Yamaha A3000 | The Dirty Effects Exposed

The Yamaha A3000 sampler has a very dark, gritty yet beautiful effects section that you can use in real time. You don't have to sample anything!
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On the surface, the Yamaha A3000 sampler from 1997 seems like "just" a sampler. And it is a very good sampler too. It also has a great effects section and the kicker is, you can use this in real time, as you would with any other effect unit like Lexicon, Eventide, TC or whatever. You do this by setting it in "sample record mode". Then it can output whatever comes in. Through its effects. You can even change the bandwidth down to 5Khz Lo-Fi. That will give you some aliased bliss! ;-)
As Yamaha pumped out more samplers in the years to come, like the A4000, A5000 etc, the effects grew more complex, more advanced and more Hi-Fi and ultimately not as exciting as on the A3000. It is the A3000 you should get if you want effects rivalling the Ensoniq DP/4 for darkness and light.
This is a true "barn find" and I feel cleaning it up takes away from the "patina" hence the dirt, staines and scruffy cosmetics.
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Growing up I listened to so much synth-pop and it's only natural that my own music takes inspiration from many of the acts I loved back then. I still love them and listen to them!
Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Erasure, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, The Human League, Propaganda. FGTH, Ultravox, OMD, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, Alphaville, A-ha as well as loads of artists doing what is now called Italo Disco. And many more great acts like Nik Kershaw, Spandau Ballet, Wham, Dire Straits ++

[@DaveWhiting01]

I've literally just bought one. The effects are amazing. What really surprised me is when you use it as a sampler you can modulate all the effects parameters, - for example,- you could change the reverb size via the velocity, or the the delay time from the aftertouch. Things start to get w e i r d!

[@genx1144]

You just keep increasing the resale value of my studio. I own two of these. I paid about $100 for one in 2005. I bought another at a garage sale in 2018 for $40. Both have SCSI cards, but they’re useless. The Strymon BigSky of the 1990’s. Huge learning curve overall as a sampler, but the stand alone effects unit function shines bright. In addition to gritty reverb, the chorus effects are nothing to sneeze at either. Get one while you can. Thanks Mr. Kraft. One of the best synth channels in existence you’ve created. 👊

[@EspenKraft]

Many thanks! I'm not sure they will increase that much in value, but the musical value is very good and it can offer so much if you have the time and effort to put in .;-)

[@gretalink]

Hey genx if you ever want to sell your extra A3000 let me know! ;)

[@AlexBallMusic]

Never heard of this, but it's pretty surprising. The clock rate settings are a great feature, as are the dirtier effects in there, but I think I was most wooed by the "Sympho" effect you added to the Liquid Stack. That's some 80s gold right there. Wow.

[@EspenKraft]

That "symphonic" effect is a Yamaha classic imo and like you say, instant 80s gold. ;-)

[@gretalink]

Honestly as soon as I heard that preset I was like, I MUST HAVE THIS haha

[@RegebroRepairs]

I have one, but I never thought about using it only as an effects box! **Mind Blown!** And for low fi effects by lowering the sample rate! **Double blow!** Good thing I saw this before I rewired my setup, I need to have the outputs available from the patch panel.

[@TehSyneS]

you might like the SU700

[@borekdothu]

Few years ago I got one and this has built in waveforms, so you can build your own synth sound too. I changed the built in HDD to an SD card and the FDD to Gotek USB floppy emulator. This year I'll change the rotary switches and rebuild the power supply to fanless passive cooling. I love this chameleon.

[@theprstc]

Could you elaborate on the "fanless passive cooling"? thx

[@FPSzky]

@@theprstc probably putting heatsinks where it matters, the fan whine on the a3k is real. although i think it would be much better to just replace it by a noctua fan and be done with it

[@NiklasLindholm]

The A3000 was the center piece of my home studio back in 1999. I recorded vocals in Cubase but everything else was played by the one single A3000. I bought a couple of CDs with A3000 sample libraries and I had it connected to a PC with a SCSI card and a SCSI CD-ROM drive to be able to read them. Recently I dusted off my old A3000 in the garage and brought it back to life. The only way I could figure out how to read those old sample library CDs was to install Windows XP on an old PC machine and hook everything up the same way I did it back in the days. I have now copied all the CD content over to the hard drive in the A3000 so I hopefully will never have to do this again. :-)

[@EspenKraft]

Having an old PC with XP is the key to a lot of things. ;-)

[@kevinlangley9644]

I wish I'd kept mine.😞

[@borlibaer]

when having any "old legacy music gear" does require a MS WIN 98SE and/or XP Personal Computer. There are e.g. Yamaha A4000/A5000 Editor PlugIns for Yamaha XG Works Software available as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJjdhImXrM2Uh5I

[@FintanMoloney]

I was just thinking recently I'd love to see someone do a video on some of the classic samplers from back in the day. Glad you covered this as my 17 year old self used to look at this in music production magazines all the time. That model along with the classic Akai stuff but could never afford them ! Great stuff :)

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! Videos about classic samplers is what I do. I use only those in my own music. ;-)

[@StephenMcLeod]

Love the look of this beauty.

[@adub303]

Great review- you're making me miss my old A3000. I thought the effects were absolutely amazing, but the on-board multi-mode filters and sheer polyphony (for the 90's) made it a no-brainer for the $200USD I paid back in 2000. Honestly I only sold it because of how powerful software samplers were becoming and the fact that my internal SCSI drive was louder than my monitors (x`-D). Cheers!

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@ShotecMusic]

WOW... it's the display of Roland JV-1080. Inverted, blue background, green backlight with yellow/green text. One of the most beautiful displays out there. Anyway amazing video. Thank you for this!

[@EspenKraft]

Many thanks! :)

[@ryanv6117]

I learned synthesis on a Yamaha EX5 and there are a LOT of the same effects on this! super fun!

[@StephenMcLeod]

I just bought one of these. It's much bigger than I expected haha.

[@tjc601]

I have the A4000 and will never part with it. The effects really are astounding and some are pretty unique. I changed the encoders on mine (very easy), installed an 8gb compact flash card inside and disabled the fan. It's also got the output expansion board installed, which I found before prices became silly. Have a look inside these machines (the AXk series) - the components are top notch (gold Nichicon caps in the audio path, from memory) and the noise floor is also one of the lowest I have heard on any piece of gear. I still use it as a sampler too. And while the loading times are long, if you're not performing gigs it's an insanely capable piece of kit. Espen is correct - it does dirty well but (as he also says towards the end) it can also do incredibly clean and hi-fi. Keep up the great work, Espen.

[@SeverityOne]

A friend of mine is a great fan of the A3000, or at least he used to be. He set up a mailing list for it (when people still did mailing lists) and several other mailing lists as well.The off-topic chat was moved to its own mailing lists, which survives to this day, and has created some life-long friendships and meet-ups. Some of the (former) members have proceeded to work in the professional audio industry. The A3000 nowadays can be had for very little on eBay and Reverb. Thank you for pointing out its ability as an effects box, which I was only vaguely aware of.

[@joestone3030]

I have the A3000 & A5000 with the Digi-Board on the Backside... & use this in the Digi-FX Chain... in the DAW ☺

[@NNokia-jz6jb]

How did you integrate it? I have aA5000, but not the digiboard. Could you tell me more?

[@EgoShredder]

I remember back in late 1998 / early 1999 talking with Yamaha engineers, that a PLG100 expansion board was planned of the A3000 sampler. This meant I could add this to my MU100R rack synth modules, and I was really excited by this and decided to wait instead of buying the existing A3000 model. Sadly Yamaha decided to not release that PLG board, and somehow I never ended up with this sampler at all. I still get the urge to buy a fully upgraded used model though, but prices are stupidly high.

[@gretalink]

Wanted one of these babies ever since I saw this video. Been checking out Ebay, Reverb, Craigslist etc and they're never for sale - until today! And I just bought it for a steal! Woohoo! Can't wait to use this for its FX like shown here.

[@EspenKraft]

Congrats!

[@viejaastral]

I remember when these came out, they were a pretty big deal.. appeared in every magazine as kind of the new sampler to have..

[@EspenKraft]

It was pretty hyped.

[@Abruzzo333]

The main hype was that it came out to compete with the current sampler powerhouses....the Akai S series and the E-MU E4 series but it was half the price of those and in some ways offered more features.

[@LocaliLLocano]

Always putting out quality. Keep it up man

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@musella974]

As always you hit with an awesome demonstration ! You're really a king ! Thanks to make us discover some gold nuggets !

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers man!

[@evankeal]

I like the recording / sonic quality of the bass drum and snare sounds you had throughout.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@lassel1644]

I had an A-3000 sampler back in the early 2000's. I used it mainly together with the Blue Beast...the Yamaha EX-5. The best synthesizer ever made 🤔??

[@EspenKraft]

I was the first person in Norway to get the EX5R back in the day, a real power station. ;-)

[@lassel1644]

@@EspenKraft Cool... i know you are the 90´s also from time to time :)

[@ozzy3ml]

I had an a3k in 2000. Since sold it, but last year I picked up another for about $100. Repaired a bad encoder and it now works a treat sharing a scsi2sd drive with my Emu e64 and Akai s3000i :) It's well worth sampling into as the filters are nice (they also have pre filter drive) and you have some funky nondestructive functions like stereo widening. Superb for pads, especially with the Symphonic effect ;)

[@Abruzzo333]

Where is the stereo widening located....in the effects section?

[@ozzy3ml]

@@Abruzzo333 The widening is on one of the sample parameter pages in edit - trim/loop or map/out. But the Symphonic effect is in the effect section.

[@Abruzzo333]

@@ozzy3ml OK I think you mean the ''expand/detune" function. That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

[@ChipRobertsOfficial]

Great, effective sampler with awesome Yamaha gritty effects!

[@shoontz]

I remember a bunch of these FX were also on the SU700. So good!

[@donpoulos]

Exactly! The SU is one of the best machine ever

[@SuperGiorgioMan]

Jack Tramiel 100%, I used to have both, twice for the SU700, but for both machines I was really disappointed with the knobs issue...

[@donpoulos]

SuperGiorgioMan you can change them por use a midi controller ;)

[@shoontz]

@@SuperGiorgioMan Yeah, the knob issues with the SU700 stink. However, you can order new ones direct from Yamaha and they're pretty easy to replace.

[@SuperGiorgioMan]

shoontz yeah I know but even if it’s easy, it’s a bit too much for me ^^

[@turquoisecapricorn]

I have also the A-3000 and I use it also only for the great triple effect-section. Nowadays I use the effects from Audacity but I will return back to my A-3000 for recording vocals or final mixing my track.

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

I've fond memories of the A series. Mine was a 5000, but I was using it as a sampler, because I got one when they were blowing them out very cheaply in the early 2000s. I had the money for it, but a not a computer that was fast enough to run a sampler ITB. It wasn't my first sampler, but even now, I miss it.

[@Eyepatchfilms]

That's awesome! Sounds great - just need to find one now

[@EspenKraft]

It's out there ;-)

[@PeterReesvan]

Great sampler back in the day. Loved the preamp and ad converter when overdriven. You could modulate playback tempo of a sample without affecting pitch, which was revolutionary in the mid 90’s. Sold mine for 50 euros a few years ago, don’t really miss it.

[@EspenKraft]

It sure has a sound of its own.

[@vincerooney2445]

Have to dig mine out of the box and fire it up. Thankfully I still have it! Nice video.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers! :)

[@bontempo1271]

LOVE you Espen !! Your video topics and demonstrations are always inspiring !!

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers! :D

[@Mode-7]

Excellent video. You taught me some tricks for my A3000. And finally an Espen video where I can say I own that. Instead of all your awesome videos of gear that I regretfully did not buy when they were cheap 20 years ago. 😂

[@EspenKraft]

Sweet man! Don't let it go ;-)

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

Built in FX are very nice, the A3000 still looks very modern. This week I bought an Alesis Strike Multipad, the built sounds and FX are great, it can also sample and loop.

[@edmo-l4d]

Used to have this one. My favorite thing was to feed it loops and use the loop remix function. Tons of fun and of course so many wacky effects.

[@g-noise780]

The Jump effect sounds pretty cool, it's like instant VHS Head haha

[@mc12358]

I love the effect at 1:44, fits the melody perfectly!

[@ErikHawk]

Very cool! I'd never heard this before. What fantastic sound effects.

[@EspenKraft]

It's definitely something you should try out if you see one. ;-)

[@NPrescott]

I saw your video and went straight to ebay before watching. Nothing available 😫 Amazing video as usual Espen!! 😁👍

[@EspenKraft]

Really? No A3000 on there? I'm surprised. Anyways, thanks Nathan! :)

[@trulyinfamous]

Considering I probably can't afford what would become a huge addiction if I started buying synths and old gear, I'd love to have a friend who loves synths.

[@SanelKeys]

I usualy watch Espen's videos, and want give it 👍, then I realize I already did. I wish it was possible to give multiple likes from one youtube account. Very useful and interesting videos!

[@EspenKraft]

Many thanks! :D

[@JonniArmani]

You actually dug up a machine I’ve never actually heard of impressive 👊👊💥

[@rektagon1547]

OOF that Aliasing at 3:50 is one of the best low-res sounds I've heard from an early digital machine

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

I love it to its one of they best sounds I've heard in my life, better then the 12 bit samplers.

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

@@ushnicyuvnikof2748 You could always import load 8-bit Wav format samples into the A-series samplers if you desired.

[@pongtrometer]

Superb...still enjoying my mint AURALLY EXCITING A3000.

[@madzoo4399]

So Amazing!!! I just love it!!!

[@NunyaB1s]

So I was re-awakened to this sampler by a friend who decided to gift it to me. I used to want one of these, but the years between '97 and '01 were ripe with classic excellent samplers and it soon got overshadowed by a desire for Kurzweil/Akai/EMU which I eventually settled on Kurzweil. There were NOT many sources for lo-fi effects in the late 90s: You could sample on an older sampler, but the only other easy way to get one was a Boss VF-1 which was an upgraded version of the effects chain on the MC-505 that also featured Boss's COSM technology. (And the same set of algos would appear on the XV-5080 and the Fantom series a few years later.) maybe the Fantom, but none of those other boxes would let you live process with a lo-fi effect. I always wanted one of these! =-)

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

Korg Triton (1999) had bunch of lo-fi fx algs and would let you downsample to about 2kHz.

[@elliotfletcher3614]

The control of the input signals bitrate is a pretty awesome feature! Have a few EMP-700's personally and the depth of the reverbs are very similar here. Also has the radical Leslie effects too! :)

[@Vincefromsin]

Now try the effect section of the A5000. Never too late.

[@Gus-jb8cm]

Looking at all this gear now makes me want to get back my old keyboards. Though I must admit I still do dabble, just with a evolution keyboard into a pc and cubase 6... Yep an old one but so use to it.!!! 😌 👍👍

[@angelodomino]

Cool video, thanks for making!

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@SpektorBaal]

Great Video Some really great sounds.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks man! It's a cool machine and it has a lot more under the hood than I show here as well. ;-)

[@SpektorBaal]

@@EspenKraft Sweet

[@johndoeiii6103]

Love the effects on this thing hate it's glitchy knobs I usually end up using my 16+ but I use sample some stuff through this it is dope

[@KeisariEurobeat]

Amazing video once again. Keep it up!

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! :)

[@TehSyneS]

Great effects, I have 3 Yamaha SU700 for this reason.

[@RU-HDD-4-HVN]

Oh my That's extremely cool Espen!! Just luscious.......

[@maxmatson1578]

This episode really speaks to me! I used to have the "A-3000". That a good friend I had graciously gave to me for free. I didn't have any way to sequence it, and I could never understand the process of sampling on it?😵😅 I was really a newbie at that time, and didn't understand synthesis at all Really? Not sure if I do right now!?😅 But the effects I used all the time on that thing. I have particular fond memories of the "jump" effect.🎹🎧💫😵👌😎👍✌

[@AnalogFlava]

If anyone remembers Funkstar Deluxe who became huge in the late 90s with his bob marley sun is shinning remix, he used one of these, perhaps an A4 or 5000, although I believe it was the 3000 to record all his songs/album! I believe he mixed everything in it as well. Now we know how that would be possible with all these crazy fx!

[@irishmusico]

That sound at 1:46 is amazing!

[@SiMills]

It's actually a really powerful sampler, and not so hard to work out if you forget how the Akai/Emu's etc architecture is setup (sample > program ..). I've kept my a4000 around because of the sound (FX and engine). It's great for pads and stuff, just sounds really chunky. The only thing are the damn encoders, and I've yet to find a 100% permanent solution, if anyone knows?

[@thegroove2000]

I had the A3000 and had the same issue.

[@IDASoCal]

Si Mills...I guess you could start with his sponsor for the encoder problem. I'm also looking at this place www.tapelectronics.com/shop/yamaha-v5424000-knob-encoder-a4000a5000?fbclid=IwAR0bmSHZSWQ_r_JYumXj6rP4OEJSwIzD37fpbcvk_3-GfdbJSuHavu6Bjco. I have the A3000 and the A4000. They both have the encoder problem.

[@LZRoberts]

I had the same thing on my A4000. Found out an old EMU encoder fix that worked. It is chattering on the encoders and capacitors smooth it out. Posted the answer on a forum years ago but is since lost. However somebody else has rediscovered it and done this post. Fix makes it 100%. Need a soldering iron and a steady hand. If you've not done solderring before, do lots of practice on junk circuits before digging in. The capacitors will only cost you pocket money. seaweedfactory.blogspot.com/p/yamaha-a4000-encoder-fix-and-compact.html

[@ozzy3ml]

The rightmost encoder on my a3k was useless, but I soldered on a replacement and it works great now. The shaft of the knob was a bit longer than on the original but it was a small price to pay for having a smooth encoder again.

[@SiMills]

@@LZRoberts thanks I saw this blog post before, but read a report that it hadn't totally fixed it, but it sounds like it did for you? I've built a few diy synths so, I'm not afraid to give it a go when I get the time. There's a perfboard that has the circuit fix separate from the pcb which makes it a bit less risky.

[@xnonsuchx]

Nice. The only sampler I've used is the Korg DSS-1 (of which I have one w/ a broken keyboard, but I love the analog filtering). I also have an Akai S2000 I bought years ago on eBay for US$80, but never got around to totally checking it out (it boots from an OS floppy, but may have audio I/O issues).

[@Superlover]

Loved the piano you played around minute 14

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! :)

[@nickwallette6201]

Man, that effects stack at 14:00 sounds like the gorgeous lush stack they used on Duncan Sheik's track Reasons for Living.

[@bhaveshmistry3255]

This is so good product. I love your all the videos you. I really like this kind of old gears which people didn’t valued that time. Thank you 😊

[@EspenKraft]

Thank you very much!

[@cfcreative1]

I have an emax 2 lost my boot disk and an a4000. Great sounds.

[@djralphmay]

Nice one!

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers! :D

[@HuynhVanThanhQuan]

*Espen Kraft* thích xem video trên kênh bạn này ghê

[@justaname1862]

TBH...i didnt know they were still making rack mount samplers in 97....the last RM sampler i bought was my Roland S-750...i was thinking "Wow" a Sampler from the late 80s early 90s with onboard FX lol.

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

The Akai Z8 & Z4 were the last dedicated "pro-style" studio rack mount sampler modules, released in 2002. Yamaha released the follow-up A5000 and A4000 in 1999.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

I wanna say there's a lot of that old SPX and REV7 technology in there, am I right? It really kicked Roland's sampler range out of town, albeit there is about a decade of development between them. Did the A4000 have more algorithms or was the effect unit more or less the same?

[@EspenKraft]

The A4000/5000 upped the total number of effects to about 96, where the A3000 has about 57 if I remember correctly. As the years went by with newer A-samplers (as I write about in the video description) the effects became more hi-fi and clean and thus less interesting to someone like myself. ;-)

[@MercuryK52]

Very interesting video! This piece of hardware is indeed dirty, gritty, and potentially loads of fun! To me this sounds not as much as 80's but perhaps mid 90's...and in some cases also very potent for Industrial Rock/Metal! :D Anyways, great stuff! What's the 3.5" for? To save presets and whatnots? On another note, I love the Liquid Stack sound, one of my absolute favorites ever!! Nice watch (a pepsi is always fun and upbeat), and nice figurine as well!

[@EspenKraft]

This is of course a 90s piece of kit, but when it comes to the effects it borrows a lot from its older siblings, like the Rev7 and the "symphonic" chorus etc. This is first and foremost made as a sampler so the 3.5 floppy drive is to load and save samples. ;-)

[@OerythiaDeQuatrefages]

Indeed great for Indus/Metal yet Joe Zawinul used it for Jazz Fusion ;-) This beast can do so much I still have it.

[@MrByteYT]

Luckily I bought one a week before you posted that Video.

[@kevinsturges6957]

Love the Outro music.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@thegroove2000]

I had one but he problem was with the knobs that would go over time. Wicked sampler by the way.

[@crhkrebs]

I know you didn't delve into the sampling, but did I see "Auto-Normalize" in the A3000 menu? I have 3 samplers: an Emu EX4, an Ensoniq ASR-10 (2 of them actually) and a Roland V-Synth. None of them have auto-normalize. Interesting.

[@EspenKraft]

Yes, there is a Auto-Normalize function in there. It basically has it all. ;-)

[@andreasschmidt2979]

This was my first and last hardware sampler. Bought it to create DnB. I was disappointed by the slow disc speed, even using an external SCSI Drive. And a big lowdown was not being able to see the real Waveform on the Display. Anyway, i always liked the effects section. Stacking pitchshifters was mad fun, used it with guitars too. Someday i want to dust it off and use it again.

[@littlebritain64]

Hi, great effects on it. Is maybe there also a reversed colour display for my A4000 available?

[@LeslieDugger]

I have an RS7000 from around the same era. I wonder how similar the effects are between the 2. It also has a sampler. From this video, they appear to behave very similar

[@Noise-Conductor]

I got the #RS7000 & wondering the same thing....Anybody got some info?

[@J._Campbell]

Great sound!

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

The A3000 is such a hidden gem I'd take it over an SP-1200 or an S950 ANYDAY! Why aren't the lofi hipsters inflating the price of this one???

[@jamesjr2550]

Probably because they don't know about it I just got an a4000 recently one of the a series can definitely be a useful for lofi are boombap

[@koncreteto2758]

Why do you want it inflated?

[@axe570]

I have this machine, and loved it. Nowadays it makes so much noise, ill have to modify it. There was this software called Disky, which could transfer samples via scsi directly to pc.

[@RaveyStabs]

Oh yes! My first sampler was the A3k, what an amazing sound, effects and features. However, it was let down by the worst MIDI timing in the world! Drum sequences would fall apart before your eyes and I had bought it maxed out on a finance deal to be my studio centrepiece (pre DAW), I was utterly gutted. I recently picked up an A5k for a good price and reloaded my programs from 20 years ago. I am still blown away by the sound and FX and I'm now bouncing sequences down into the DAW from it.

[@OerythiaDeQuatrefages]

Just curious , do you bounce the MIDI sequences (you say to be flawed) or only sonic sources with effects from the A5K to your DAW ? I never really used much its MIDI functions but I loved the sampler which I still find one of the best when old hardware sampler are concerned and the effects section indeed is mad. I used the A3K and love it.

[@RaveyStabs]

​@@OerythiaDeQuatrefages Yep I basically play only one MIDI channel/track at a time through it now and record/bounce the audio output down in the DAW, fx and all, to build up recorded parts one at a time. This avoids driving its CPU too much and the MIDI timing breaking up.

[@ReGToF]

I owned the Yamaha A3000. It is an awesome sounding machine. However, the biggest irritation was how slow it took to load samples.

[@mrkeeny]

It was beyond a joke , I only had the v1 and gave up on it

[@flame2106]

YES finally justice for my monster collecting dust and envy in my room :D

[@flame2106]

oh wait mine is A4000, still quite similar

[@ChrisCebelenski]

Emax II + A3000 = Instant Depeche Mode Violator (Recorded in the 80's) Yes, they didn't use exactly this combo (The A3000 came out in 1997), but the sound is definitely in that ballpark. Funny how aliasing was something we really wanted to get rid of, and now it's an "effect". And yes, I saw that Pac-Man in the background...

[@EspenKraft]

Yeah, some aliasing always crept through and became part of the sound sometimes.

[@eightcoins4401]

Does anyone know if theres any stand alone yamaha fx unit from the time with the same digital effects?

[@DerekPower]

I know these effects on my CS2X, which came out around the same time as this.

[@GoodfaYou]

Similar on Cs6x too

[@markorendas1790]

I LIKE THE UNCONVENTIONAL ALIASED SOUND NEAR THE END. WAS LIKE A PSYCHEDELIC EFFECT...😏

[@TokyoXtreme]

Narration sounds like an Elder Scrolls quest-giver's speech. Guess I'm gonna have to scour a dank dungeon to find the Yamaha A3000.

[@ezion67]

There is another dark secret you might wanna know about. Long loading times. A fully upgraded A3000 with 128MB and a hard disk takes 20 minutes to load a 128MB sample set. Loading 4MB from floppy takes about 2,5 minutes, not counting the time for swapping disks.

[@peterj.9713]

Very interesting. I don't know a "modern" Sampler that can go down to 5kHz. And my both Samplers (Roland S760 and E-MU ESI 4000) don't have Effects. Thanks for demonstrating

[@SteveEboy71]

is it better to send you synth straight into the sampler or from a effects send on a desk like a normal effects unit ?

[@EspenKraft]

Define "normal". ;-) Most effect units have a "wet/dry" knob just for that, to be able to run the signal straight in, and out. I use both methods depending on the situation. No right or wrong, do whatever suits you.

[@SteveEboy71]

Think I will use it on the desk effect sends for more option to route to it without swapping cables.

[@lauritarkiainen1858]

Espen, Thank you for the A3000 "review" it was good. As i told you, i try to sell my A3000, no room for that any more.. .Do you have E-MU ESI 2000 with effects?

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! I sold my ESI-4000 some time ago, so I'm in no need for a 2000 no. Thanks for the opportunity though. ;-)

[@MicrophonesInTheTrees]

Can the fx go 100% wet for use in a send/return?

[@EspenKraft]

Yes it can.

[@IanSaxman]

Awesome demo Espen. Do you know how these algorithms compare to the SPX units, specifically the distortion in the SPX50D? I have the 50D but I'm wondering if it's worth grabbing this too if the sound quality is different.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! I have no idea. I never compared it side by side to any of the SPX units. I just like the effects as they are. Some more than others. The "Symphonic", the one I use 99% of the time is just as good as in the Rev7. This I know as I compared these two. Distortion effects are of little interest to me. ;-)

[@lardosian]

Sorry for off topic but just wondering if your a fan of Yukihiro Takahashi, have just discovered his solo work from the eighties and its magical!

[@EspenKraft]

I go through some of that in my walk-through of the Asia edition of Keyboard Magazine. I've never been very interested or inspired by the synth solo masters. My interest lies within making 3 minute pop songs of the commercial sort. ;-)

[@lardosian]

@@EspenKraft Fair enough!

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

My A5000 cost £400 with max memory of 128Mb. I've put X2 Quantum Fireball hard discs inside, containing most of Yamaha's included CD-ROM library. It's great, apart from rubbish rotary encoders that jump all over the place. Effects are said to be those of an SPX-90. Lovely anyway.

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

Far, far above from SPX-90 quality and quantity. The Yamaha SY-77/TG-77 from 1989/1990 had SPX-90-based fx units. Once the SY-99 came around in 1992, Yamaha upgraded to significantly better SPX-900-based fx. The fx in the A3/4/5k are a world apart(upgraded and expanded somewhat in the A4/5k around 100 programs), up to 16 adjustable parameters each, some very unique and bizarre fx( Espen missed quite a few here , including real time filter fx!) , and 3 (or 6, on the A5k) identical and independent fx processors, that can be routed in configurations in series and/or parallel. Plus extensive real-time control, etc...

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

@@ShallRemainUnknown That's really interesting. It is hard to compare digital devices, because you get only vague descriptions from manufacturers and not always informed opinions in music magazines. Efects units are code running on a microprocessor, which is a bit abstract to me. My A5000's efects are great, but many of those numerous efects settings don't seem to do much, and I do wonder if software programmers put them in because they can, rather than their sonic amazingness. I've never used a computer for any music making activity, but most musicians seem to prefer them over hardware samplers. They are probably quicker, until you have to do never ending OS and software updates.

[@Titodublot]

How does the A5000 FX compare the the A3000 FX? Same engine or more hi--fi?

[@EspenKraft]

Not used the 5000 much so no idea. ;-)

[@Titodublot]

@@EspenKraftthanks for your reply, appreciated!

[@mrkeeny]

Spent my entire university grant on this, it was a mess and I didn’t have the money for the v2 software that fixed all the problems. Sold it years later for pennies

[@sailorkap]

Hi Espen. You are up early.! Great.. i wanna ask if the s3000xl have the same gritti sound as well.if you know about that. Thx for another super video.👍

[@EspenKraft]

I'm always up early. ;-) No, the 3000 isn't even close to this in terms of the sound. I don't mean it's inferior in any way, but the sound profile is very different from this. After the Akais went all digital with the S1000, they came out very clean sounding.

[@sailorkap]

@@EspenKraft ok thx. I think many times.. the first is the Best. In many accations..

[@djjuno106]

Massive thanks for this vid.. I bought one of these about 15 years ago and never used it. I couldn't find a scsi cable too work with it so I put it in storage and carried on using my Akai s3000xl instead. But I never knew you could use the fx ad a insert and tracking I thought u could only use them to process samples done on the a3000. I'll get it out and use it now.. I was also thinking of sticking a USB emulator in it are they easy too fit?

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! It's simply an awesome FX unit. The floppy emulator thing I can't answer. As you know I really dislike those and ideally would see them burn in Hell. ;-)

[@ResonantBytes]

Yes, a Gotek will work fine in those. I used the free FlashFloppy firmware so I can't say if it'll work with the original firmware though. Using the sampling functionality I found limiting yourself to just 1.44MB quite interesting. There's so much that fit's in there once you stop thinking in highly realistic multi-sample ways.

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

@@ResonantBytes The A3000 has exactly 2MB standard on the motherboard before adding any extra SIMM RAM memory, so an unexpanded/stock A3000 is a perfect match for a single 1.5MB floppy worth of samples (and effects setups, too)!

[@AnalogFlava]

Is it true though that it is a pain in the axx to work with?? And has some faulty/buggy parts?? Dont remember what it was but it was something that made you want to stay away from it 😅

[@EspenKraft]

It's both. In usual Yamaha fashion the OS is quite arcane at times. Not as much as older Yamaha stuff.

[@AnalogFlava]

thanks, might still be worth it, those effects sounds very good! I have a feeling the OS is like Rolands s760, also a pain in the arcane butt@@EspenKraft

[@neoaureus]

1:32 is the sound of my dreams.....where is David Coverdale ....gotta get him to sing to this !

[@EspenKraft]

I hardly think he's interested.. but thanks! ;-)

[@johnnyive3982]

Hey, can you give a more in-depth tutorial as to how you set the A3000 up? I'm having a hard time getting it to work. Appreciate your videos!

[@EspenKraft]

I don't plan making anymore videos about the A3000 at this time. I show how I set this up in the video, bit by bit. If you just follow along you'll get there. ;-)

[@johnnyive3982]

@@EspenKraft Hey, thank you for replying! It turned out to be a bad encoder.

[@bandoneonmidi1841]

Since I have my Yamaha sampler I have wanted to use the multi-effect with external sources but thought it was impossible. This video gave me new hope but only until I tried and can't even monitor the input signal (although I can sample and see the signal level with the level meters). What's wrong? Can't the A5000 do that? Thanks a lot. Great channel

[@EspenKraft]

I don't have a A5000 so I don't know if it has the same ability as the 3000 to just pass the sound through the effects in real time. The A3000 has a much more gritty sound though so I'd always prefer that to the 5000 anyways. ;-)

[@bandoneonmidi1841]

@@EspenKraft I got it! The settings are not so simple, but I got it... sounds great! Thank you!

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

@@bandoneonmidi1841 You can route each of the two A/D sampling inputs SEPARATELY as monophonic inputs, so it's a 2-in/4-out processor, and then route those two separate inputs very flexibly/individually, "effecting" each in its own series chain of effects and then output them separately, PLUS even simultaneously run effects on samples separately, too (in a different part/input of the chain(s) you set up)!