Models

7 models

  • Technical line drawing of Akai S900

    Akai S900

    1986 12-bit professional digital sampler

    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.

  • Technical line drawing of Akai AX60

    Akai AX60

    Analogue synthesizer

    Synthesizer · Japan

    The Akai AX60, released in 1986, is a six-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with a slider-based interface that could interface with Akai's samplers, offering warm analog sounds with MIDI control.

  • Technical line drawing of Selmer Super Action 80 Series II

    Selmer Super Action 80 Series II

    Professional saxophone model family

    Saxophone · France

    The Henri Selmer Paris Super Action 80 Series II, usually called the Series II, is the long-running backbone of the Selmer professional saxophone catalogue. Launched in 1986 and built in sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass, it is known for an open, harmonically rich sound and strong projection, and is regarded as the versatile professional alto par excellence.

  • Roland TR-505

    Cheap sampled drums with a real sequencer

    Drum machine · Japan

    The 505 put PCM samples and the TR sequencer into a plastic box at a price that made it a first drum machine for a generation, and it turns up on more early house and hip-hop demos than its reputation suggests.

  • Yamaha RX5

    Sampled drums a programmer could reshape

    Drum machine · Japan

    The RX5 gave each voice envelope, pitch, and filter editing plus cartridge expansion, which made it less a box of drums than a small percussion synthesizer.

  • Korg DDD-1

    Sampled drums with cartridge expansion

    Drum machine · Japan

    The DDD-1 combined sampled voices with ROM cartridges that added more, plus per-voice outputs and tuning — a machine built for a studio that wanted to change its drum sounds without changing machines.

  • Casio RZ-1

    A cheap machine that could sample

    Drum machine · Japan

    The RZ-1 offered four seconds of sampling alongside its stock voices at a consumer price, which made user-sampled drums reachable years before that was normal.