Guides
The vintage Akai field manual
Everything we know about feeding modern samples to 30-year-old hardware, written down. No fluff, tested on the real machines.
How to get samples onto an Akai S1000 from a modern Mac (2026)
Every working route from a modern Mac into an Akai S1000/S1100: Gotek floppy images, SCSI emulators like ZuluSCSI, and what software you need.
Akai disk images explained: .img vs .hda vs .hfe vs .iso
What the different Akai sampler disk image formats are, which hardware reads each one, and when to use floppy, SCSI or CD-ROM images.
ZuluSCSI + Akai S3000: complete setup guide
Set up a ZuluSCSI board with an Akai S3000/S3200/XL: SCSI IDs, SD card layout, .hda image naming, and getting your first samples loading.
Gotek + FlashFloppy on Akai samplers: the cheap way in
Replace an Akai S900/S950/S1000 floppy drive with an inexpensive Gotek running FlashFloppy and load samples from USB — with disk images built on a modern Mac.
Building multisample programs for vintage Akai samplers
How Akai Volumes, Programs and Keygroups work, and how to build velocity-layered multisample programs on a modern Mac with S-Convert.
Getting samples off an Akai S1000/S3000 and back onto your Mac
How to pull sample libraries the other direction — from Akai floppy, SCSI and CD-ROM media back into a modern Mac, with real program structure intact.
Converting Logic EXS24 instruments to SFZ or DecentSampler
Move a Logic EXS24 sample library to the free, DAW-agnostic SFZ or DecentSampler formats — keygroups, velocity layers and all — with S-Convert.
Building Akai MPC keygroup programs (XPM) from any sample library
Convert WAV, AIFF, SoundFont, EXS24 or other sampler libraries into Akai MPC keygroup programs (.xpm) for MPC Live, One and Force, with mapping intact.
Chopping breaks and beats for Akai samplers
Slice a break or loop by transient, region, grid or by hand in S-Convert, audition every chop, and send it straight into an Akai program build.
ZBridge: loading samples straight into an Akai sampler's RAM, no disk required
How ZBridge, S-Convert's USB-C bridge, loads samples directly into Akai sampler RAM ReCycle-style with no disk image step, plus live MIDI control over SCSI.