Is there any software version of this beast? Has anyone come accross any vst that comes close to the feel of it (akai 3200)?

Thanks for the info!
DiLate

Akai planned on releasing the VZ8 sampler but I don't think it was ever released. check here. Are there any specific features you were looking for, or just the feel/interface?

im looking for a sampler that i can control from my hardware synth.. so I can turn almost any sound into an instrument. I spoke to some older musicians and they all swore by the akai 3200. Most agreed it was industry standard for a long period of time, so I decided to price it. Its still a bit pricey so i figured the software version might be a bit less costly. Im willing to do some saving, but i dont want to waste my money on the wrong kind of sampler so I figured this would be the place to inquire.

Thanks..
DiLate

would reaktor 4 have a comparable sampler?

i had an s3200 once. it seemed alright, but when i discovered that the archaic ram boards to max the ram out to 32 megs would cost me twice what i paid for the thing, i sold it. the other problem with the 3200 is there are different models, the one i got was a more original model, which was the reason for the archaic ram, had i got... i think an s3200xl it would have taken normal ram like my triton le. in fact, the industry standard sampler for a long time was actually the s3000, the s3200 was simply an s3000 with all the available upgrade stuff -- kind of like the kurzweil k2500 vs. the k2600, same board just one is fully upgraded out of the box.

as far as sampling goes, look into kontakt, i'm pretty certain it'll do anything the s3200 could at better quality with much more ease of use. the interface on the s3200 i had was horrendous, especially since i could only ever track down a PDF manual for the s3000xl in which maybe 50% of the controls were placed/labeled the same.

Try the demo versions and the freeware.

Reaktor is an everything synth/sampler/modular/otherthings and definitely suited to the "turn almost any sound into an instrument" style of working.

There are also sample players dedicated to producing the best quality output from a sample like sfz (which is free) and plays soundfonts and its own text based format (so the interface may not be ideally suited, but is powerful underneath.)

As neverwhere says above, try the kontakt demo too as it has tools for traditional sample playing and synth and mangling features.

Also, try looking a the instrument search page where you can search for types of sampler including synth(hybrid) types that load sample sets like wusikstation, spend time trying the demo versions and the available freeware.