“I have seen two of the exact same sample CD at significantly different prices. I think one was an audio CD while the other was in Akai format. Why was the audio CD so much less, and which should I get?”
The difference is basic, but makes your decision of which to purchase extremely important. Essentially, sample libraries in an audio-only format can be listened to and sampled from just like any other ordinary CD that you purchase from your local record store, except they generally have the audio tracks set up with the instruments isolated so you can easily sample exactly what you need. Sample libraries that are in Akai (or various other formats including E-MU, Roland and Kurzweil) format are actually CD-ROMs that contain sound files and sampler specific information such as key mapping that make them far easier to use right out of the box. If you were to purchase the audio-only CD, you would likely have to sample a given track into your sampler and then prepare that sound file for playback and triggering from a keyboard or drum pad. Typically, this involves a lot of work and is way beyond the scope of today’s inSync. Conversely, the Akai formatted CD-ROM would have been programmed and prepared in advance for use on your Akai sampler. This is why the latter of the two tends to cost more, but can be the best investment in the end.