I can help a bit. The REC has true 12 bit processing. The Isla S2400 downsamples 16 bit to 12 bit through an algorithm. Plus the REC has true Analogue filtering. The Isla atm has digital filtering. This does make a difference. The low end is unusable on the Isla when using the filters at it just plain sounds bad(muddy). As with the SP1200 the Analogue filters retain the sound intact so when applied sounds cleaner with less muddiness. Brad told me he has the Analogue filters on the back burner. A shame as id rather have the Analogue filter than the DSP being brought out. There are several other smaller features as well.
As regards buying the REC over the SP1200 well its the same inside and does more. Plus it has the filters on the top which helps in live play. And the obvious one can hold a much longer sampling time per pad. My advice get both
The ISLA does have the analog filters on the channel outputs. It also has digital filters inside per channel. I think the analog filters sound a little dark, but the digital filters I find to be pretty usable.
Ive owned 3 S2400 now. And I dont use the filters at all. It just sounds muffled to me rather than dark. Bradhas wished Puesa well as hes a good sport.
I remember that only 2 of the outputs on the SP1200 were useable though. The rest were a bit unpleasant. You can disable all the filters on startup with the latest firmware on the reissue however.
Everyone has their wishlist! My setup is octatrack and tempest, so Iād love to see a mashup of those. The mks and s2400 are both of interest to me so keen to hear them both side by side. The s2400 demos have all sounded good to me.
I read about the flaking. I believe it was a batch that hadnāt set properly on the metal. The discussions we had before it was released went well into the night. Brad had to fend everyone off about the Daughter Card lol.
Here is somewhat of a comparison between the 3 samplers. Although I am sure I am missing some things here and there, itās a pretty good roundup:
Rossum SP1200 - The same as the original, but with a couple new features, like 20 second sample time per project (double the original 10 second time), SD card slot, and sliders on the back for filter cutoff and resonance for the filters on channels 1 & 2.
MKSREC1 - This also like the original, supposed to be the same DAC and signal path. A nice looking clone with even more updates. Like having the filter and resonance controls for analog filters for channels 1 & 2 on the top of the machine for easier access, along with the fixed analog filters on outputs 3-6 like the original. Two digital filters per sample. Drive setting with soft clipping. Longer sampling time, 832 seconds per project, 13 seconds per pad. Also has added sample monitoring. And a trigger delay if you want to get a more human groove (as I understand it). I have also seen recently a video where they are doing a pitch variation thing that looks interesting.
ISLA S2400 - This is more of an updated SP1200, or a reimagining. It samples in stereo (the Rossum and MKSREC1 are mono like the original). It has a hi-fi sample engine, as well as a 12 bit sampling engine, so you can have hi-fi and 12 bit samples in the same project. There is also a feature to resample any sample at 12 bit, and also choose the speed to be pitched up like a record to 45rpm before resampling. It has extra connections on the back (2 phono inputs with a preamp, and 2 sets of stereo line inputs). Dedicated headphone output. There is audio over USB, 8 channels output to your DAW, and 2 in for sampling. Analog clock in/out. Also a USB host input for midi controllers. This one also has a live looper. And midi tracks to sequence external gear. It has step sequencer editing, and a TR Mode for x0x style step recording. They also added a round robin sample slice playback setting that has different modes, as well as a random slice playback mode. Sample time for this one varies depending on the sample settings. In the highest quality stereo you get almost 6 minutes of sample time, and the lowest quality mono is around 21 minutes. This one also has the fixed analog filters on tracks 1-6 like the original, but, no cutoff and resonance controls for tracks 1 & 2 like the Rossum and MKSREC1. And it has 1 digital filter per track.
I wonder if the lofi hiss systems guy is still making a hardware unitā¦ I know he started off making one and then switched gears and made the eSPi1200 iPad app. Seemed a like he was going for a smaller design with a more affordable price point still with analog filters.
Oh yeah, I was following the low hiss for a while as well. Last I saw it was just the app. But hey, thereās always room for more, so maybe they will release one as well someday.
I may be part of the problem here, with the modern short attention span and all, but dude needs to start chopping his videos and not just his samples. This should be a 10 minute clip max, way too much ponderous pontification.
Interesting, for me it was the exact opposite. Felt that he edited too much, was too choppy for me, despite the visual unease I liked all the specs discussed in one place
(1) On the Emu SP1200 you can have unfiltered signal on all the outputs. The unfiltered signal is on the tip and the filtered signal is on the ring. So you could just change how the cable was inserted (all the way in or halfway)
(2) On the Rossum SP1200 there are separate jacks for filtered and unfiltered.
(3) On the Rossum the filter ENVELOPES can be disabled on start up (not the filters themselves). The SP1200 is a sampling DRUM machine and the filter envelope is basically designed for short percussive sounds so it sounds weird with longer samples.
I owned a black EMU SP1200 since 1995 and now own a Rossum.
