Samplers - Arco

Akai S3000XL

Sampler · Japan

The Akai S3000XL is a rackmount professional digital sampler in Akai's S3000 series, offering high-quality 16-bit sampling, extensive editing, and broad compatibility for studio production.
Elektron Digitakt

Sampler · Sweden

The Elektron Digitakt, released in 2017, is a compact digital drum machine and sampler with an eight-track sequencer. Known for Elektron's deep parameter-locking sequencing and hands-on workflow, it became a hugely popular tool for beat-making and live performance.
Roland SP-404

Sampler · Japan

The Roland SP-404 is a portable sampler line, first released in 2005, that pairs pad-based sample playback and recording with a bank of lo-fi and creative effects. Affordable and battery-capable, it became a favorite for beat-making, lo-fi hip-hop, and live performance.
Akai S900

Sampler · Japan

The Akai S900, released in 1986, is a rackmount 12-bit digital sampler that brought professional sampling to a wider market. Its characterful lo-fi sound and MIDI control made it a studio standard of the late 1980s.
E-mu Emulator I

United States

The E-mu Emulator I, released in 1981, was E-mu's first sampler: a keyboard that recorded and played back digital samples, bringing sampling to musicians at a far lower price than the Fairlight. Its lo-fi 8-bit sound is part of its appeal.
Akai MPC60

Sampler · Japan

The Akai MPC60, released in 1988, was the first MPC: a sampling drum machine and MIDI sequencer designed by Roger Linn. Its sound, its swing/'feel' timing, and its 16-pad workflow established the template for hip-hop production.
Akai S Series

Japan

The Akai S series is a long-running line of professional rackmount digital samplers that became studio standards from the late 1980s onward, including the 12-bit S900, the 16-bit S1000, and the S3000XL.
Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O!

Sweden

The Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O! is a pocket-sized micro sampler in the Pocket Operator series, letting users record short samples, play them melodically, and sequence them with built-in effects.
Ensoniq ASR-10

Sampler · United States

The Ensoniq ASR-10 (Advanced Sampling Recorder), produced from 1992 to 1998, is a 31-voice 16-bit sampling workstation that integrated sampling, resynthesis, onboard effects, and a sequencer into a single instrument. It shipped with a 61-note keyboard (88 weighted keys on the ASR-88) and became a favorite of hip-hop and electronic producers.
Akai MPC

Synthesizer · Japan

The Akai MPC (MIDI Production Center) is a family of sampler-sequencers, first released in 1988, that combined sampling, drum-pad performance, and sequencing in one unit. Developed with Roger Linn, the MPC became a central tool of hip-hop and electronic production and remains an industry standard.
E-mu Emulator

Synthesizer · United States

The E-mu Emulator is a series of digital sampling keyboards and workstations E-mu Systems introduced in 1981. Among the first affordable samplers, the Emulator line let musicians record and play back real sounds across a keyboard and was influential in 1980s pop and film music.
Roland W-30

Sampler · Japan

The Roland W-30, released in 1989, is a music workstation that combined a 12-bit sampler, sample-playback synthesis, a built-in sequencer, and a disk drive, making it an integrated sampling and composing tool.

Elektron

Elektron is a Swedish maker of electronic instruments founded in 1998, known for its sequencer-driven drum machines, samplers, and synthesizers.
Akai

Akai is a Japanese electronics company founded in 1929 and historically known for consumer audio; its name is also carried by music-production gear such as samplers and tape machines.
Teenage Engineering

Teenage Engineering is a Swedish electronics company founded in 2005, known for the OP-1 synthesizer and the compact Pocket Operator instruments.
Korg

Korg is a Japanese maker of electronic musical instruments founded in 1963, producing synthesizers, keyboards, drum machines, tuners, and effects.
E-mu Systems

E-mu Systems is an American maker of electronic musical instruments founded in 1971 in Santa Cruz, California. The company pioneered affordable samplers with the Emulator series and later became widely known for its sample-based sound modules, including the Proteus family and the Vintage Keys. E-mu was acquired by Creative Technology in 1993 and ceased hardware production in the early 2000s.
Roland

Roland is a Japanese maker of electronic musical instruments, including synthesizers, drum machines such as the TR-808, and the JC-120 Jazz Chorus, a benchmark solid-state guitar amplifier known for its built-in stereo chorus and produced since 1975.
Akai Professional

Akai Professional is a brand of electronic music-production equipment established in 1984, known for its MPC samplers and sequencers and a range of controllers and keyboards.
Casio

Casio is a Japanese electronics company founded in 1957 whose musical division is known for digital keyboards and home synthesizers, including the CZ and VL-Tone lines.

Electronic Instruments

Electronic, electro-acoustic, and control-oriented musical devices.