SampleStack 1.3 is a big release, and it points in two directions at once. Version 1.2 let you build multisample instruments and export them. Now you can bring existing instruments in, and a set of organizing changes makes a large, mixed library easier to move through.
Import SFZ and Decent Sampler instruments
The headline feature is import. SampleStack 1.3 reads SFZ and Decent Sampler instruments directly, including .sfz, .dspreset, and .dslibrary files. Key mapping, velocity layers, loops, tuning, and amp envelopes all come across intact, along with the artwork from Decent Sampler libraries.
Two details matter once you point it at real-world content. Keyswitched libraries, where a single instrument bundles many articulations, import as one playable articulation instead of stacking every articulation at once, so the instrument plays the way you expect. And the original preset is kept alongside the imported version, so nothing from the source is lost.
This closes the loop with the export added in 1.2. You can bring in one of the free SFZ and Decent Sampler instruments from around the web, adjust it, and send it back out to another format or onto hardware. The SFZ and Decent Sampler format pages cover what each one carries.
Browse by category
A shared, editable category list now spans both samples and instruments, each category with its own icon. You can manage the list in Settings or add categories as you go while you work, so a growing library keeps a consistent structure across both kinds of content.
A card view and filters for instruments
Instruments get a new card view that shows artwork, format, and zone count, with a preview button on hover so you can hear one without opening it. You can switch between cards and the list at any time.
Multisample collections now have the same filter bar as the sample browser: search, plus category, tag, rating, author, and source format. Instruments can be rated, and samples can be categorised, so the same filtering habits carry across your whole library.
A redesigned sidebar
The sidebar is now a single scrolling list with collapsible sections. You can pin any library, folder, or instrument to a bottom bar for quick access, sort by name or date added, and the selection style throughout is quieter and easier on the eye during a long session.
Export tuned to hardware limits
On the export side, you can now write instruments as .dslibrary. There are also new options to thin an instrument so it fits a hardware sampler’s limits: reduce it by pitch coverage, by round-robins, or by velocity layers. A detailed instrument can carry hundreds of samples, and devices like the Squid Salmple and Blackbox cap how many they hold, so trimming in a controlled way is often the difference between an instrument that loads and one that does not.
Also in this release
- A compact companion window for dragging samples straight into a DAW, so the same library that preps your hardware also feeds your sessions without switching apps.
- Automatic BPM detection, so loops arrive with their tempo already read.
- Support for the Venus Instruments Veno-Orbit.
Fixes
- Root notes are detected correctly for sample packs that number octaves differently.
- Multi-select delete works in collections, from both the keyboard and the context menu.
- You can drag samples from a multisample into any collection, folder, or pin.
- Renaming a file updates immediately instead of appearing to revert.
- Copy progress names the file being converted rather than appearing to stall.
- Failed imports explain why instead of doing nothing.
SampleStack 1.3 is available now on the Mac App Store.