Akai S3000 files

[BigEcat]

I've an old CD rom of samples (World Winds & World Travler) that are now in a format (Akai S3000) that I can't access.
My system now is DP11, running on a Mac Book Pro on a M1 chip.
I've still able to use my old system (on another computer) where Mach5 3 was able to run these samples, but with all the new updates as you all know Mach5 is replaced with UVi Workstation.
Can I go into my old system and convert these samples into something I can use now? If not, do I need to buy a new sample software to access these files?
Thanks for any information I can get.

[James Steele]

I think you still need to use an older computer to be able to run MachFive and read those samples as pretty sure that ability does not exist in UVI Workstation and is not in Falcon, either. You might try Chicken Systems Translator... not sure how much that is, but I used that before years go with Ensoniq instruments. It worked for a lot of stuff, but certain instruments wouldn't quite make the leap, unfortunately.

https://www.chickensys.com/products2/translator/

FYI, many DP users have had success in getting a special upgrade pricing by writing to UVI support and explaining their status as a "MachFive 3 refugee, and asking about an upgrade path. Falcon is pretty much what MachFive would have eventually become had it continued on. UVI pretty much developed MachFive for MOTU. Bottom line is they will very likely give you a discount on Falcon and you should be able to open most of your MachFive libraries on your new modern Mac.

MOTU posted updated .UFS images on their website and all but one or two libraries were updated to work in Falcon on Apple Silicon. There is a workaround for the few .UFS images that don't explained in this forum.

[BigEcat]

Thanks James, this was very helpful

[James Steele]

Thanks James, this was very helpful

I hope so.

[mothra]

I would stay away from anything to do with Chicken Systems 'Translator'.. It sure seems like it can do a lot, but half the time it doesn't work, crashes left and right, the workflow is some of the most unintuitive crap out there. Not to mention the GUI looks like it hasn't been touched in 10+ years.

If it was about half the price, it might be considerable, but I'd recommend staying clear of it. If you ever need support, and you will trust me, the one guy that runs the company will simply blame all your problems on your machine and setup and act like his software is top notch and never fails.. If you get some time, I'd recommend checking out all the 'interactions' with Garth over at GearSpace every time someone mentions how horrible the software is heh. There's plenty of threads about it.

[HCMarkus]

I used Kontakt to transfer my S3000 samples into a useable format stored on HDD. Unfortunately, I think NI deprecated the translator some years ago.

[James Steele]

I would stay away from anything to do with Chicken Systems 'Translator'.. It sure seems like it can do a lot, but half the time it doesn't work, crashes left and right, the workflow is some of the most unintuitive crap out there. Not to mention the GUI looks like it hasn't been touched in 10+ years.

I have no personal experience with this app for years. I think it's up to version 7 right now and apparently it is being updated, but I don't know how stable it is. Truthfully, given the tiny niche for this product, it's a wonder there is anything out there that even attempts to do this. Just look at the situation with Sysex Editor/Librarians. How many people are using hardware that much or even attempt to edit patches? That's why the only modern solution I'm even aware of is Midiquest, and last time I tried it, it was a bit dodgy also. I"m currently experimenting with running UniSyn on a very old iBook and screen sharing to my Mac Studio for that sort of thing.

I do think Translator might come in a less expensive version that's specialized for just one device, but not sure.

[mothra]

I used Kontakt to transfer my S3000 samples into a useable format stored on HDD. Unfortunately, I think NI deprecated the translator some years ago.

Apple did the same thing with EXS24 awhile back too. Live apparently still can but I couldn't figure out how for the life of me even after enabling the option.
Halion does it at least, so far the only trouble I've hit is with an EMU CD I have, part of the old Miroslav strings, and all the envelopes came out completely closed. Understandable though as the EMU has weird AADDRR envelopes. Akai stuff has so far come out great. No filter settings or anything but it reads envelopes and loops and pitch and whatnot fine.

Translator was hit or miss. Most of the time, converting Akai discs to anything else ended up with no envelopes as well, and weird keygroup settings and panning all the way to the left. I used it mainly to try and convert my old CD and banks to the new MPC format, but even going to EXS and EMU formats gave the same results. I have a couple old Zero-G CD's that other apps, even my actual E6400, can read and convert perfectly, but they crashed Translator on cue. I could rip the disc to an ISO with it, but couldn't convert it. One of my Distorted Reality CD's did it too.

Granted, this was v6, but its history has always been the same, I can't imagine 7 improved things a great deal but who knows. They have a demo you have to register for and wait for them to send you a code, but it doesn't let you do much to see if it's gotten any better.

[James Steele]

That might explain why my results with Translator, even though it was years ago, went a little better. I had Ensoniq EPS-16+ instruments I was trying to convert and it wasn't all that bad, although one of my favorite factory instruments, "MIAMI BRASS," just couldn't make the leap. Many of my other favorites I can now use in Falcon or Kontakt.