Load the same drum break onto three different samplers and you can end up talking about three different things. On a Make Noise Morphagene it has splices. On an Elektron Octatrack it has slices. Open it in a WAV editor and it has cue points. The three words get used as if they are interchangeable, and the difference shows up the moment you move a file between devices: some markers are written into the WAV and travel with it, and some live in the sampler’s own project data and stay behind.
Cue points live in the WAV
A cue point is a position marker stored inside the WAV file, in a chunk called cue . The trailing space is part of the name; RIFF chunk IDs are always four characters. Each cue point is an ID and a sample offset, a number that says “this marker sits at sample 44,100,” which at 44.1 kHz is one second into the file. A bare cue point is nothing more than that: a labeled position.
WAV files can carry more detail alongside the cue chunk. A LIST chunk of type adtl (associated data list) holds labels and notes tied to each cue ID, so a marker can read “kick” or “verse” instead of a raw number. An ltxt entry gives a cue point a length, which turns a single point into a region with a start and a run of samples. Software that reads these chunks, such as Reaper, Adobe Audition, Wavosaur, and Sound Forge, shows the markers on the waveform and lets you add, move, and name them.
Because cue points are part of the file, they move with it. Copy the WAV to another drive, another computer, or a card for a piece of hardware that reads the cue chunk, and the markers are there.
One thing a cue point is not: a loop point. A loop is stored in a separate chunk called smpl, the sampler chunk, which holds a loop start, a loop end, a loop type, and the file’s root note for pitched playback. A sustained instrument sample loops using the smpl chunk; a one-shot marked for chopping uses the cue chunk. The two are independent, and the seamless loops guide covers the loop side.
Splice markers are cue points with a job
“Splice marker” is not a separate file format. It is what certain hardware calls a cue point when the firmware uses that cue point as a playback boundary.
The clearest example is the Morphagene. A Morphagene reel is a stereo WAV, and the module reads the cue points in that WAV as splice boundaries. The start of the file is splice one, and every cue point you add marks the start of a new splice, up to 299 of them per reel. Turn the Organize knob and the module jumps between those boundaries. Nothing about the file is Morphagene-specific: the splices are ordinary cue points, written by any editor that can set them, and the module’s firmware is what reads them as splice points.
That interpretation is why setting cues deliberately matters. Drop an unmarked recording on a reel and the Morphagene has only the file start to work with. Place cue points at the downbeats, the word boundaries, or the grain edges you care about, and Organize lands on musically useful positions instead of arbitrary ones. The Morphagene sample prep guide covers the placement in detail.
The Morphagene is not alone in reading cues this way. The Erica Synths Sample Drum uses cue points to set its slice positions, and the SP-404 MKII reads them too once you enable the option in its settings, which is how you get a long sample to chop at positions set in a DAW rather than by hand on the pads. Different devices, the same underlying metadata.
Slices often live outside the file
Slicing is where portability breaks down, because many samplers store slice positions in their own project data rather than in the WAV.
The Octatrack is the clearest case. When you slice a sample on the Octatrack, the slice grid goes into the Octatrack’s own files on the card: the project data and a per-sample settings file (a .ot file saved next to the audio) that holds trim points, slice positions, and loop settings. The WAV itself is untouched. Copy that bare WAV to another device, or into a new Octatrack project without its .ot file, and you get an unsliced sample. The slice work stayed behind with the project. That is the opposite of the Morphagene, where the markers are in the WAV and travel with it. The Octatrack sample chains tutorial covers the building side.
Worth separating two kinds of Octatrack slicing. Auto-slice is a computed grid: it divides the file into 2, 4, 8, up to 64 equal parts on demand, so it needs no stored markers at all. Manual slice points, the ones you place by hand on unequal material, are what the .ot file preserves. Either way the positions are Octatrack data, not WAV data.
Other samplers follow the same pattern. The Digitakt II stores slices in the project. An Akai MPC keeps slice markers in its program files. The positions are tied to the device’s session, so the audio travels and the slicing does not.
Two formats work the other way and build slicing into the file itself:
- REX2 (
.rex2), from Propellerhead ReCycle, is a dedicated sliced-loop format. The slices are part of the file, and any host that reads REX picks them up. It is not a WAV, so hardware that reads only WAV cannot use it directly. - An “acidized” WAV stores tempo and transient information in a proprietary
acidchunk inside the WAV. ACID and other software that reads the chunk use it to stretch and slice the loop to tempo. Hardware that reads only the standard chunks ignores theacidchunk and plays the plain audio.
When the markers transfer, and when they don’t
The rule is about where the marker is stored:
- Cue points and splice markers (the
cuechunk) are portable. Set them once in a DAW or WAV editor and they travel with the file to any software or hardware that reads the chunk. The Morphagene, the Sample Drum, and the SP-404 (with cue reading enabled) all pick them up. - Loop points (the
smplchunk) are portable in the same way, but they are a separate marker that samplers read for sustained playback, not for chopping. - Slices on most samplers (the Octatrack, the Digitakt, the MPC) are not portable. They live in the device’s project, so moving the WAV loses them.
- REX2 and acidized WAV carry their slice data in the file, but only software that understands those specific formats or chunks can use it.
The question to ask about any marker: is it written into the WAV as a standard chunk, or kept in the device’s project and sidecar files? Written into the WAV, it moves with the audio. Kept on the device, it stays there.
Setting cue points you can use
For hardware that reads the cue chunk, you set the markers before the file reaches the device. The reliable tools are the editors that write standard cue chunks: Reaper (add markers, then render with markers embedded), Audition, Wavosaur, and Sound Forge. Place a marker, confirm it lands where you want on the waveform, and export WAV. The Morphagene reads what you wrote, the SP-404 reads it once enabled, and a WAV editor on another machine reads it too.
Two things to check, because a marker that is slightly off is worse than no marker:
- Put cue points at zero crossings where you can, so a splice or slice boundary does not start mid-wave and click.
- Watch the sample rate. A cue point is a sample offset, so if you set markers at 48 kHz and the file is later converted to 44.1 kHz without the offsets being recalculated, every position drifts. A good conversion moves the markers with the audio.
If you are prepping files for several devices at once, SampleStack reads the cue points already in a WAV, carries or generates splice markers for the hardware that wants them (the Morphagene’s reels, for one), and recalculates marker positions when it converts sample rate, so the boundaries still line up after the format change.
Common questions
Are cue points and splice markers the same thing? In storage, yes. A splice marker on the Morphagene is an ordinary WAV cue point. “Splice” is the module’s name for how its firmware uses that marker.
Why did my slices disappear when I copied the sample to another device? Most samplers, including the Octatrack, the Digitakt II, and the MPC, store slice positions in their own project data, not in the WAV. The audio file carries no slice information, so a fresh device sees an unsliced sample. Cue-point-based markers like the Morphagene’s splices are stored in the WAV and do transfer.
What is the difference between a cue point and a loop point in a WAV? A cue point is a position marker in the cue chunk, used for chopping or navigation. A loop point is stored in the separate smpl chunk and defines a sustain loop for pitched playback. A file can have either, both, or neither.
How do I add cue points to a WAV file? Use a DAW or editor that writes standard WAV cue chunks: Reaper, Audition, Wavosaur, or Sound Forge. Place markers on the waveform and export WAV with the markers embedded. Hardware that reads the cue chunk then uses them.
Does the Octatrack store slices in the WAV file? No. The Octatrack keeps slice grids and trim points in its project data and a per-sample .ot settings file saved alongside the audio. The WAV is unchanged, so the slices do not travel with the bare file.