Retro Sample Archive – Free Vintage Sounds for Authentic Productions
Dust off those classic 90s/early 2000s sample CDs with this massive collection of fully legal archive copies. These aren’t rehashed sounds—these are the original WAV/AIFF discs that shaped decades of hip-hop, jungle, house, and more, now preserved for new producers.
What makes this goldmine special:
Zero “modernized” processing—just the original raw samples
Complete with original categories/structures exactly as producers used them
Includes those hard-to-find “filler” sounds (ambiences, hits, Foley) most packs omit
Perfect for:
Authentic lo-fi and vaporwave
Classic drum & bass/jungle breaks
Sampling sessions with real character
Technical perks:
True stereo files (not upmixed mono)
Original bit depths preserved
Clean transfers from physical media
Full metadata/tracklists included
DAWs supporting some of the specified extensions:
- Ableton Live—can import AKAI ISO files but sometimes conversion can have unpredictable behaviour on some patches
- FL Studio—supports .sfz file using the DirectWave plugin
- Apple Logic—I think EXS sampler had an option for importing AKAI CDs.
- Reason—NN-XT can import .sf2 files but not .sfz. The default extension is .sxt or .sx2
- Bitwig — Can import .sfz files natively and .sf2 as well
