The sample library

The sample library holds the audio files you bring into the synth. A sample is one such file, for example a drum hit, a loop, or a recording you make yourself. The library is a single pool tied to your account, and every module that plays samples reads from it. Load a drum loop once, then point Autobreak, Sampler X8, and Tracks at the same file. The library keeps the audio, and each module keeps only a link to it instead of its own copy.

Opening the library

Click the Samples button in the top toolbar. The library fills the screen and lists your samples with the newest at the top. The list has no folders, tags, or search box.

Each row shows:

  • a round ▶ button that previews the sample
  • a waveform thumbnail, a small picture of the sound's shape, which also previews the sample when you click it and shows a green playhead moving across it during playback
  • the sample's name
  • a line of details: length, file size, mono or stereo, and sample rate
  • a sync badge that reports whether the sample is backed up to the cloud
  • Rename and Delete buttons

Preview plays through a separate audio path, so you can hear a sample even when the synth's sound engine is off. Press Esc to close the library.

Adding sounds

You can add samples three ways.

  • Upload. Click the green + Upload button in the header and pick one file or many. The library accepts WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, AIFF, and any other format your browser can decode.
  • Drop on the library. Drag audio files anywhere onto the open library.
  • Drop on the studio. Drag a file onto the studio, the area where you connect modules. Drop it on a module that plays samples and it loads into that module's first slot. Drop it anywhere else and it goes into the library.

New rows appear at once and draw their waveform thumbnails as the audio decodes. The library spots duplicates by comparing the file's bytes, so adding the same file again returns the copy you already have instead of making a second one.

The Record module also adds to the library. Stop a recording and the synth saves it automatically as a sample named "Recording" with the date and time, ready to load into another module. Two limits apply. The synth discards any take shorter than 0.4 seconds. When a take is larger than 64 MB, it is too big for the library, so the synth downloads it as a WAV file and no audio is lost.

How the account backup works

The library stores every sample in your browser first, then copies it to the cloud so your account keeps a backup. The sync badge on each row reports progress: decoding…, then syncing…, then a green ✓ synced once the backup finishes. When a backup fails, the sample stays safe on this device and the badge says so.

Sign in on another computer and your library comes with you. Names and waveform thumbnails arrive right away. The audio for each sample downloads the first time you preview or load it.

Your samples are private to your account. There are no shared or community sample banks. The built-in vx: sounds inside VX Cells are the one exception; they ship with the synth and never appear in the library list.

The cloud rejects any single sample larger than 64 MB, which is about six minutes of stereo WAV audio. You can rename a sample whenever you like. The name is only a label, and renaming never changes the audio.

Loading a sample into a module

Several modules play samples: Sample Player, Sampler X8, Autobreak, Looper, Scrubber, and the Tracks device. Each shows one or more sample slots in its panel.

Click a slot to open the library in pick mode, titled "Select a Sample". A — no sample — row sits at the top to clear the slot. Click a sample to load it. Loading is a single click, and the library has no drag-into-slot gesture. The Wavetable module's IMPORT button opens the same picker and turns the chosen sample into a wavetable it can play.

Loaded samples sit in a separate block of memory reserved for audio, sized at 128 MB. The toolbar shows how full this block is as the samples meter. The meter pulses when a sample loads and changes from green to amber to red as the memory fills. When the block is full, the synth refuses a new load and shows a message; free up room by removing a sample-playing module or by loading a shorter sample. A refused load never interrupts a slot that is already playing.

Sharing patches that use samples

A patch is your saved arrangement of modules and cables. A patch stores a link to each sample, never the audio itself. When you export or share a patch, it carries only the sample names and a fingerprint for each one. A fingerprint is a short code computed from the file's bytes, used to recognize a matching sample.

A person who opens your patch sees "(missing sample)" in orange on any slot they cannot fill, and that module stays silent until they choose their own sound. When you open your own patch on another computer, the slots fill in automatically, because your synced library already holds the matching samples. See Patches for more.

Tips

  • Add a whole kit at once. Select or drop many files together, since the picker accepts more than one at a time, and duplicate files fold together automatically, so re-importing a kit does no harm.
  • Record your own patch to make new material. Patch your mix into Record and capture a performance, then load the saved take into Scrubber or Autobreak. Recording a patch back into a sample is a quick way to make new source material.
  • Watch the samples meter when you work with long stereo files. A few minutes of audio takes a large part of the 128 MB pool. The library has no trimming tool, so shorten a file before you upload it.