Release Notes

What's new in SonikSearch: features, improvements, and fixes across every release.

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v3.0.6 DAW Sync Rework & Pro Tools Playback
August 13, 2026
Improvements
  • Beat Sync, reworked: previews you start while your DAW is playing, whether with the Play button, autoplay, or by switching samples, now drop in locked to the bar in every format (VST3, AU, AAX), and stay locked when you move the playhead or your loop cycle wraps around. One-shots re-fire on each pass of the loop.
  • Spacebar controls the Pro Tools transport: pressing space in the SonikSearch plugin window now starts and stops Pro Tools playback on macOS, no matter which part of the window last had focus. Typing in a search field still types spaces.
  • Arpeggiator & trance gate lock to your DAW’s grid: while the transport is rolling, steps land exactly on the DAW grid, follow tempo changes, and stay in step across relocates and loop wraps. Free-running behavior with the transport stopped is unchanged.
  • The sync toggles are now named Tempo Sync and Beat Sync, with clearer tooltips explaining what each one does.
Fixes
  • Beat-aligned playback now works in Pro Tools, where previews previously never landed on the bar, and the plugin keeps tracking the Pro Tools transport even while its window is closed.
  • Fixed the sampler ignoring your session tempo and staying at 120 BPM in VST3 hosts that run 64-bit audio processing.
  • Fixed intermittent silent previews when browsing with autoplay while your DAW is playing. The preview could start paused instead of playing, most often on Windows.
  • Beat-aligned previews now start at the correct position when realtime timestretch is active.
  • Two SonikSearch instances in the same session no longer interfere with each other’s tempo sync in the AU plugin.
  • The macOS installer now refreshes Pro Tools’ plugin cache, so Pro Tools reliably loads the newly installed version after an update.
v3.0.5 Collections Drag & Drop, Shared Plugin Settings & Fixes
August 9, 2026
Improvements
  • Drag and drop onto collections: drop a sample from the results or Similar Sounds list, or a whole folder from the library tree, straight onto a collection in the sidebar to add it.
  • One database location for every format: the standalone app and the VST3, AU, and AAX plugins now share the same preferences, so you set your database location once and every format follows it. Your existing settings carry over automatically.
  • The database-location dialog now tells you to copy the entire SonikSearch folder when moving your library, since it also holds collection indexes and logs that belong with the database.
Fixes
  • Adding or removing a folder in a collection is now instant; on large libraries it could previously freeze the app for minutes.
  • Fixed a crash when right-clicking in the folder tree.
  • Tools > Refresh All no longer silently skips locations: a location that’s already importing queues its refresh to run afterward, and the confirmation reports exactly what was queued. “Places” is now called “Locations” throughout the app.
  • Clicking a collection now clears the highlight in Locations, so it’s always clear which one is active.
  • In the sampler, key-tracked pads now default their root note to C3, so a freshly key-tracked pad’s range stays centered on its root.
v3.0.4 Windows Plugin Fixes
July 31, 2026
Fixes
  • Spacebar now reaches your DAW on Windows: pressing space with the SonikSearch plugin window focused starts and stops host playback, just like on macOS. Typing in a search field still types spaces.
  • Fixed silent sample previews and autoplay in plugin mode on Windows when a file’s path contained international characters or was very long.
v3.0.3 Filter Panel Flexibility & Plugin Preview Fixes
July 31, 2026
Improvements
  • Collapsible filter sections: Tags, Type, Key, and BPM Range can now be collapsed just like Data Source, and each section remembers its state between sessions.
  • Resizable subfolder browser: drag the new divider between the subfolder browser and the filters below it to give either one more room; your layout is remembered.
Fixes
  • Library preview timestretch now works correctly in plugin mode: Sync follows your DAW’s tempo instead of falling back to a fixed 120 BPM, so previews beat-match your session.
  • Fixed stretched previews playing at the wrong pitch when your session’s sample rate didn’t match the file (e.g., a 44.1 kHz sample in a 48 kHz session).
  • In the AU and AAX plugins, stretch and transpose settings applied while a sample was still loading are no longer lost.
v3.0.2 Smarter BPM Detection & Faster Imports
July 26, 2026
Improvements
  • BPM you can trust: one-shots, ambient textures, FX, and vocal phrases no longer pick up meaningless BPMs, while genuine loops keep theirs, so sorting and filtering by BPM gets a lot more reliable.
  • Cleans up old bogus BPMs too: re-analysis now clears stale tempos left on samples from earlier versions where there’s no actual beat. Open Health & Status and choose “Upgrade now” to apply the new detection across your existing library; BPMs you entered yourself are never touched.
  • Imports are about 1.7× faster, with no change in analysis accuracy.
Fixes
  • Fixed auto-tagging for libraries upgraded from 2.5, where samples could receive far too many tags. Tags are repaired automatically on update.
  • Stability improvement when quitting the standalone app while the library index is still loading.
  • Fixed a hang when quitting just as the crash-report notice appeared.
v3.0.1 Sampler Glide & Workflow Fixes
July 24, 2026
Improvements
  • True legato glide: the sampler’s Legato portamento mode now slides pitch between held notes without retriggering the envelope, for smooth mono-synth-style glides.
Fixes
  • AI search results now update to match your current folder, collection, or filters when you navigate; no more results scoped to the place you just left.
  • Stem separation is more reliable on Windows.
  • Fixed drag-and-drop into Bitwig on Windows, plus other drag-and-drop fixes.
v3.0 The Sampler
July 2026
New Features
  • The Sampler: a full kit-based sampler instrument built into SonikSearch. The moment you find a sound, you can play it: drag it onto a pad and trigger it from a MIDI controller, the on-screen keyboard, or your DAW. Kits start at 16 pads and grow to 128, and each pad can be a one-key drum or a chromatic, key-tracked instrument, holding one sample or many, mapped across key and velocity zones with round-robins so fast rolls never machine-gun.
  • Envelopes on the waveform: freeform amp, filter, and pitch envelopes (up to 16 points) drawn directly on the sample, plus a per-pad resonant filter with drive and key tracking, two LFOs, glide, and unison/humanize.
  • Real-time stretch & session key: five stretch algorithms (Classic repitch, Drums, Melodic, Vocal, Polyphonic): Sync beat-matches loops to your session tempo, Tune pulls pitched sounds toward your session key, and Freeze holds time still to turn any sound into a sustained texture.
  • Chop: slice a break by transients, beat grid, or equal parts, spread the slices across pads in one click, then drag a MIDI clip of the slice timing into your DAW; rearrange the notes and the break follows.
  • Per-pad FX rack: 8 slots and 17 effects on every pad: a 4-band EQ with a graphical editor, delay, chorus/flanger/phaser, distortion, bitcrusher, compressor, limiter, five reverbs including gated and convolution with impulse-response file loading, Mod Bank (ring/autopan/FM), Band Drive multiband saturation, and stereo width tools.
  • Kits in your library: save and load kits with a browser, choke groups and kill notes for real hi-hat behavior, per-pad MIDI channels, full undo/redo, and SFZ instrument import.
  • Stem separation: split any sample into drums, bass, vocals, and everything else. Right-click a sample (or a pad) and choose “Separate into stems”; the four stems are saved next to the source file and imported into your library automatically: analyzed, tagged, linked to the original, and ready to search or drop onto pads. Works in the standalone app and inside your DAW.
  • Generate Kit: build a kit from your own library in one click: kick, snare, hats, percussion, bass, melody, pad, and FX, each picked to fit the others. Reroll any pad for a compatible swap, and bounce pads, rendered through their FX, back into your library as new samples.
  • Macros & DAW automation: a deliberately clean automation surface: Master plus 16 macro knobs. Right-click any sampler control to bind it to a macro; one macro drives up to 8 targets, so a single automation lane can open the filter and bloom the delay in one gesture.
  • Library / Sampler audio toggle: a new top-bar switch picks what you hear: library previews, the sampler, or both at once, with a master level and Stop All beside it.
  • Neural BPM & key detection: tempo and key analysis are dramatically more accurate: key accuracy roughly tripled and tempo accuracy improved by ~15 points in our benchmarks, and your manual edits are never overwritten.
  • Smarter automatic tagging: auto-tags are now based on how a sample actually sounds, not just how it’s named, producing a much richer and more browsable tag tree.
  • Send to Sampler: right-click any sample to add it to your kit, or aim it at a specific pad; the Sound Map gets the same options.
  • Health & Status: a diagnostics window (with a status-bar light) showing the state of your database, models, and analysis pipeline at a glance.
  • Find Duplicates, rebuilt: much faster scans, near-duplicate detection that catches re-encoded copies, and safe cleanup that sends files to the Trash.
Improvements
  • Searching and filtering huge libraries is dramatically faster: full-library filter scans are over 10× faster with exact result counts, tested against libraries of 15 million samples.
  • Sound Map layout upgraded: similar sounds now cluster into more meaningful neighborhoods.
  • Smarter one-shot vs. loop classification.
  • A consistent dark look on every OS: SonikSearch no longer washes out when your system is set to light mode.
  • Windows installers and binaries are now fully code-signed.
  • Task Queue: drag tasks to reorder them, with clearer pause and status icons.
  • Help > User Manual (or F1) opens the online manual.
  • Sample folders behind symlinks are followed correctly during import and rescan.
  • “Places” are now called “Locations.”
  • Database maintenance and upgrades run under a real progress bar at startup, and large migrations resume where they left off if interrupted.
  • Similarity search is more robust: weighted searches no longer stall while the index loads; they run automatically when it’s ready.
  • Faster startup, with background tasks starting immediately.
Plugin Mode
  • Pro Tools on Windows: the Windows installer now includes the AAX plugin alongside VST3 and the standalone app.
  • Route pads to separate plugin outputs so your kick, snare, and hats land on their own DAW mixer channels.
  • DAW sessions restore your sampler state on project load even if you never open the plugin window.
  • Stability improvements when quitting Pro Tools and Ableton Live on macOS with SonikSearch loaded.
  • Stability improvement when saving an Ableton Live set with SonikSearch active.
  • The VST3 window no longer snaps back to its previous size after a resize.
  • The plugin now reports its real version to DAWs.
  • Pro Tools sessions at rates other than 44.1 kHz now play the sampler at the correct rate.
  • One plugin editor at a time: opening a second SonikSearch instance now shows a notice pointing you to the window that’s already open.
Fixes
  • Stability improvement when quitting the standalone app.
  • Preference and collection changes made just before quitting are now always saved.
  • 32-bit float WAVs now timestretch and transpose correctly (no more “Unsupported audio format: 3”).
  • Fresh installs on Windows no longer report the app as outdated.
  • Stability improvement when analyzing very short samples on Windows ARM64.
  • Tag counts in the navigation tree no longer vanish after rebuilds.
  • Fixed occasional freezes while running an AI search.
  • Convolution reverb impulse responses are built at the actual engine sample rate (correct tail length at 44.1/48/96 kHz).
Upgrading from 2.x
  • Your library database is migrated on first launch under a real progress bar; if the upgrade is interrupted, it resumes where it left off.
  • The new tagging system re-tags your library in the background after the upgrade. On very large libraries this can take several hours; you can keep browsing, searching, and playing the whole time, and tags you added yourself are preserved.
v2.5 Performance at Scale & Plugin Mode Controls
June 2026
New Features
  • AI search results now respect current filter context instead of always searching the entire library.
  • Configurable audio output device selection in standalone mode.
  • File-saving preferences with playback settings that persist across sessions.
Improvements
  • Major performance improvements for libraries with 15M+ samples (includes database migration).
  • AI search now works on machines without GPU acceleration.
  • Filtering at scale is now fast; preferences updated for larger libraries.
  • Reduced waveform display resolution for smoother scrolling.
  • “Show All” click works correctly when first opening the app.
  • Autoplay no longer triggers on filter, Place, or subfolder selection changes.
  • Arrow keys in the sample table no longer accidentally change volume or loop settings.
  • Removed flickering “Loading waveform” message on sample select.
  • Improved drag-and-drop compatibility with Bitwig and other DAWs.
Plugin Mode
  • Play/pause/stop buttons now properly control playback within the DAW.
  • Playback can start mid-measure with correct position alignment.
  • Cursor position is now settable in plugin mode.
Fixes
  • Fixed startup screen flicker on Windows (consolidated to single-window mode).
  • Fixed “file not found” errors caused by lazy loading before page was ready.
  • Fixed playback artifact issue.
v2.4 REX/RX2 Support, Preferences & Multi-Select
April 2026
New Features
  • Search by Sound: Drop an audio file onto SonikSearch to find similar-sounding samples in your library.
  • REX/RX2 support: Import and audition REX and RX2 loop files (macOS and Windows x64).
  • Preferences dialog: Configure AI Search result limits and database path from a dedicated settings panel.
  • Multi-select: Select multiple samples for batch drag-and-drop with timestretch and transpose.
  • “Nearest” transposition mode: Transpose to the nearest semitone for quick pitch matching.
  • Show in Finder / Explorer: Reveal any sample’s file location with one click.
  • In-app update notifications.
  • CPU budget option in Preferences with configurable throttle level.
  • Default search result count for traditional (non-AI) search.
Improvements
  • AI Search results now show a match count and are combinable with all standard filters.
  • Data source filters extended to loop type and categories.
  • Improved collection indicators: each sample shows a dot in subfolder collections.
  • “Refresh All Places” added to menu for one-click library updates.
  • Significant caching improvements for faster browsing.
  • Various UX refinements.
  • Disabled App Nap on macOS and equivalent on Windows for long-running tasks.
Fixes
  • Fixed timestretch processor timing accuracy.
  • Fixed autostart to work correctly with similar sounds.
  • More intuitive data source filtering behavior.
  • Improved Place refresh reliability and progress reporting.
  • Added cache clearing option.
  • Fixed VST crash reporting so diagnostics are properly collected.
  • Fixed Fender Studio Pro crash on Windows.
  • Transport play/pause icons now reflect correct state.
  • Retrigger and passthrough behavior working correctly.
  • Spacebar now works for playback in standalone mode.
  • Retrigger corner cases with region and cursor position resolved.
v2.3 AI-Powered Search & Performance
April 2026
New Features
  • AI-Powered Search: Search your library by describing what you’re looking for. Type “dark ambient pad” or “punchy kick” and find matching samples based on how they sound, not just metadata. Enabled by default for all users.
  • AAX Plugin (macOS): Load SonikSearch directly in Pro Tools as an AAX plugin on macOS, with full transport and tempo sync.
  • DirectML GPU acceleration on Windows: Windows users with a compatible GPU now benefit from hardware-accelerated audio analysis, significantly reducing import times.
Improvements
  • Faster similar sounds queries across large libraries.
  • Improved similar sounds accuracy with a higher-quality audio analysis model.
  • Smarter timestretch defaults for standalone and plugin modes.
  • Faster analysis during import and when upgrading existing libraries.
  • Improved background task queuing for smoother multi-stage imports.
  • Smoother upgrade experience when migrating from older versions.
Fixes
  • Improved reliability when canceling or removing a Place.
  • Improved folder cache accuracy after import completes.
  • More accurate progress display when resuming an import or analysis.
  • Better handling of corrupted audio files during import.
  • Improved plugin stability when using timestretch in Cubase.
v2.2 Waveform Editing & Sound Map
March 2026
New Features
  • 3D Sound Map: Explore your sample library in an interactive 3D visualization. See how sounds relate to each other spatially, with a progress bar while the map loads and adjustable camera zoom.
  • Multi-place imports: Import samples from multiple folders at once with proper resume logic across all locations.
  • Free trial: Try SonikSearch with a free trial before purchasing, available in both standalone and plugin modes.
  • Folders in collections: Add entire folders to a collection instead of adding samples one by one.
  • Waveform selection: Click and drag on the waveform to select a region.
  • Fade in / fade out: Fade markers automatically snap to your selected region. Right-click the waveform to clear a selection.
  • Zero-crossing snapping: Selections and fade points snap to zero crossings for clean, click-free edits.
  • Half / double tempo buttons: Quickly halve or double the detected BPM with a single click.
  • Click-to-play: Click anywhere on the waveform to start playback from that point.
  • Sync button: New transport sync control for locking playback to your DAW.
  • Resizable plugin window: Resize the SonikSearch plugin to fit your screen layout in any DAW.
Improvements
  • Much faster application startup time.
  • Reduced initialization time with a real progress bar instead of an indeterminate spinner.
  • Autoplay is more reliable: selecting a sample no longer double-triggers playback.
  • Automatically detects incomplete analysis and resumes similar sounds processing.
  • Improved VST cursor speed and AU cursor playback positioning.
  • Checkboxes are now more visible throughout the UI.
  • Volume setting now persists across restarts.
  • Progress bar when refreshing a Place now shows real completion percentage.
  • Faster audio property analysis with more parallel workers.
  • Improved one-shot vs. loop detection.
Fixes
  • Fixed similar sounds analysis progress display.
  • Fixed resume progress showing incorrect numbers.
  • Fixed import cancellation proceeding to later stages when canceled mid-import.
  • Fixed scrollbar resetting in the import dialog when the stage updates.
  • Fixed collapsible separator not being expandable after collapsing.
  • Fixed an issue with refreshing Places.
  • Fixed status bar display issues.
  • Stability improvement when closing the plugin.
  • Stability improvement when organizing samples (collections, tags) while a background import was saving.
  • Stability improvement when handling invalid MP3 files.
  • More robust shutdown code.
  • Fixed Ableton Link sync in standalone mode.
  • Fixed an issue where fades did not work correctly in plugin mode.
  • Fixed full-volume burst at the start of a fade-in on Windows.
  • Fixed dark-mode readability for the Places panel on Windows.
  • Fixed transport controls being cut off in certain window sizes.
  • Improved import restart logic so resuming an interrupted import is more reliable.
v2.1 Windows DAW Support & Stability
February – March 2026
New Features
  • Autoplay: Automatically audition samples as you browse through your library.
  • Volume slider in standalone mode, with your level saved between sessions.
  • Drag-and-drop from the Similar Sounds table: Drag similar results directly into your DAW or file manager, just like the main sample table.
  • Right-click context menu on Similar Sounds: Access the same actions available in the main sample table.
  • Reanalyze: New option in the Tools menu to re-run BPM, key, category, and audio analysis on your entire library.
  • Automatic diagnostics: Diagnostic reports are now generated automatically to help identify and fix issues faster.
Improvements
  • Significantly faster search and filter performance.
  • Import and analysis no longer slow down over time on large libraries.
  • Faster playback start and smoother waveform cursor in standalone mode.
  • Improved automatic categorization accuracy.
  • Smarter audio analysis that skips redundant processing, reducing import time.
  • Instant resume when restarting audio analysis after a pause.
  • More efficient BPM and key analysis with optimized per-sample processing.
  • Column dividers in the sample table are now draggable so you can resize columns.
  • Table colors now follow your OS theme for a more native look.
  • Version number now appears in the About section.
Fixes
  • Fixed VST3 compatibility with Cubase.
  • Fixed collections not being set or displayed correctly.
  • Fixed Windows VST3 display when reopening the plugin window.
  • Fixed arrow key navigation in the Windows VST3.
  • Fixed Similar Sounds in the Windows VST3.
  • Numerous stability improvements when closing the application during an active import.
  • Multiple Windows VST3 reliability fixes across DAWs.
v2.0 Find Similar Sounds
February 2026
New Features
  • Find Similar Sounds: Select any sample and instantly discover others in your library that sound like it. Fine-tune what "similar" means by adjusting the weight of nine audio characteristics: Brightness, Warmth, Crest Factor, Harmonicity, Attack, RMS, Duration, Timbre, and Pitch. Results update live as you drag the sliders.
  • Pitch-aware matching: Similarity search understands musical key relationships. It knows that C major and G major are closely related, and that C major and A minor are relative keys.
  • GPU-accelerated analysis: Advanced audio analysis is significantly faster on supported hardware.
  • Windows 11 support: SonikSearch is now available on Windows (x64 and ARM64) as a standalone app and VST3 plugin.
  • Plugin state persistence: Closing and reopening the VST3 or AU plugin window restores your session exactly where you left it.
  • Drag-and-drop export: Dragging a sample out of SonikSearch now exports the timestretched and transposed version if you have playback adjustments active.
Improvements
  • Faster import, analysis, and caching performance.
  • Analysis resumes automatically when you relaunch SonikSearch.
  • Import progress is now saved, so interrupted imports pick up where they left off.
  • Audio features are always computed during import, ensuring similarity search is available for every sample.
Fixes
  • Stability improvement when running multiple VST3 or AU plugin instances at the same time.
  • Fixed drag-and-drop across multiple monitors.
  • Added OpenGL fallback to software rendering for environments without GPU support (e.g., virtual machines).
  • Fixed sample characteristic columns not appearing after import.
  • Fixed an issue where removing a Place did not properly update the cache.
v1.0 Initial Release
September 2025
Highlights
  • A sample manager for macOS: import your sample folders as Places, browse their folder trees, and search and sort your whole collection from one window. Available as a standalone app plus VST3 and AU plugins, as a universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel.
  • BPM & key on every sample: tempo and key are read from filenames when present (including fractional BPMs) and detected from the audio when not, and every sample is classified as a one-shot or a loop automatically.
  • Powerful filtering: combine text search with a BPM range slider, a musical key filter that understands enharmonic equivalents, tags, one-shot vs. loop type, and data-source filters, all applied together to the Place or folder you’re browsing.
  • Tags & Collections: organize samples with your own tags (with a Manage Tags dialog) and group them into collections, with indicator dots in the sample table.
  • Waveform auditioning: click anywhere on the waveform to play from that point, spacebar for play/pause, and playback that follows your system audio device.
  • Timestretch, transpose & Ableton Link: audition samples at your session tempo, with the target BPM following Ableton Link when engaged; timestretch and transposition can be enabled independently.
  • Similar sounds, first generation: audio analysis on import powers early similar-sound matching, the foundation for the rebuilt Find Similar Sounds in v2.0.
  • Drag-and-drop: drag samples straight from SonikSearch into your DAW or file manager.
  • Bulk metadata editing: right-click a Place or folder to correct BPM or key across many samples at once.