Akai samplers may not always be at the cutting edge of technology, but their familiar user interface combined with good third‑party support from sample CD‑ROM manufacturers has undoubtedly helped them retain their Industry Standard tag. However, Akai's designers knew that the company couldn't rest on past glories forever, which is why they put so much effort into creating the new S5000 and S6000. Rather than upgrade what's gone before, the S5000 and S6000 feature a totally redesigned user interface based around a huge screen designed to operate much like a modern computer environment. Up to 256Mb of standard computer RAM can be fitted (that's over 25 minutes of full‑bandwidth stereo sampling) and the polyphony is a generous 128 voices as standard on the S6000, or 64 voices upgradable to 128 on the S5000.