950TOOLS

FIND · EDIT · PLAY · EDIT AGAIN · PLAY FOR A BIT · FIND AGAIN

Your old S900/S950 disks are still usable

If you backed up your sampler floppies as .img files—perhaps with a Greaseweazle, a Gotek workflow, or an older disk-imaging setup—the sounds, programs, keygroups, tuning and loops are still in those images. The awkward part is finding and using them on a modern Mac.

950TOOLS is a set of source-available macOS projects for that job:

• search a folder containing hundreds or thousands of disk images;
• audition the samples without changing the original IMG files;
• open and edit native S9 samples and P9 programs safely;
• collect a program and all of its linked samples into a smaller working IMG;
• play the original program mapping in a DAW; and
• save the sound with the DAW project so it can be recalled later.

You do not need a working S900 or S950 to browse, audition, edit or use the archive in a DAW. If you still have the sampler, the resulting IMG files can also fit into your existing Gotek, USB or disk-writing workflow.

Find in FIND950, modify in EDIT950, play and recall in PLAY950.

See the tools

Search the archive — FIND950

Browse and search many disk images, audition S9 samples, add tags and follow the native relationship from a sample back to every P9 program that uses it.

Inspect and edit — EDIT950

Open one IMG in detail, hear its samples, inspect or edit native program data, export WAVs and safely prepare 800 KB or 1.6 MB working images. Build new programs, Edit existing ones, including bulk KG edits. Create IMGs, samples and programs from scratch, import wavs, work on IMGs on your laptop and play them on your sampler later.

Play in the DAW — PLAY950

Load an IMG or P9 into the VST3, play its original mapping from MIDI and save the required native content with the DAW project for later recall. Enjoy the 1.6Mb memory constraint. Marvel at the monophonic outputs (and L/R/MIX), all of which are perfectly mapped from the original S950 program.

Which project do I need?

I want to…	Use…
See what is inside one IMG, export WAVs, edit programs/samples, or create working images	EDIT950
Search and tag an entire folder of IMG backups, audition sounds, or find every program using a sample	FIND950
Load the original programs into a DAW and recall them with the session	PLAY950

The easiest place to start is EDIT950 if you have one or two images to inspect. Add FIND950 when you want your whole archive to feel searchable. PLAY950 is the DAW instrument side of the workflow.

User guides

• FIND950 user guide — scan, search, audition and organise an IMG library.
• EDIT950 user guide — inspect, edit and create IMG, P9 and S9 content.
• PLAY950 user guide — install the VST3, load sounds, route outputs and recall them with a DAW project.

How to use the 950TOOLS workflow

1. Image the old disks without modifying them.
2. Put the resulting .img files in an organised folder on your Mac and keep a separate archival backup.
3. Point FIND950 at the folder. It builds a searchable catalogue and subsequently rereads only new or changed images.
4. Search for a remembered program or audition samples until you find the right sound.
5. Open it in EDIT950 to inspect or edit it, or ask EDIT950 to make a focused 800 KB or 1.6 MB IMG containing that P9 and all of its linked S9 samples.
6. Load the program in PLAY950 inside the DAW. PLAY950 stores the required native content with the project, so recall does not depend on the original IMG remaining at the same path.

You can also deliberately keep the floppy-disk discipline. Ask EDIT950 to make a fresh 800 KB or 1.6 MB image, treat its directory slots and sample memory as a hard creative budget, and use only the programs and samples that fit. PLAY950 then plays that deliberately constrained disk in the DAW without removing the decisions imposed by the original medium.

The original archive remains the source of truth. FIND950 and PLAY950 open source images read-only. EDIT950 is the only application that writes IMG files, and its mutation workflows use staging, verification, backup and rollback where applicable.

IMG and hardware compatibility

• Standard S900/S950 .img disk images are the main workflow.
• If Greaseweazle already produced an IMG file, you can use that file directly.
• Raw flux captures, .scp and .hfe files are not opened directly. Preserve those masters and export or convert a compatible IMG copy first.
• EDIT950 can also inspect supported ISO and compatible raw-image layouts; FIND950 currently indexes IMG files.
• These applications work with image files, not physical floppy drives. They do not format or write a real drive.
• Owning the original sampler is optional. PLAY950 models the supported S950 playback behaviour for DAW use; it is not presented as a component-perfect hardware emulation.

Current availability

• EDIT950 1.8.24 is available as a public Universal macOS app.
• FIND950 0.2.5 is available as a public Universal macOS app.
• PLAY950 0.13.2 is available as a public Universal macOS VST3.

All three target macOS 14 or later. The public community builds support Apple Silicon and Intel, are ad-hoc signed and are not Apple-notarized. See each product README and release page for exact installation and current-scope details.

Why three applications?

The separation is a safety feature, not three copies of the same utility:

• FIND950 can search and audition but cannot issue mutating AKAI Util commands.
• EDIT950 owns all deliberate IMG creation and modification.
• PLAY950 owns real-time playback and DAW project recall, never media editing.

This repository holds the contracts and acceptance criteria that keep those responsibilities consistent. It does not contain the application source.

Protocol and project documents

• Architecture
• Interoperability protocol v1
• Delivery roadmap
• Cross-project acceptance
• Implementation baseline
• Phase 1 compatibility record

Machine-readable JSON Schemas live in schemas/. Validate the schemas and examples with:

npm install
./scripts/validate-contracts.sh

Licence

Current original 950TOOLS material is source-available under the PolyForm Internal Use License 1.0.0, with additional permission for personal, educational and internal professional use—including paid music work. Distributing, bundling, hosting or selling the software requires a separate written agreement from Richie Warburton. Historical MIT versions retain their earlier terms.

Third-party products, dependencies, formats, trademarks and test media retain their respective rights. This is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Akai Professional.