I would take a long serious look at the AKAI S3000XL.
It's pretty much the studio standard, is easy to use, comes with 2Megs
expandable up to 32Megs of RAM (2 standard 72 pin SIMMS boards) plus you can
add 4Megs of (proprietary AKAI) FlashROM (that remembers even when it's
turned off), will take extra effects boards and all kinds of cool stuff...
has 8 independent outputs, so you can pump different sounds out on different
channels for cool aux effects and greater control than having to mix inside
the mixer and come out on stereo outs as you have to do on cheaper samplers
(like the S2800).
It has SCSI, so you can hook up CDROM burners, JAZ drives and all that
goodness. I also heard rumour that there's now an editing program for PC and
MAC that allows you to edit the waveforms on your computer, then download
them straight back to your sampler, I presume via the SCSI. Steinberg's
Recycle looks like it does that too.
You can pick one up for around $1500 new with upgraded RAM, I've seen them
for around $1000 second hand.
I've been dreaming of one for a long time now and will be buying one for
sure as soon as I get paid.
Best of luck on your quest...
marcus
-- diggin' records"walk soft and carry a big stick"