The TORAIZ SP-16 sampler with a Dave Smith analogue filters and Pro DJ Link for perfectly timed one-shots and loops
Take your creativity to another level in the booth, the studio and on stage with the TORAIZ SP-16 sampler and step sequencer. The tactile sampler features an intuitive touch screen and layout, 16 powerful sampler engines, analogue filters based on Dave Smith Instruments’ Prophet-6 synthesiser and quantize via Pro DJ Link. And you can use it as a stand-alone unit – no need to take a laptop into the booth.
Pioneer has poured more than 20 years of electronic music industry experience into their first sampler to create a versatile sound machine. Load samples via USB or from the internal memory; then use the 16-step sequencer to create patterns, or playback loops or trigger one-shots with the multicoloured Performance Pads. And if you’re connected to CDJs via Pro DJ Link, everything is synced to the beat of the master deck, so you can get creative with confidence.
Pioneer has partnered with the legendary synth creator Dave Smith to add his Prophet-6 analogue filters to the sampler, so you can give your creations a rich, analogue warmth and presence. Plus a touch strip gives you instinctive control of various parameters including pitch bending. The real-time processing engine means you can reliably manipulate the sound using time stretch, pitch bend and amp envelope.
The 7-inch full-colour touch screen puts you in complete control. Pick the Track Menu to see the full information about your sounds and their parameters – which you can manipulate using the six rotary dials just below the screen. The sampler comes with 2GB of samples already on board, courtesy of Loopmasters, so you can start creating bass lines and loops right out of the box.
REVIEW
I started playing vinyl in about 2006 in new york when i had a residency at the Sun Burnt Cow in Avenue C of the east village. I was studying at NYU at the time and i would play 6 hours every friday on vinyl and it was a lot of fun. Soon they introduced beatport and i found that there were lots of tracks that were coming out on beatport but not on vinyl so i integrated cd players into my set up along with records. After a few years i dropped the records and went for the more practical option of using the Pioneer CDJ’s. Despite the practicality i always felt that there was a spontaneous element missing as i was limited to playing from one track to another and could not do much more except for using effects. I saw some of my friends using laptops but to me using a laptop for dj’ing just did not fit well and seemed to go against my artistic values. I was always searching for a sampler (Hardware) that could be used with the CDJ’s but i was not able to find anything that matched my vision. Finally i found the TORAIZ SP-16 by pioneer that allowed me to do many more things in my DJ set. This sampler synced up to the CDJ’s and now i could finger drum, play on top of my own tracks or other peoples tracks. I could even make up a track on the spot and improvise. This made me think of my DJ set like a live set and my tracks suddenly became samples that i was just sampling for inspiration. With the help of record box the CDJ’s became the samplers and the sampler became an expressive tool that could be used for scratching, more sampling or playing live. The best part was that i did not need to think of getting a lap top on stage which to me was a real turn off. Now i fee alive again and am excited to embark upon a new journey where i can prepare loops and work on my performances in a more detailed manner with loosing the spirit of improvisation.
