Why build more?

Up until a few years ago, if you needed an 8bit sampler cartridge for your Amiga you'd usually ask on a forum and quickly get a response from somebody either willing to sell theirs for some small amount, or even send one to you for free. But something's happened to Amiga hardware in recent years...second-hand prices have exploded, parts have become more scarce, and it's getting harder and harder for those of us who still produce Amiga music - in the demoscene, in the chiptune scene, and even professionally in the games industry - to maintain our equipment or ensure that it's possible and affordable for newcomers to add the Amiga to their music production toolbox.

So the main reason for doing this is that we're sort of outraged by how much money is changing hands for these sampler carts - often way more than their original market value. That's not unusual for vintage computer equipment, but usually expensive vintage computer equipment is terminally out of production and derives its value from genuine scarcity. But these things? They're still just a few dollars' worth of components, just as they were 30 years ago! So we wanted to make them available to anyone who needs one.

Another reason is that one of us fried a cart years ago, and we thought it would be fun to work out how to bring it back to life (spoiler: both IC chips turned out to be fried - after replacing them, it's as 'good' as new!) We'll explain later how you can avoid frying your sampler carts - not least because usually when you fry your sampler, you also fry the Amiga. Whoops.