SonikSearch: Professional Sample Manager

AI Sound Search

Describe a Sound. Find It Instantly.

Type a natural-language description like "warm analog pad" or "punchy 808 kick" and SonikSearch finds matching samples based on how they actually sound, not just filenames or tags.

Natural language search: describe the sound you're looking for in plain English
Matches actual sound: uses AI-generated sonic fingerprints, not just metadata
Runs 100% locally: no internet connection, no cloud, no data leaves your machine
Works with all filters: combine AI results with key, BPM, category, and tag filters
Configurable results: adjust the maximum number of AI Search results in Preferences

AI describe the sound you want…

warm analog pad punchy 808 kick dark ambient texture crispy trap hi-hat ethereal vocal chop

Matches sounds by sonic character, even with untagged samples

Library Management

Organize Your Entire Sample Library

Import, tag, group, and browse: everything you need to keep even the largest collections under control.

Import Folders

Import audio samples with automatic recursive scanning. All subfolders are detected and processed.

Locations

Pin your favorite sample library folders for quick access. Refresh a Location to detect and import only new sounds.

Folder Browser

Navigate deep folder structures with a collapsible tree view, right from the app.

Collections & Tags

Organize samples into custom color-coded collections. Create and assign tags with batch tagging support.

Bulk Metadata Editing

Update BPM, key, and tags across entire folders at once. No more editing samples one at a time.

Drag & Drop + Verification

Drag samples into your DAW or file manager. Detect and clean up missing or moved files with sample verification.

Intelligent Audio Analysis

Every Sample, Automatically Analyzed

SonikSearch analyzes every sample in your library to extract detailed metadata, all in the background without interrupting your workflow.

BPM and musical key: detected by neural models with the classic analyzers as automatic fallback; key accuracy roughly tripled in 3.0
Loop type: Loop or One-Shot classification
Automatic tagging: 400+ tags across 12 facets like Sound, Genre, Tone, Mood, and Processing, fused from what a sample sounds like and how it's named and organized
Audio characteristics: Brightness, Warmth, Crest Factor, Harmonicity, Attack, RMS Energy, and Duration

BPM
Key
Brightness
Warmth
Crest Factor
Harmonicity
Attack
RMS Energy
Duration

Search & Filtering

Find Exactly What You Need

Search across filenames, tags, keys, BPM, and categories. Combine any number of stackable filters to narrow down results with precision.

Type: Loop or One-Shot
Category: select one or more category groups, then drill into specific sub-categories
Key: pick notes and scale types (Major/Minor), with enharmonic equivalence
BPM Range: dual-handle slider for precise tempo ranges
Tags: toggle any of your custom tags
Data Source: filter by how metadata was obtained (filename, analysis, or manual)

        Loop
        One-Shot
        Percussion
        Bass
        Melodic
        Vocal
        FX
        Ambient
        C Major
        D Minor
        120–140 BPM
        Dark
        Vinyl
        Warm
        Analysis
        Filename
      

Find Similar Sounds

Select a Sample, Find Its Relatives

Select any sample and instantly find others that sound like it. Fine-tune what "similar" means to you by adjusting the weight of each quality.

Brightness: spectral character
Warmth: low-end presence
Crest Factor: dynamic range
Harmonicity: tonal vs. noisy
Attack: transient sharpness
RMS: perceived loudness
Duration: sample length
Timbre: overall tonal color
Pitch: musical key and pitch content

Results update live as you drag the sliders. Pitch matching 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.

Brightness
Warmth
Crest Factor
Harmonicity
Attack
RMS
Duration
Timbre
Pitch

New in v3.0

Find a Sound. Play It.

SonikSearch 3.0 adds a full kit-based sampler instrument. The moment you find a sound, drag it onto a pad and play it from a MIDI controller, the on-screen keyboard, or your DAW.

Kits from 16 to 128 pads: each pad a one-key drum or a chromatic, key-tracked instrument
Sample maps: layer many samples per pad across key and velocity zones, with round-robins so fast rolls never machine-gun
Envelopes on the waveform: freeform amp, filter, and pitch envelopes drawn directly on the sample, plus a per-pad resonant filter, two LFOs, glide, unison, and humanize
Real-time stretch: five algorithms with Sync to beat-match loops, Tune to pull sounds toward your session key, and Freeze to hold time still

SonikSearch Sampler: envelopes drawn on the waveform, per-pad FX rack with graphical EQ, on-screen keyboard, and kit dock

The Sampler Toolkit

A Complete Instrument, Inside Your Library

Everything between finding a sound and finishing a beat, without leaving SonikSearch.

Chop & Slice

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 timing into your DAW. Rearrange the notes and the break follows.

Per-Pad FX Rack

8 slots and 17 effects on every pad: graphical 4-band EQ, delay, modulation, distortion, compression, and five reverbs including convolution with your own impulse responses.

Generate Kit

Build a kit from your own library in one click: kick, snare, hats, bass, melody, and FX, each picked to fit the others. Reroll any pad, and bounce results back as new samples.

Kits, Chokes & SFZ

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.

Macros & Automation

Master plus 16 macro knobs in VST3, AU, and AAX. Right-click any control to bind it; one macro drives up to 8 targets from a single automation lane.

Routing & Outputs

Route pads to separate plugin outputs so kick, snare, and hats land on their own DAW mixer channels, with a Library / Sampler / Both audio toggle and Stop All in the top bar.

Stem Separation

Split Any Sample Into Stems

Right-click a sample or a pad and separate it into drums, bass, vocals, and everything else. Like everything in SonikSearch, it runs 100% locally.

Four stems from any sound: drums, bass, vocals, and other, saved next to the source file
Straight into your library: stems are imported, analyzed, tagged, and linked to the original automatically
Ready to play: drop a stem onto a pad, or search for it like any other sample
Works everywhere: in the standalone app and inside your DAW

Drums

Bass

Vocals

Other

One sample in, four searchable stems out

Duplicate Detection

Clean Up Your Library

Rebuilt in 3.0: much faster scans, near-duplicate detection that catches re-encoded copies, and safe cleanup.

Scan & Detect

Find exact and near-duplicates across your entire library, including re-encoded, normalized, or trimmed copies.

Adjustable Threshold

Fine-tune the similarity threshold to catch close matches or only exact duplicates.

Quick Actions

Results grouped into clusters with one-click actions: keep newest, keep largest, or dismiss. Removed files go to the Trash, never deleted outright.

Audio Playback

Audition with Precision

Listen to any sample with a full-featured audio player, complete with real-time time stretching and pitch control.

Waveform display with click-to-seek and a real-time playback cursor
Timestretching: match any sample to a target BPM in real time
Key transposition: shift a sample to a target key while preserving its character
Volume control with up to 200% gain
Ableton Link: sync playback to your Link-enabled devices and apps (standalone mode)

DAW Integration

Works Where You Work

Load SonikSearch as a plugin directly in your DAW, or run it standalone with Ableton Link support.

VST3 Plugin

Load as an instrument in Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, Cubase, Fender Studio Pro, FL Studio, REAPER, or Reason. Transport, tempo, and playback position sync automatically with your session.

Audio Unit Plugin

Load in Logic Pro, GarageBand, and other AU-compatible hosts with full transport and tempo sync.

AAX Plugin

Load in Pro Tools on macOS and Windows with full transport and tempo sync.

Standalone App

Run SonikSearch on its own with Ableton Link support and automatic audio device management.

Sample Table

See Everything at a Glance

View your library in a detailed, sortable table with 14 columns. Metadata source is indicated for each sample so you always know where values came from.

Name	BPM	Key	Type	Category	Brightness	Warmth	Source
deep_house_beat_01.wav	124	F min	Loop	Percussion	0.42	0.78	Analysis
vinyl_crackle_Am_90bpm.wav	90	A min	Loop	Ambient	0.31	0.85	Filename
808_sub_C.wav	–	C maj	One-Shot	Bass	0.12	0.95	Filename
ethereal_pad_Dmaj.wav	–	D maj	One-Shot	Melodic	0.68	0.72	Manual
vocal_chop_140bpm_Gmin.wav	140	G min	Loop	Vocal	0.55	0.40	Analysis

Performance

Built for Speed

Optimized for large libraries: samples are browsable immediately, with analysis filling in seamlessly in the background. Full-library filter scans are over 10× faster in 3.0, with exact result counts. See system requirements for import and analysis times.

15M+

Samples (stays fast once analyzed)

100%

Background processing (UI stays responsive)

Incremental

Only new or changed samples are processed

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to common questions about SonikSearch.

Does SonikSearch require an internet connection?

SonikSearch runs entirely on your local machine. All audio analysis, searching, and playback happen offline. An internet connection is only needed for license activation and software updates.

Is there a free trial available?

Yes! SonikSearch offers a free trial with full access to all features. No credit card required. Just create an account and click "Start Free Trial" to get started. If you decide to purchase, you can upgrade at any time.

What is your refund policy?

We offer a 14-day money-back guarantee, separate from the free trial. If you're not satisfied with your purchase for any reason, contact us within 14 days for a full refund. We just ask for brief feedback on what didn't work for you so we can keep improving.

What kind of customer support do you offer?

SonikStation will strive to answer your support claim within 24-48 hours on business days. Support is available at: support@sonikstation.com

Does the sampler work inside my DAW?

Yes. SonikSearch loads as a VST3, AU, or AAX instrument, including Pro Tools on both macOS and Windows. Pads can route to separate plugin outputs so each drum lands on its own mixer channel, and your kit and settings restore with the session, even if you never open the plugin window.

What are the system requirements?

SonikSearch runs on macOS 12+ (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Windows 10+. An 8 GB machine with an SSD handles libraries up to 100K samples comfortably. For larger libraries, we recommend 16 GB RAM and an NVMe SSD. See our full system requirements for detailed specs, storage estimates, and import time benchmarks.

The Sample Manager
That Finds Your Sound

Audition Samples in Sync with Your DAW

Describe a Sound. Find It Instantly.

Organize Your Entire Sample Library

Import Folders

Locations

Folder Browser

Collections & Tags

Bulk Metadata Editing

Drag & Drop + Verification

Every Sample, Automatically Analyzed

Find Exactly What You Need

Select a Sample, Find Its Relatives

Find a Sound. Play It.

A Complete Instrument, Inside Your Library

Chop & Slice

Per-Pad FX Rack

Generate Kit

Kits, Chokes & SFZ

Macros & Automation

Routing & Outputs

Split Any Sample Into Stems

Clean Up Your Library

Scan & Detect

Adjustable Threshold

Quick Actions

Audition with Precision

Works Where You Work

VST3 Plugin

Audio Unit Plugin

AAX Plugin

Standalone App

See Everything at a Glance

Built for Speed

Stay in the Flow

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Find Your Sound?

The Sample ManagerThat Finds Your Sound

Audition Samples in Sync with Your DAW

Describe a Sound. Find It Instantly.

Organize Your Entire Sample Library

Import Folders

Locations

Folder Browser

Collections & Tags

Bulk Metadata Editing

Drag & Drop + Verification

Every Sample, Automatically Analyzed

Find Exactly What You Need

Select a Sample, Find Its Relatives

Find a Sound. Play It.

A Complete Instrument, Inside Your Library

Chop & Slice

Per-Pad FX Rack

Generate Kit

Kits, Chokes & SFZ

Macros & Automation

Routing & Outputs

Split Any Sample Into Stems

Clean Up Your Library

Scan & Detect

Adjustable Threshold

Quick Actions

Audition with Precision

Works Where You Work

VST3 Plugin

Audio Unit Plugin

AAX Plugin

Standalone App

See Everything at a Glance

Built for Speed

Stay in the Flow

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Find Your Sound?

The Sample Manager
That Finds Your Sound