Yamaha SU10

Today I've bought a QY10, since it seems to be able to meet my sequencing needs, the portability/sketchpad aspect is nice and most importantly it's one of the few bits of hardware I can afford at the moment.

So, what do you think of the SU10? I've read a couple of reviews, watched a few demos and skimmed over the manual but all I could find was I think geared towards trance idiocy so I can't make up my mind. I would use it for mangling some percussive sounds, the occasional vocal sample, putting field recordings into tracks and maybe one or two times something a bit more melodic if it can do it (can it? I see it has a "scale mode" but I don't know how useful it might be). Live use is not an issue.

if the price is right however you may want to check storage

the Zoom sampletracks is also worth a look but saying that a decent smartphone app will do the same if not better

The Zoom does look nice, I'll check that out!

About smartphones, that's probably true, and I'd like to know about what good apps are available... Now that I think about it, though, getting a smartphone (I have an old Nokia which doesn't even have a camera), getting some sort of MIDI interface for it and buying the app might turn out to be more expensive in the end...

I had a homie that did a bunch of SU10 stuff ~3 years ago to good effect – it's certainly not the best machine in any particular regard but it's def a different workflow than you'll usually find these days. If you find it inspires you (or have not yet figured that out!) then by all means give it a go. It's a fairly affordable/capable machine to invest in, and if you don't want to go software I don't really know of a similar alternative to offer you in that regard.

Yeah, so far I'm liking the QY10 despite its many limitations so I'll check the SU10 out as soon as I have a bit of money. If I don't find it too inspiring then I guess I'll open a "for sale" thread...

Found this on Gumtree dude - might be worth a punt if he hasn't sold it already! http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-su10-sampling-unit/1027181536

I had one for a while. There was something about it that made me want to play with it often but it was definitely not one of my favorite machines. It's probably the worst-sounding sampler I've ever owned: lo-fi but bland and cheap.The sound always reminded me of McDonald's for some reason.

And I guess it was pretty easy to use too.

But imo It really doesn't have much going it besides the funky VHS form factor, battery power, and velocity sensitivity (which seems to be rare on phrase samplers of this vintage, especially battery powered). Unless you absolutely need battery power I'd maybe go for an S20 instead - although I haven't used one, it looks a lot more interesting and I think has some limited form of envelopes, at least. If you need battery power I'd maybe go for an SP202 instead. It also sounds pretty lo-fi but in an interesting way. I found it much more fun to play with.

  On 8/2/2013 at 1:11 PM, The Bro said:

Found this on Gumtree dude - might be worth a punt if he hasn't sold it already! http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-su10-sampling-unit/1027181536

Hey, thanks! It's pay day so I'll check that.

  On 8/2/2013 at 2:51 PM, sweepstakes said:

I had one for a while. There was something about it that made me want to play with it often but it was definitely not one of my favorite machines. It's probably the worst-sounding sampler I've ever owned: lo-fi but bland and cheap.The sound always reminded me of McDonald's for some reason.

 

And I guess it was pretty easy to use too.

 

But imo It really doesn't have much going it besides the funky VHS form factor, battery power, and velocity sensitivity (which seems to be rare on phrase samplers of this vintage, especially battery powered). Unless you absolutely need battery power I'd maybe go for an S20 instead - although I haven't used one, it looks a lot more interesting and I think has some limited form of envelopes, at least. If you need battery power I'd maybe go for an SP202 instead. It also sounds pretty lo-fi but in an interesting way. I found it much more fun to play with.

Well, McDonald's doesn't sound too exciting... I'll still check it out, but I'm taking note of your suggestions in case I don't like it (or for my next sampler).

i just got one recently and i think its pretty good

crunchy lo-fi sample goodness... limited but still useable

i really like the battery portable aspect, i'm just firing breaks and fx into it from my phone and triggering it from a tr505, also battey portable

the digital filter sounds quite harsh and i wont use the scratch effect, ill run it thru a monotron filter or sample into it thru the monotron

i paid about £40 but i've seen them go on ebay for £25, well worth it imho