from CMD that sends a file to a sample slot thru a MIDI channel using a MIDI device...


This is the homepage of the program, it contains and updated version.

IMPORTANT: only MONO 16 bit files are allowed. Don't try with STEREO, they won't work.
Samples will be truncated to 12 bit automatically.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Be aware that the AKAI S900 samplers need to "handshake" so the MIDI IN and the MIDI OUT need BOTH to be connected to the computer.

Transfer is a little slow, patience. Better save them to floppy as soon as they're uploaded on the AKAI...

If you experience losses on name files or weirdness in sample start/end try uploading the sample just after having switched the AKAI on and save the sample immediately to disk. This way you just upload->save, upload->save and you don't lose any data. Entering sample names with the rotary encoder is quite a long task!

You can make your life MUCH easier by configuring the Windows contextual menu as the following:


Five different entries have been created (for sample slot 1-5) into the registry keys found in HKEYS_CLASSES_ROOT>*>SHELL>MIDI DUMP CH#1>command and inserting this value "C:\AUDIO\SAMPLES\s900dump.exe "%1" -m 2 -n 1"

Use your own path to the executable and configure arguments to suite your MIDI device. To do that correctly check the following list of options:

S900DUMP v1.0 - (c) 2001 Juan Carlos Rodrigo Garcia.

Use: s900dump wavefile [-m|-midiport midiPort] [-n|-number smpNumber]
[-a|-name "samplename"] [-r|-replay O|L|A] [-v|-reverse no|yes]
[-s|-start smpStart] [-e|-end smpEnd] [-l|-loop smpLoop]
[-o|-loud smpLoudness] [-p|-pitch smpPitch] [-c|-crossfade no|yes]

Options:
wavefile : Path to wave file. 16bit-mono
-m|-midiport : Midi out port. Choose one from this list:
(0) Sint. SW Microsoft GS Wavetable
(1) MPU-401
(2) Delta 1010LT MIDI
-n|-number : Current number of samples in your S900/S950.
-a|-name : AKAI sample name. Max 10 characters.
-r|-replay : Replay mode. (O)ne shot | (L)ooping | (A)lternating.
-v|-reverse : Sample reversed. no|yes.
-s|-start : Sample start point. Measured in samples.
-e|-end : Sample end point. Measured in samples.
-l|-loop : Sample loop-length. Measured in samples.
-o|-loud : Sample loudness. Range: -50 to 50.
-p|-pitch : Pitch, in 1/16 semitones (960=C3). Range: 384 to 1536.
-c|-crossfade : Velocity crossfade sample. no|yes.
-?|-h|-help : Show this help.

This is more difficult to explain than to do, but at the end you can upload samples directly from the sample directory without the need to type anything in the CMD prompt.

ADDENDUM: Here's a ready registry key to add a contextual menu voice under Windows XP (valid for sample slot 1). You'll need to edit the path to the .EXE and ID of your MIDI device and you can copy and modify it also for other slots easlily.

19 commenti:

KONEY ha detto...

Added a ready to download registry key ;)

Anonimo ha detto...

i try and works
i have an s950 and it's perfect
thanx koney!!!
the only solution it's follow your method!!

Anonimo ha detto...

hey just got a s900, they are really cool. i wil try as soon as i can.

Paul Barton ha detto...

Don't know if thi method wold work with a S900? Worth a try?

"Akai S950 Tutorial to create program in pc and save to floppy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqJ7jMtN5W8

KONEY ha detto...

Thanx!

I am in contact with the video author (italian as me :) and we have been doing some tests to see if this method could work also with the S900 but...no luck!

boris fornetti ha detto...

cant open the window of this program
Is it should open under Windows XP?

KONEY ha detto...

It's a CMD command. Never tried with other OSes than XP anyway...

Cool Hand Luc ha detto...

http://web.archive.org/web/20061206124024rn_2/s900.xpyro.com/bs2002/

KONEY ha detto...

Thanx, I updated the post with the link you provided!

Anonimo ha detto...

Hi i have a s900 I cant figure out this midi dump thing I am young and am unfamilair with dos and CMD I can open the cmd I have the file s900dump. I have dragged the file s900dump into the cmd window it shows me the options but i have no idea what to do now? Please any help will be useful im pulling my hair out trying to firgure this out. thank u

Anonimo ha detto...

i posted the last comment if u can help me please send me an email at backtothelab@hotmail.com

Anonimo ha detto...

i can get this to work, but only 1 sample at a time will stay in the S900's memory... and i want to dump 16 files at a time... is is possible to dump multiple WAV files into memory at once?

KONEY ha detto...

I don't think multiple uploads are supported. Better upload, save, upload more, save and so on.

Unknown ha detto...

ciao Koney

ho da poco un s900 e vorrei caricare dei samples ma non ho ben capito come inserie i comandi nell' eseguibile, potresti mica fare un esemppio?

grazie

Unknown ha detto...
Questo commento è stato eliminato da un amministratore del blog.
KONEY ha detto...

Please English only ;)

I don't have any examples, but this was working:
C:\AUDIO\SAMPLES\s900dump.exe "%1" -m 2 -n 1

put your sample name in place of %1 and good luck!

LASCIMMIABEAT ha detto...

Ciao pensi che funzioni anche sulla 950???

KONEY ha detto...

it should!

LASCIMMIABEAT ha detto...

Im sorry speack in english
Im try launch exe im windows xp but dont work on my pc..
Any suggestions?
Some body can help me??