- OS: macOS 12+ or Windows 10+
- CPU: 4-core — Apple M1, Intel i5, or AMD Ryzen 5
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: SSD with space for your audio library
- OS: macOS 14+ or Windows 11
- CPU: 8+ core — Apple M1 Pro or better, Intel i7, or AMD Ryzen 7
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: NVMe SSD
- CPU: Apple M2 Pro/Max/Ultra or 12+ core Intel/AMD
- RAM: 32 GB
- Storage: Fast NVMe SSD with ample capacity
Database Size
Approximate disk usage — database plus search indexes — by number of samples imported.
| Library Size | Disk Usage |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | ~100 MB |
| 50,000 | ~500 MB |
| 100,000 | ~1 GB |
| 500,000 | ~5 GB |
| 1,000,000 | ~10 GB |
| 5,000,000 | ~50 GB |
Estimated Import & Analysis Times
Time to fully import and analyze your samples — BPM and key, audio characteristics, sound embeddings, and automatic tagging.
| Library Size | M1 | M2 Pro | M3 Pro | M4 Pro | i7-12700 | i5-10400 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10K | 10–15 min | 7–10 min | 6–9 min | 5–7 min | 6–9 min | 13–20 min |
| 50K | 50–80 min | 35–50 min | 25–45 min | 25–35 min | 35–45 min | 1–1.5 hrs |
| 100K | 1.5–2.5 hrs | 1–1.5 hrs | 1–1.5 hrs | 50–70 min | 1–1.5 hrs | 2–3 hrs |
| 500K | 8–12 hrs | 6–8 hrs | 5–7 hrs | 4–6 hrs | 5–7 hrs | 11–16 hrs |
| 1M | 17–24 hrs | 11–16 hrs | 10–14 hrs | 8–12 hrs | 10–14 hrs | 22–30 hrs |
| 5M | 3.5–5 days | 2.5–3.5 days | 2–3 days | 1.5–2.5 days | 2–3 days | 4–6 days |
Audio files are not duplicated — SonikSearch references your original files in place. The figures above cover the main database plus the search and similarity index files stored alongside it. During large imports a temporary database journal can add several gigabytes; it shrinks back when the work completes.
Analysis is CPU-bound — more (and faster) CPU cores shorten import times. The estimates assume the fastest Performance setting in Preferences; the default setting reserves CPU for the rest of your system and takes proportionally longer. No GPU is required.
SSD storage is strongly recommended for importing. SonikSearch has been optimized to reduce I/O where possible. Once the library is imported, performance is fast even on slower drives.
Import can be paused and resumed at any time. If you close SonikSearch during an import, it will pick up where it left off on the next launch.