Name: SP-12 Turbo
Brand: E-MU
SKU: 2633
Rating: 4.6 (9 reviews)

FP User

Published on 10/31/08 at 16:00

Satisfied for the sound quality. Dissapointed in the sampling capacity of a partitioned 2.5 seconds *(5 seconds total).

Price paid

425.00

UTILIZATION

So easy to use it's silly. My kid brother knows how to sample, truncate and program drum sequences on this baby!

The buttons tend to stick over time, but hey....it's worth it. I'd recommend using an outside MIDI sequencer and or MPC pads or something like that. This sampler is the blue beast of the beats. It's casing is hard plastic straight out of 1987.

SOUNDS

12-bit grit all the way!!!! All sample are phenomenal once processed by the SP-12.

OVERALL OPINION

LOVE this machine and will never get rid of it. I even devoted my T-shirt...…

Satisfied for the sound quality. Dissapointed in the sampling capacity of a partitioned 2.5 seconds *(5 seconds total).

Price paid

425.00

UTILIZATION

So easy to use it's silly. My kid brother knows how to sample, truncate and program drum sequences on this baby!

The buttons tend to stick over time, but hey....it's worth it. I'd recommend using an outside MIDI sequencer and or MPC pads or something like that. This sampler is the blue beast of the beats. It's casing is hard plastic straight out of 1987.

SOUNDS

12-bit grit all the way!!!! All sample are phenomenal once processed by the SP-12.

OVERALL OPINION

LOVE this machine and will never get rid of it. I even devoted my T-shirt company to it. Check out > www.12-bit.com < for more information.....updating soon.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown ( 4-, 2003)

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FP User

Published on 10/31/08 at 16:00

Pretty limited...only a couple of sample banks that only have a couple of secs a piece, needs a seperate disk drive that uses 5.25 floppys and is slow as dirt (5min + per sample at times). If you want the 12 bit get an Emax...it's cheaper, has the same sample engine, MUCH better filters, 3.5 disk drive SCSI posibilities etc.

Price paid

$350

UTILIZATION

Couldn't be simpler press the buttons and go

Built like a tank, and is almost as heavy ...the electronics are very stable as well and all memory is non-volitile

SOUNDS

Nice 12 bit crunch, but the filters are set and a pain to use (different outputs have different filters)

OVERALL OPINION

I had the SP-12 and an Emax...Sold the 12...…

Pretty limited...only a couple of sample banks that only have a couple of secs a piece, needs a seperate disk drive that uses 5.25 floppys and is slow as dirt (5min + per sample at times). If you want the 12 bit get an Emax...it's cheaper, has the same sample engine, MUCH better filters, 3.5 disk drive SCSI posibilities etc.

Price paid

$350

UTILIZATION

Couldn't be simpler press the buttons and go

Built like a tank, and is almost as heavy ...the electronics are very stable as well and all memory is non-volitile

SOUNDS

Nice 12 bit crunch, but the filters are set and a pain to use (different outputs have different filters)

OVERALL OPINION

I had the SP-12 and an Emax...Sold the 12 and never looked back. The sound is very nice but not nice (or unique) enough to put up with the Disk Drive situation, or the limited sample banks/time.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown (January 2-, 2003)

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FP User

Published on 10/31/08 at 16:00

I'm not a big fan of the features. The disks suck, try finding a commodore 1541 now days, try finding the disks. Memory is small, although it leads to new ideas.

Price paid

350

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use. Don't need the manual. Simple.

Built like a tank, heavy has one too. made with steel, remember that?

SOUNDS

This is the reason I bought this thing. 12bit sound can't be beat. It has a different sound than other 12bit samplers(i.e. akai s950). I LOVE THIS SOUND

OVERALL OPINION

Damn, I love this thing. But I'd rather have the sp-1200 bcause the 1200 has 3.5 in disk and more sampling time.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: dwells ( 6-, 2005)…

I'm not a big fan of the features. The disks suck, try finding a commodore 1541 now days, try finding the disks. Memory is small, although it leads to new ideas.

Price paid

350

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use. Don't need the manual. Simple.

Built like a tank, heavy has one too. made with steel, remember that?

SOUNDS

This is the reason I bought this thing. 12bit sound can't be beat. It has a different sound than other 12bit samplers(i.e. akai s950). I LOVE THIS SOUND

OVERALL OPINION

Damn, I love this thing. But I'd rather have the sp-1200 bcause the 1200 has 3.5 in disk and more sampling time.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: dwells ( 6-, 2005)

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FP User

Published on 10/31/08 at 16:00

I don't really use much of the features on it. I sequence it from my PC running Cubase. One thing to remember: When you tune your samples and have them the way you like them, the tuning will NOT be saved with the sounds. If you're sequencing from the SP-12 then you don't have to worry, the tuning will be saved in each sequence the sounds are used in, but if you are sequencing from some outside device, MAKE ONE SEQUENCE ONCE YOUR SAMPLES ARE TUNED THE WAY YOU LIKE THEM, AND JUST HIT EACH SAMPLE BUTTON ONE AT A TIME. This will make a sequence containing your current tuning, which you can save. When you load it up, you can use that sequence to re-tune all your samples by ear. Annoying? Yes,...…

I don't really use much of the features on it. I sequence it from my PC running Cubase. One thing to remember: When you tune your samples and have them the way you like them, the tuning will NOT be saved with the sounds. If you're sequencing from the SP-12 then you don't have to worry, the tuning will be saved in each sequence the sounds are used in, but if you are sequencing from some outside device, MAKE ONE SEQUENCE ONCE YOUR SAMPLES ARE TUNED THE WAY YOU LIKE THEM, AND JUST HIT EACH SAMPLE BUTTON ONE AT A TIME. This will make a sequence containing your current tuning, which you can save. When you load it up, you can use that sequence to re-tune all your samples by ear. Annoying? Yes, but I guess that's the price you pay for that sound...

Price paid: $449 USD

UTILIZATION

Very easy. Didn't require much reading from the manual to use it. Some people might find the memory limitation to be a bit annoying for chopping up samples, but once again, it's the price you pay for that sound.

SOUNDS

This really is the one and only reason to buy one. It's got that grit that you just don't get with new equipment. Sample in some kicks and snares from vinyl fast + tune em down = hip hop at its grittiest and finest.

OVERALL OPINION

Built like a tank. I doubt many devices today are built with the kind of durability in mind that E-mu's designers did.

I will get another one if this one dies. It IS that missing ingredient I needed in my setup. I'll never get rid of it.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: BigRyan ( 7-, 2005)

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