S-Convert is in beta — the new interface is still being polished. Beta pricing: $75 (retail $99). Lock it in
S-Convert

S900 · S950 · S1000 · S1100 · S2000 · S3000 · S5000/S6000

Your samples, on real Akai hardware.

S-Convert turns modern sample libraries into native Akai programs and disks — chop, build, map, and export sampler-ready media from a modern Mac. No vintage computer required.

Buy S-Convert — $75 $99See features

One-time purchase · 2 Macs · beta pricing for a limited time

The beta intro: what S-Convert does, in the current interface.

What it is

The missing link between your Mac and a 30-year-old sampler

Vintage Akai samplers — the S900, S950, S1000, S1100, S2000, S3000 family and the S5000/S6000 — read floppy disks, SCSI drives and CD-ROMs in Akai's own native formats. Modern Macs read none of that, and no DAW exports it. S-Convert is a native macOS app that closes the gap: it imports the formats you actually have (WAV, AIFF, SoundFonts, SFZ, EXS24, MPC programs, even disk images from other vintage samplers) and writes real Akai programs, keygroups, volumes and disks.

The output goes wherever your hardware wants it: floppy images for a Gotek drive, SCSI hard-drive images for ZuluSCSI, BlueSCSI and PiSCSI setups — or straight into the sampler's RAM over USB-C with ZBridge. Chop a break, map a multisample, pack the volumes, load it on the machine. What used to take an evening of front-panel button pushing takes minutes.

The four-phase workflow

From folder full of WAVs to a structured Akai disk

PHASE 1

Gather

Collect samples from your library and build named groups — straight from watched folders, no copying.

PHASE 2

Volumes

Fill real Akai containers. Auto-pack safely against true capacity limits, preview the plan, apply atomically.

PHASE 3

Map

Lay samples across keys or pads, with velocity layers that respect the target sampler's limits.

PHASE 4

Tree

Edit the real Akai structure — Volume → Program → Keygroup → layer — with drag-and-drop that refuses unsafe moves.

Chop

Chop breaks like it's 1997, at 2026 speed

The built-in slicer chops loops and phrases by transient, region, grid or by hand — with zero-crossing snap so the clicks stay out. Audition every hit, then send the chops straight into an Akai program: pads on the sampler, minutes after the chop.

Watch: slicing an audio file and exporting to the Akai S1100.

Chopping a break in S-Convert's slice editor with transient markers
S-Convert library with 15,000 samples indexed, grouped into Akai volumes

Library

Your whole collection, staged for the sampler

Point S-Convert at your sample folders and it indexes everything locally — search, tag, rate and audition tens of thousands of samples, then drag whole folders into Akai volume builds without copying a single file.

Console FX

Dial in the sampler's FX on a real screen

Stop squinting at a 30-year-old LCD. Console FX lays out the sampler's effect settings — EQ, distortion, modulation, delay/echo and reverb, with a 50-slot preset list — on your Mac, every parameter visible at once. Built-in DSP gives you a preview of roughly what it'll sound like while you dial it in.

S-Convert Console FX with EQ, reverb and preset list

New — MPC support

Your MPC gets the same treatment

Fresh in the beta: S-Convert now writes native kits for classic Akai MPCs — real SND + PGM programs for the MPC60, MPC3000 and MPC2000/XL, complete with the media they load from (Gotek floppy images for the 60 and 2000XL, a ZuluSCSI Zip image for the 3000), WAV + PGM folders for the MPC1000 family, and keygroup XPM for modern MPC 2 machines.

Honest label: this support is brand new and hasn't been verified on real MPC hardware yet. If you own one, your test reports are gold — tell us what loads.

S-Convert disk staging table with Akai volumes packed and ready to write

Hardware

Made for the machines you actually own

Write floppy images for Gotek drives and SCSI drive images for ZuluSCSI, BlueSCSI and PiSCSI. Sync to SD cards — or go direct into sampler RAM over USB-C with ZBridge, then play and tweak the hardware live over MIDI.

  • S900Floppy image (Gotek)
  • S950Floppy + SCSI images
  • S1000Floppy + SCSI images
  • S1100Floppy + SCSI images
  • S2000 / S2800Floppy, SCSI + CD-ROM* images
  • S3000 / S3200 / XLFloppy, SCSI + CD-ROM* images
  • S5000 / S6000**AKP programs + WAV folders

* CD-ROM output is a work in progress.

** S5000/S6000 support is limited today — fuller support is planned.

Fresh from the channel

Latest videos

All videos →
Sampler File Converter! (Beta)
Importing samples from the Akai S3200 XL back to Mac!
How to setup ZBridge with S-Convert and ZuluSCSI

Community

Come hang with the sampler people

Workflow questions, hardware setups, and first-load victory laps — the S-Convert Facebook group is where users compare notes, and new builds get announced on YouTube.

READY TO LOAD

Stop fighting 30-year-old floppies.

One-time purchase. Runs on macOS 14 (Sonoma) and later, Apple Silicon. Existing Payhip customers upgrade free — here's how.

Buy S-Convert — $75