Roland S-50
61 Key 12-bit Hardware Sampler

The Roland S-50 Sampler was released in 1986 and was manufactured for a year with production terminating in 1987.

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This keyboard sampler featured a 61 note key bed, sampled at  between 15 - 30 kHz 12-bit resolution.  The sampler used a 3.5" Double Sided Double Density floppy disk drive to allow the samples to be save for future use.

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The rack mount Roland S-550 was released in 1987 and upgraded the capabilities of the S-50 platform.

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I acquired the my S-50 a few years ago after I had been on the hunt for a low-fi sampler. This fitted the bill sampling at 12-bits. Not only is the S-50 a fairly useable sampler, Roland and many other software / sampling vendors also crafted sample sets for both this and the S-550 / S-330 platforms.

 

When acquired there were a few problems. Apart from the sampler being filthy, some keys either did't work or work intermittently and the screen randomly choose not to work. What I didn't know when I started this project was how involved it would get!