SampleStack 1.2 is here, and it’s the biggest addition yet: you can now build multisample instruments from your samples and export them to the formats that soft samplers, DAWs, and hardware actually read.
Turn one-shots into an instrument
Create a new instrument in the sidebar and drop in a set of pitched samples. SampleStack detects the pitch of each one and maps it to a zone across the keyboard automatically. The more samples you add across the range, the narrower each zone becomes and the more natural the result sounds.
From there you can shape the instrument:
- Velocity layers. Load several samples for the same note at different strengths and SampleStack assigns them to velocity ranges, so a soft hit and a hard hit use different recordings.
- Zone tuning. Check and adjust root notes and zone boundaries, with a visualization showing which sample covers which part of the keyboard.
- Amp envelope. Set the instrument’s ADSR envelope and hear it as you play.
- Preview. Play the instrument over MIDI, your computer keyboard, or the mouse, with a virtual pitch bend wheel and 16-note polyphony, before you commit to anything.
Export to almost anything
Once the instrument sounds right, export it. SampleStack 1.2 writes:
- SFZ, the open, text-based format read by sforzando and many other samplers. See the new SFZ guide for a full walkthrough.
- SoundFont 2, a single self-contained file that loads almost anywhere.
- Decent Sampler, with custom artwork and controls, for a finished instrument you can hand to anyone using the free player.
- Ableton Sampler, as a native Live instrument.
- Disting EX and Disting NT, to play your instrument from a Eurorack rack on the Expert Sleepers Disting EX and Disting NT.
A built-in matrix shows exactly what each format carries before you export, so you can see at a glance whether the target keeps your velocity layers or your custom controls.
Everything else is still here
Multisample support sits alongside everything SampleStack already does: browsing and organizing your library, validating and converting samples, and exporting to 30+ hardware samplers and Eurorack modules. The multisample instrument is just a new kind of thing you can build from the same library.
SampleStack 1.2 is available now on the Mac App Store.