Reverb Releases FREE SP-1200 Sample Pack By Nick Hook

Reverb released Nick Hook SP-1200 Sample Pack, a free collection of drum sounds captured from the E-Mu Systems SP-1200 drum sampler.

Nick Hook SP-1200 Sample Pack contains 25 one-shot drum samples for beat-making and hip-hop music production. The sounds are provided in 24-bit WAV format. The library included snares, bass drums, rim shots, percussion, and more.

The included drum sounds were re-sampled from the SP-1200, a legendary hardware sampler from the late 80s. It featured a 26.040 kHz sample rate and 12-bit resolution. These were considered flagship specs at the time, yet they’re considered fairly lo-fi by today’s standards.

There’s an evident loss in sound quality when you capture audio in 12-bit resolution. It manifests as aliasing, digital distortion, and reduced frequency range.

However, many producers consider these old-school 12-bit samplers as the “sweet spot” for lo-fi digital sampling that sounds pleasing to the ear. This is especially true for drums. There’s a subtle layer of lo-fi noise and grit that you can hear in SP-1200 drum samples.

As expected, the drums included in Nick Hook’s SP-1200 Sample Pack deliver tons of that tasty 12-bit character that the SP-1200 is known for. The drums are lo-fi in a good way, boasting just the right amount of digital distortion to help the sample cut through the mix.

Whether or not you’re a hip-hop producer, it’s certainly worth adding these drum samples to your arsenal. I often like layering such lo-fi drum samples on top of clean drums for added character and punch.

Nick Hook SP-1200 Sample Pack is available for free download via Reverb. You will need to sign up for a user account to download your free copy of the library (requires a valid email address).

While you’re there, be sure to check out Reverb’s epic collection of free drum machine samples. It contains thousands of one-shot drum samples from various iconic (and less known) drum machines.

More info: Nick Hook SP-1200 Sample Pack (33.5 MB download size, ZIP archive, contains 25 drum samples in 24-bit WAV format)

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