Does anyone know of any sites where I can find info on the S20 sampler? I need some specs, a manual, a review, anything!

I'm looking for S20 manuals myself, but I can tell you a few things.

The S20 sample rate is 32Khz Max. So 17 Megs gives you 4 minutes sample time. The only way to save/load samples is through Sample Dump Standard (17 Megs is a LONG wait) or through floppy discs (S20 can span several 1.44 Meg discs so you can save the whole 17 Megs). There's also a program called "ADisk" (aka-Akai Disk) that lets a PC read/write wav files to an Akai formatted floppy....look into synthzone's "akai" section for more pointers.

Do a search for "s20" in the discussion group:
http://www.antisleep.com/akai/

Lastly, if you do a search with alatavista, there's one pointer that'll come up with the german akai pages. It has (had?) a manual...in german. Akai wants $25 (us) for a copy if you want it in english.

32Khz?! Bugger. Thanks for the info. Do you know of any samplers with similer spec's but with 44.4Khz max for the same price or less?

If you're worried about worse sound quality with 32 vs. 44kHz, don't worry. Most drum samples (aside from cymbals) sound best at 8 or 16kHz, and the human ear of anyone above the age of 12 probably doesn't hear above 16 or 17kHz (44kHz will reproduce sounds to 22kHz). Blah, blah, blah. Fact is, for the same price the S20 has the best MIDI features over most other samplers.

The only other sampler close to it is the Zoom SampleTrak. New it's $399us and has some effects built in to boot. It uses smart-card media, so it's a bit more difficult to keep a stock-pile of samples.

Cheers for your help. I didn't know what little difference there was between the smaple rates!