Differences in the Akai CD3000XL Vs. the CD3000i
The Akai CD3000XL and CD3000i are digital samplers originally produced in the 1990s and early 2000s. Both have since been discontinued by Akai, but they are still in use by many DJs and electronic musicians. The CD3000XL is the last in the CD3000 series and offers the most advanced functionality; the CD3000i came out a few years earlier than the CD3000XL and offers relatively limited functionality.
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Filters
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A notable difference between the two samplers is their on-board filtration systems. Low- and high-pass filters are used to manipulate the tone of a sound by filtering out specified frequencies. Both samplers include a fairly basic low-pass filter, but the CD3000XL’s is more advanced and offers the ability to filter multiple samples in different ways. The CD3000i can filter only one voice at a time. However, both models offer optional high- and band-pass filter upgrades which, when installed, give them very similar filtering capabilities.
Effects
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Both the CD3000XL and the CD3000i offer on-board effects, but the CD3000XL offers a wider selection of effects with greater flexibility. Both have echo, chorus, delay and pitch-shifting capabilities, but only the CD3000XL has ring-shifter, distortion and reverb effects. Further, in contrast to the CD3000i’s effects, the CD3000XL’s effects can operate on up to four channels, giving them a much greater flexibility during performance.
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Recording
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Perhaps the most important difference between the CD3000XL and the CD3000i lies in their ability, or lack thereof, to record and use new samples. The CD3000XL can record samples in real time, giving it a performance flexibility that the CD3000i — which has no recording function at all — lacks. Further, sampled recorded using the CD3000XL can be edited using some basic, on-board editing tools. Although the CD3000i has some editing functions, such as looping, it can’t edit samples as comprehensively as the CD3000XL.
Memory
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By default, both samplers come with 8 MB of on-board memory. However, the CD3000XL’s memory is upgradable to 32 MB using specialized SIMM cards. The CD3000i’s memory is also upgradable, but is limited to 16 MB using the same cards. Because the CD3000XL is capable of using twice the amount of memory as the CD3000i, it offers the ability to preload and use a much wider range of samples at once, freeing the user from the need to continually load different sample sets during performance.
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