SampleStash User Guide

📁 Import & Build Your Library

Add your folders of samples, loops, beats, drum kits, and instruments with File → Import → Scan Folder… (⌘O). SampleStash scans recursively, finding every supported file in all subfolders, and a folder watcher keeps the library current as you add or change files.

You can also use File → Import → Scan Standard Locations to auto-detect common macOS audio folders (Sound Library, Logic, GarageBand, Native Instruments), import individual files with File → Import → Audio Files… (⌘I), or a single bank with File → Import → Soundbank… (⇧⌘I).

Audio Formats

^* FLAC export requires macOS 11 or later.

Sound Bank Formats

🔎 Browse & Search

Views

Toggle between Grid view (waveform thumbnails) and List view (sortable columns) in the toolbar. In grid view, hold ⌘ and scroll to zoom the thumbnail size. Use the format jump bar along the right edge to filter by file format.

The Sidebar

The sidebar organizes your samples, loops, beats, and instruments automatically:

• Library — All Files, One-Shots, Loops, Long Samples, Instruments
• Smart — Favorites, Rated, Recent, Only Instruments, No MP3s, No BPM, Hi-Res (96kHz+)
• Duration — Tiny (<1s), Short (1–5s), Medium (5–30s), Long (30s–2m), Very Long (>2m)
• Labels — Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
• Tags — your custom tags
• Playlists — regular and smart playlists
• Folders — your watched-folder tree

Search

Press ⌘F to jump to the search field. It matches on filename, path, tags, and format. Press Esc to stop playback and clear the search.

🎧 Preview & Playback

Select a file and press Space to play or stop it. In List view you can also double-click a row to play.

Turn on View → Auto-Play on Select (⇧⌘P) to audition each file automatically as you arrow through your library.

Drag & Drop

Drag any sample, loop, beat, or instrument file from SampleStash straight into Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, the Finder, or any DAW — dragged as a standard file reference.

🏷️ Tag & Organize

Right-click any selection to organize it:

• Tag Selection… — add comma-separated tags; they appear under Tags in the sidebar
• Toggle Favorite — mark files; find them under Smart → Favorites
• Color Label — assign Red through Purple (or None)
• Find Similar — locate samples that resemble the selected one
• Batch Rename… — rename multiple files at once
• Add to Playlist… — add files to a playlist

Star ratings (up to 5) are set in the detail panel and surface under Smart → Rated.

Smart Playlists

Create a rule-based playlist with File → New Smart Playlist… (⇧⌘N). It auto-populates with files matching your rule — for example, loops over 120 BPM.

🎵 BPM & Key Detection

SampleStash analyzes your loops and beats to detect their tempo during scanning. To manage it:

• Right-click → Detect BPM on a selection
• Right-click → Set BPM… to enter a value manually
• File → Detect Missing BPMs to sweep the whole library

Musical key is read from a file’s embedded tags when present (it is not analyzed from the audio).

📥 Export & Convert

Exporting and format conversion are SampleStash Pro features. Select one or more files, then use File → Export to quickly export as WAV, AIFF, CAF, MP3, OGG Vorbis, AAC, or ALAC. Use File → Export → Custom… (⇧⌘E) to choose sample rate, bit depth, and normalization.

Free vs. SampleStash Pro

Scanning, browsing, previewing, tagging, rating, and organizing — with no size limit — are free. A one-time SampleStash Pro in-app purchase unlocks exporting, format conversion, soundbank editing, and bank creation. No subscription. Restore a previous purchase with SampleStash → Restore Purchase.

🎹 Soundbanks & Instruments

SampleStash opens SF2, DLS, EXS24, SFZ, and DecentSampler files and shows the instruments inside them.

• Edit Soundbank… (right-click, or double-click a bank) — opens the built-in editor to edit instruments, zones, velocity ranges, gain, loop modes, envelopes, and filters.
• Extract Samples… — pulls every embedded sample out of a bank as individual WAV files.
• Bundle as SF2… — packages selected audio files into a new SoundFont.
• Install to Sound Library — copies SF2/DLS banks into the macOS Sound Library for GarageBand and Logic Pro (via DLSMusicDevice).
• Open in Logic Pro / Open in GarageBand — hands a file off to your DAW.

🛠️ Library Maintenance

• File → Rescan All Folders (⇧⌘R) — re-scan every watched folder
• File → Regenerate Waveforms — rebuild waveform thumbnails
• File → Remove Missing Files — remove files from the library whose originals no longer exist on disk
• File → Find Duplicates — compares actual audio content to find true duplicates
• View → Library Statistics — totals and a breakdown of your collection

Settings

Open with ⌘,:

• Preview Engine — MIDISynth or AVAudioUnitSampler
• Middle C Label — C3, C4, or C5
• On Startup — Do Nothing or New Document
• Warn when removing items

Resetting / Starting Fresh

Choose File → Clear Library… to remove all files from your library without deleting actual audio files on disk. For a full Terminal reset:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/SampleStash
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/SampleStash
defaults delete com.sonicamigos.samplestash
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.sonicamigos.samplestash
killall cfprefsd

⌨ Keyboard Shortcuts

System Requirements

macOS 10.14 Mojave or later. Universal binary — runs natively on Intel and Apple Silicon.

Questions or feedback? Visit the Support page or email support@sonicamigos.com.