Akai S-20 vs. Akai S900 vs. Boss SP-202 (Dr. Sample)

[Douglas Lawrence <douglas-lawrence@home.com>]

Hey all ... since the line between sampling and looping is kind of blurred 
these days, I thought some of you may have an opinion on a *mid-price* 
sampling unit. I'm a bass player and looking to use my EDP in conjunction 
with a sampler. I'd  sample groove loops, tasty over-dubs, background 
sweeps, or even replay loops that I downloaded from my EDP.

It has to be easy to use live and in the $300-500 price range, so the Akai 
S-20, S900 and Boss SP-202 seem to be options. It also has to be easy to 
make samples, store the samples and possibly arrange them a little. The 
ability to use a trigger footpedal would be great as well. If anybody has 
any experience with these units, especially "live", comments would be 
greatly appreciated. Are there any other *good* samplers in this price 
range?

If they can't do what I'm looking to do, I may have to consider the Akai 
MPC-2000, Akai Remix, or even an Ensoniq ASR-X. They are just a little too 
expensive at this point.

Thanks,
Doug.