Isla Instruments S2400 Performance Sampler

The Isla Instruments S2400 is a faithful reimagining of the renowned E-Mu SP-1200 sampler originally released in 1987. Though quickly made obsolete with the adoption of computers in the 90s, the SP-1200 remained a coveted piece of beatmaking gear, beloved for its simple workflow and gritty, lo-fi sound. Isla's S2400 brings the SP-1200 into the 21st century with USB, MIDI, a plethora of I/O via 1/4" and RCA plus enhanced audio engines for a hi-fi sound to augment the old school 12-bit, 26 kHz Classic mode.

The SP2400 comes housed in a heavy-duty steel enclosure with aluminum panel‑mounted knobs, smart aluminum side‑panels, and stout mixing desk‑style faders. It features eight MPC‑style velocity‑sensitive pads and eight dual rotary pots. There are buttons for changing fader modes and accessing additional sampling, sequencer, and disk operations features. In the upper right corner there is a 128 × 64 pixel OLED display which is navigable via the large clickable Grayhill data‑entry encoder or the number‑pads below it, which can double as context‑sensitive shortcut buttons for various functions.

The S2400 can employ pre-recorded samples or live input recording. The inputs feature one channel of analog anti-aliasing as found in the original SP-1200, and a channel of clean audio. Assignable envelopes, sample splicing, and DSP-based filters are all available upon loading your sounds. Using an SD card, you can store up to 1TB of audio samples and easily load sounds by connecting to a computer.

The S2400 allows you to store up to 100 patterns each up to 100 bars long in each project. After setting up a sequence, you can adjust any of them on a per-step basis. Song mode then allows you to arrange. An 8-track live looper with each track is capable of recording up to 19 seconds each. You can save these loops as samples and freely alter just like any other audio file. Two 3.5mm clock inputs and outputs interface with anything that accepts or generates a sync signal, including your Eurorack modular synth gear.

FEATURES:

SAMPLER / AUDIO

• 16-bit 48 kHz ‘Hi-Fi’ Sampling/Playback Engine
• 12-bit 26 kHz ‘Classic’ Sampling/Playback Engine
• Engine type assignable to each of the 32 sample slots
• Sample up to 21.5 minutes per slot (Classic / Mono), 5.5 minutes (Hi-Fi / Stereo)
• Simultaneous (Full Duplex) playback and record with 8 channel LiveLooping functionality
• On-screen waveform display (slice audio, set loop-points with ease)
• 128 MB of built-in factory drum kits (from some of our featured beta team)
• Independent Headphone output for monitoring (effectively 2 extra channels)
• DSP based LP/HP Filtering per track (more FX planned for future)

SEQUENCER

• Multiple sequence entry methods: Live recording, Step Sequence, Piano Roll GUI, TR x0x Style
• 32 Stereo Audio Tracks w/ 16 Voice polyphony
• 32 MIDI Tracks (for sequencing external equipment)
• 96 PPQN Clock
• Per track quantization and swing (including classic mode)
• Patterns are up to 100 measures, any time signature
• All parameters (level, pitch, envelope, filters) configurable per pattern step
• Song mode

HARDWARE

• Bright 128 × 64 pixel OLED display (viewable from any angle)
• Ultra High quality Grayhill Optical Data Entry Encoder
• 8 x 60mm Professional Dual Rail Faders
• 8 x Dual ‘concentric’ Pro-Audio rotary pots
• Broadcast Equipment grade A/V backlit pushbutton switches
• Tactile silicone pads backlit with RGB LEDs
• SD Card storage (up to 1TB currently tested)
• Classic (OG) input and output analogue filtering circuitry

I/O

• MIDI In/Out/Thru (Standard 5-pin DIN)
• 2 × 1/4” Stereo Mix Out jacks (psuedo balanced)
• 8 × 1/4” Individual audio out jacks (psuedo balanced)
• 4 × 1/4” External input jacks (with adjustable pre-amp modes)
• 2 × Stereo RCA Line/Phono Inputs (with dual phono pre-amps)
• Hi-speed USB 2.0 device port. (USB Audio/MIDI)
• USB Host port (connect external USB peripherals, MIDI controllers etc.)
• 3.5mm Clock/trigger in and out jacks (to sync/trigger vintage equipment or modular synths)
• Universal voltage 100-250V AC mains powered