I have a lot of samples and love using sononym. I use the most current Mac release from Hciso, I love the software and how it operates. That being said I do have some problems that occur often and slow down my workflow if I would like to use Sononym. When I open the app it almost never originally shows my samples, I get an error, usually saying Error in Location status: Maximum call stack size Exceeded. Usually to get rid of that I have to click back and forth between the library page and explore page a few times to reload my samples correctly and remove the error code. Sometimes the code doesn’t leave however my samples do end up loading.
My other problem is that sometimes my samples simply won’t load when I open the app. I have to do as I mentioned before and go between the explore and library pages to get the samples to start loading and showing up on the library page. The same thing happens often when refreshing the library or doing a hard refresh of the entire folder. I love sononym and it’s perfect I just can’t seem to get around these issues I’m having. I would love if there were a solution to prevent this but I haven’t found one yet, If anyone has advice or any ideas about for going about fixing this that would be awesome!
Mac OS Catalina 10.15
Sononym 1.5.6

 

How many samples do you have in the library you loaded into it? What are the specs of the Mac, processor (i5,i7,etc), RAM, and so on? What firewall are you using and do you have it blocked from outbound connections?

 

looks like electon can't handle large numbers of samples
How much space does the entire collection take?

and how deep is your folder structure?

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2025

I cannot answer your question, but I had issues, too, when trying Sononym.
I guess it had to do with the size of the sample library (about 2,7TB ... so to speak a quite excessive collection, I know).
The library file Sononym created was more than 10gb in size - it slowed down the workflow so much, it doesn't help my workflow.
I did not find a working solution yet and stayed with Windows Explorer and Reaper's Library. And Algonaut Atlas for drum related one shots. It works fine this way, but to my thinking there is still room for improvement.

 

I didn’t really like Sononym deleted it because it felt too slow, so I can’t test this myself. But try deleting the sample database (if there’s an option for that) and start by indexing a small folder to see if the issue shows up. If all goes well, add more folders one by one maybe just one of them is causing the problem.
Electon uses JavaScript which is simply not made for these kind of hard resource-intensive tasks

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2025

I see slightly similar kind of things happen from time to time on the windows side. I have a few TB's (more than two) of samples cataloged into it also. However whenever I see anything close to what you described (never seen computational errors like stack-overflow or runtimes - just messages about scanning for samples, etc...), I just wait a few more seconds (usually like 2 or 3 more seconds) for it to read the database and initialize itself. The errors go away on their own as it's simply reading the DB and setting up the display. I have many sample libs that are offline as well and still the errors clear themselves by just waiting a few more seconds for things to finish initializing.

Sononym will give a yellow triangle "warning" for stuff that is offline, but it's a warning only as it obviously cannot reach out and touch stuff that resides on offline drives. It figures out pretty quickly what it can and can't initialize. When the drive(s) with the libraries are connected those warnings go away quickly and the auditioning of those samples becomes live.

I have noticed that the initialization process goes much quicker when the "folders" display is minimized for any libraries. Another thing that speeds up the initialization process is to leave Sononym selected to a library that resides on an online drive. Never had it not load any samples for audition except for those that are offline (obviously). Running r4e's "patched" version - "Sononym Sample Browser 1.5.6 Patched-r4e (Win)" here under win10 pro 22H2...

Sononym, like anything else will run faster or slower depending on what kind of system resources it has to work with - i'm sure that applies just as much for the apple side as it does for the win side.

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2025

AudioEase Snapper can do a good portion of what Sononym does, but without scanning a library. It just attaches to your finder windows, but for that same reason it is kind of annoying. They haven't updated it in a long time, but then Altiverb 8 was not released for the better part of ten years after v7. Snapper is also Mac only, and I do not think they have any intention to do anything about that, or even updating the Mac version.

The thing I do not like about Sononym really, is that it runs as an external application to your DAW. Sononym's scan is also very slow. XLN XO is a better "drum machine plugin" but it is better suited towards smaller libraries. It's fine for drums, but then the whole "similarity" universe idea behind XO is sort of less useful then. I've never really thought "this is a nice drum, but i'd like to try out dozens more that are almost identical". You can already get that just by opening a drum samples pack and using some plugins anyway.

I never have gotten into the workflow of Atlas, but it's pretty much the same story for all of them. It's like you need more than one to do everything, If one does not do everything and you need another app to fill in the gaps, it reduces the usefulness; but it also means you have to maintain multiple library databases. So when they scan as slowly as they do, going back to just using the Mac Finder starts looking more practical.

Loopcloud is the closest "all-in-one" option for me. It just needs more development and they should sell it as a standalone product. Any of them being tied to a online sample service makes using them feel risky in the long run. If people stop buying new samples, do they just abandon the program? It's happened before. But having a basic little midi trigger keyboard program loaded into your DAW as a plugin and then connecting to the samples mothership is the best option available currently, for my uses anyway. Being able to lock everything to project key and bpm sync to project tempo when auditioning is the real benefit of it fitting into the DAW workflow.

 

Last edited: Oct 11, 2025

What I like about Atlas is how quick & easy it works.

I have quite a few libraries compiled for myself, which I often like to "abuse" ... for example load my "downtempo" map over a house/techno midi pattern. This way it works as some kind of quickstarter. Hit the random button a few times, something interesting happens and from there it is very easy to substitute some samples if needed.

 

How about COSMOS from waves? I have it but I haven't used it much. any experience, comparison to Sononym?

 

Product comparisons like this are one my favorite uses of AI lately (ChatGPT). You can give it a large number of products to compare; and having to go to all the developer webpages and try to compare them all in multiple browser windows or tabs sucks comparatively. It won't get everything right, but it can certainly help quickly narrow down the field to the ones you would even consider checking out further.

Spoiler

is Waves Cosmos similar to Sononym?

ChatGPT said:


Yes—Waves COSMOS Sample Finder and Sononym have a lot in common, but there are also some important differences. Whether one is “better” depends a lot on your workflow, how big your sample library is, what features you care about (speed, similarity search, auditioning in context, etc.), and your budget. Here’s a breakdown of how they compare:

What they both do well

• AI / ML-based analysis & auto-tagging: Both will scan your sample library (one-shots & loops) and try to derive metadata like instrument type, length, key/BPM (to varying extents), etc. This lets you search by these attributes rather than just file names.
    • COSMOS auto-tags and sorts by instrument, key, BPM, “sonic characteristics” (brightness, dynamics, etc.). waves.com
    • Sononym similarly extracts lots of information from samples (pitch, tempo, brightness, timbre, etc.) and offers advanced filtering/sorting. sononym.net
  
  
• Organizing a large collection / making them searchable: Both aim to help you tame sample library chaos—letting you find the right loop/one-shot faster. They support scanning your folders, building a searchable database, filtering, etc. sononym.net waves.com
  
• Support for many common audio formats: WAV, AIFF, etc. Both tools work with typical formats for loops & one-shots. waves.com

Key differences
Here are the features / trade-offs where they diverge (what one offers that the other maybe doesn’t, or does differently):

Feature COSMOS Sononym
Similarity Search (finding similar-sounding samples to a chosen one) More limited in this area. COSMOS focuses more on filters/tags/attributes. It does cluster views (“sonically identical / similar”) after scanning. Newer versions have auto-grouping of “sonically identical audio files.” ProSound waves.com .Strong on similarity search. You can pick a sample or record one, and Sononym will find similar sounds based on learned features. sononym.net+1
Previewing in context (key/BPM sync in the DAW) Recent V16 version adds DAW insert/plugin mode and lets you audition samples adjusted to session BPM & key. ProSoundWeb As of the latest descriptions, Sononym does analysis of tempo/pitch/etc., but doesn’t (yet) offer preview adjustment in-context the way a plugin inside your DAW does. (Users note missing “preview in time/key”) Reddit+1
User interface, workflow + platform integration COSMOS is standalone and plugin (with CR8 sampler integration), newer versions improving DAW sync. Has several browsing views (Waveform, List, “Cosmos view”). Synthtopia waves.com Sononym is cross-platform (Win, macOS, Linux), focused on browsing. Good for deep sample-library management. It emphasizes similarity search, duplicate detection, and organizing. sononym.net
Handling very large libraries / stability Some reports of performance issues: scans that take a long time, crashes or freezing when indexing very large folders. Users report issues with large libraries. Reddit Sononym seems more stable for some users with large libraries, especially for similarity-based tasks. But I’m sure it has its own limits. Mostly praised for its robust ML features. sononym.net

Cost COSMOS is free / or included with some Waves packages (some basic version), though the more advanced workflows might depend on having Waves plugins/sampler, or using V16 features. MusicRadar Sononym is a paid product (with a trial) but many users consider it worth the cost for its deeper features. sononym.net
When one might be better for you
Here are some scenarios / use-cases suggesting which might suit you:

• If you want previewing in context (matching the song’s key/BPM while auditioning) and a plugin inside your DAW, COSMOS V16 is appealing.
  
  
• If your library is extremely large and you want robust similarity search (finding “sounds that feel like” another sample rather than merely matching tags), Sononym probably gives more flexibility.
  
  
• If cost is a concern, COSMOS (or its bundled components) might be more accessible. Sononym has a price, but with powerful features.
  
  
• If you like to work cross-platform (Linux etc.), Sononym is friendly there; Waves tools are generally more Windows/macOS-centric.
  
  
• If your workflow demands lightning speed in browsing/filtering vs. deep searches / audio similarity, then depending on how big your library is, one might feel snappier than the other.

Bottom line
Yes—they are similar in their core goal: to help you organize, search, and retrieve your samples more efficiently using modern tools like AI / ML, metadata, etc. But:

• Sononym has an edge in similarity search and exploring relationships between sounds.
  
  
• COSMOS’s newer updates have caught up in some features (key/BPM auditioning, DAW integration) and may be preferable if those are your priorities.

If you want, I can help you compare them side-by-side for your specific sample library size, OS, and how you like to work, to see which might be a better fit for you.

 

Last edited: Oct 17, 2025