Can we talk about what I deem as sample pack folder hell for a sec?

Why do creators on Splice insist on putting folders inside of folders inside of even more folders like it's some secret mission? I just want to grab a couple of kicks and snares, not go on a full-blown expedition through “Samples > One-Shots > Drums > Kicks > Processed > Version 2 > Final > FINAL FINAL.” Like, please.

The worst part? When you’re dealing with Apple untagged loops and you have to dig through every single folder just to get to usable samples. To me, it’s a nightmare...It’s just eating up time I’d rather spend making music...does anyone else just dump all the samples in the main root folder of that particular sample pack?

Also, random question: does anyone else ever grab a sample pack purely for the drums? I’ll scroll past 900 synth loops just to find the 20 kicks at the bottom

in terms of sample browsers, I've tried ADSR Sample Manager, but I just don’t get on with it. I used to use COSMOS and CR8 before the recent updates made both of them run in demo versions. Since then I’ve been looking for a good sample browser.

Can anybody remind me which version of Waves was the last version that worked with COSMOS without any issues? With IDX coming out I was forced to upgrade, but I’m wondering if I’m able to run Waves V16 with the plugins I currently have and the version of Waves where COSMOS works in conjunction with each other.

Thanks in advance

 

I have no idea why a universal folder organization hasn’t been adopted.. But I can say, when it comes to organizing hundreds of thousands to 10s of millions of samples, this is something I am hopeful AI will solve for us sooner the later. I have no idea about COSMOS. Sorry, but I felt compelled to chime in about the folder organization frustration. Because I’m sympathetic to it.

 

Oh, I'm sure AI will come up with something, what with the speed it's going at.

 

I have been using Loopcloud v7 something, offline without subscription; and i have ditched all other sample managers. I still have XO but I think of it more like a drum machine plugin because it does not have terrabytes loaded into it. Meanwhile, I have something well over a million individual samples loaded into Loopcloud library and it handles them with no problem. I have used pretty much every other available sample librarian in the past. Loopcloud is way better.

Get a copy of it that works completely offline, or maybe someone can show you how to do it for pc.

About AI, you are right saying it would give you a hand figuring out the best way to organize your library, via folder structure. Like it can help with building a DAW template. You have to do everything no matter what, manually. But it is the exact kind of thing AI is actually good for.

If you are dealing with genres that can easily overlap, as an example; it can give you organization tips you wouldn't normally come up with. Like how to decide wether you want a entire pack classified as one sub-genre vs another in 10 seconds kinds of things.

 

Take control of your life and organize your presets/samples folder the way you need them, not the way you get them.
Stop constantly complaining about how bad the world is; create your own living space.

Set up your music PC the way you need it. You don't need a sample manager; just rename the folders yourself and remove what you don't need. That's the only way to achieve a fast workflow. Nothing is worse than having your presets or samples drowning in clutter.

First of all, get well soon. Use this forced break to redesign your life. You're the captain of your ship, so disable comments before posting anything online. I hope I was able to help you a little and wish you all the best for your future.

 

i thought you were gonna comment on the sheer size of our sample folders likely being larger than needed and was gonna agree but i was folder hierarchy. lol but like dude above said, just organize your samples. I've got most of my folders and subfolders pinned on my left searchbar for easy access drag and drop. Took some time to set up 10+ years ago but has really helped keep everything a few clicks away. i also have a designated folder for "unsorted" sample packs (full packs i haven't split up yet)

i think some programs out there that can auto-sort sample packs to some capacity but you'll still have to set up the folders and paths urself i think, mightve seen it on audioz

 

It's not so much of take control of your life. It's the fact that the way it's been done by the people who produce samples takes time away from your life. While I know they're trying to be helpful in reality...it isn't helpful. Just when you think you have gone through all the folders, you find more with loads of samples in and you're thinking "do I need the samples or do I get rid of them"?

 

This is exactly where I am with it also. I have major groups like vocals, bass, drums, instruments, FX and foley, set as top level folders for packs that are almost nothing but those criteria. Then all the "Artist" types of packs I just leave together and sort them by Genre for stuff I do not have a lot of, or sub-genre if it something i have a ton of. Which will usually be the bulk of your library anyway. I have one for Unsorted and Misc that really dont fit anywhere else or I havent done more then just getting them out of the way.

I strip all Midi I want to keep into another folder, but I make sure to rename the top level folder so I know what they even are. I have one folder for Unsorted Presets which are things I extract for instruments I actually use. I will usually put them together later with the synth preset location they need to go to so they can actually be useful. This is all done via symbolic links, Smart folders, and color tags in MacOS finder, so I really move almost nothing around. Except the midi, I want those completely separate.

If you can find a way/place to download sample packs that are not compressed, any lack of compression is multiple times made up for by only downloading file formats and content you want. What Windows user wants AIFF files to go with their .wavs? Do you really need entire sample pack content in so many formats, firing up Recycle recently? Neither am I.


Smart folders for sample library overview. MacOS feature, not an additional program:

Spoiler

ChatGPT said:

Smart Folders in macOS can actually be great for sample libraries once you know how to use them strategically. They don’t move or duplicate your samples; they just create dynamic “views” based on search criteria. This can make navigating a huge library a lot faster and more intentional.

Here’s how they can really help:

1. Create automatic genre or type groupings
You can use metadata or filenames to build Smart Folders that collect everything matching certain keywords (for example, “kick,” “clap,” “acid,” “disco,” etc.).
If your library is already sorted by folder — like house, techno, vocal, fx, etc. — you can still make Smart Folders that unify content across those when you’re looking for a sound regardless of genre (for instance: all “808” hits across the entire library).

Example:

• Criteria: Name contains 808 OR Name contains clap
  Result: a “Drum Hits – 808 & Claps” Smart Folder that always stays up to date as you add new samples.

2. Filter by file characteristics
Smart Folders can filter by file extension, size, or even creation date. This helps if you want to separate, say, .wav loops from .aif one-shots, or if you recently downloaded a batch and want to isolate just those new files.
You can do this in Finder by using File → New Smart Folder, clicking the + icon, and choosing attributes like Kind → Audio, then adding File extension or Date added filters.

Example:

• Criteria: Kind is Audio and Date added is within last 30 days
  Result: a “Recent Imports” Smart Folder for quickly previewing new content before sorting.

3. Build Smart Folders for workflow states
If you use tags (color labels or custom Finder tags), you can create workflow views — for example:

• Red tag = “Needs cleanup”
  
  
• Green = “Favorites”
  
  
• Blue = “Ready to use”

Then make Smart Folders for each tag. So your favorite kicks across all genres can live in one Smart Folder without moving anything physically.

4. Use them as plugin prep tools
If you use samplers like Logic’s Quick Sampler, EXS24 (Sampler), or your Virus/EMU hardware samplers, you can make Smart Folders that isolate compatible file formats (e.g., 44.1kHz WAVs only). That prevents loading errors or sample rate mismatch headaches.

5. Combine with Spotlight comments
If you annotate files using Spotlight comments (in Finder’s Info panel), you can make Smart Folders that use those comments as search keys — e.g., Comment contains warm pad. This is especially powerful if you gradually tag sounds as you go.

If you want, I can show you a few Smart Folder recipes specifically designed for how your library is organized (disco, techno, house, vocal, electro, lo-fi, fx, misc). That would make it easy to generate a few automatic "cross-genre" collections — like “all basses,” “vocal chops,” or “vintage drums.”

 

Last edited: Nov 6, 2025

This whole "valuable time" thing is starting to get on my nerves. Organizing and sorting is surely the most sensible thing they can do. It's something you only do once in your life, then they're done. I think they just can't be bothered and are now blaming others.

I've been involved from the beginning, and in the start, I burned everything to CD/DBV and later to Blu-ray. I know all too well how much searching can be involved when you haven't created a directory. The CDs are labeled with things like AKAI, USB, etc., or simply with the artist name and *.WAV.

At some point, I copied all the important samples to my PC.Then I created folders and subfolders and labeled them sensibly. Then I put all the copied samples—WAV, Kontakt, AKAI, and ISO files—into the corresponding folders. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. The searching is over, and the workflow works.

I don't know you personally and know nothing about you, so I can't judge what your PC setup looks like, how you work, or why you're overwhelmed. Spend an hour each day sorting samples, and save what you don't need to an external medium. That way, they're not lost, just temporarily out of service. I don't know your workload capacity or what's considered reasonable these days.

 

When you have 20+ million samples. From hundreds of different suppliers. Taking the time to organize samples the way you want them would take over a decade.

 

Which is the latest loopcloud that is working on PC offline?
I tried couple of versions past and non of them worked for me.

 

Some people collect so much because they're hunters and gatherers.

Anyone who thinks practically like you knows that it takes forever to listen to everything. Exactly, you end up drowning in 20 million samples or 1.5 million sound banks, or 5,000,000 WAV files and 1,900 Kontakt libraries. The only solution is to DELETE things you don't need; that's called selection, or, as a principle, only keep the best.

Imagine you go to the library and look for a specific book about music. Today, the librarian checks her computer and says: "Your book is in aisle 9 and A." Imagine there's no order and all the books are lying next to each other. They're looking for a specific book, so they have to search through them all. It probably takes several months, if not years. It's quite possible the book is right at the beginning.

"Order is half the battle," as we say.

 

This is when you take all your old archived stuff and put them in..... an archive. Or a dumpster. Many samples that are that old are probably 16 bit, things you never used, things that definitely didn't end up in anyone's greatest hits compilation albums. Stuff for hardware samplers you don't even own hoping you get time to iso extract them and use blah blah convertor. Sh.tcan them. Excuse me, Circular file them. A nice carefully put together plugin chain can make anything new you have sound just as old, if that is what you want.

A few nice advanced search results, plus all prior downloads completed in green to consider to add them back to newly built library, you could have a nice library put together in a month with almost no real effort if you know what you are doing.

Trying to play Jurrasic Park with your "bringing your extinct 16 bit samples back to life in 2025" method never works out. All you have to do is watch the movie to see it in action.

 

Based on recent discussions and user reports, Loopcloud version 6 (specifically 6.0 or later patches like 6.12) appears to be the latest version that reliably supports full offline functionality on PC without requiring an active subscription.

 

[Trigger Warning]

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+!+-[~ⱩĬƇǨŻ~]-+
+!+-[~ḦƗȞȂŦƵ~]-+
+!+-[~ĊⱠẬƤẔ~]-+

This kind of shit is the worst.

 

Drum one shots, FX and vocals sometimes presets are about the only thing I keep/that are useful to me nowadays

 

Unless a pack is specific elements like this, and most aren't; usually there are not enough of each category to even make them worth stripping out of an "artist" or "genre" pack. This is the kind of micromanagement you want to do with an SSD external, but with a external hdds it doesn't really matter. The idea is to be organized but not extracting every " basslines" folder of ten waves at a time. This whole subject is an excercise not only in sample storage management, but also the time management of sample management. Periodic bulk deletion is the way to do this if someone only wants specific stuff left in packs containing small batches of all these elements. Way faster than manual extracting everything.

 

Last edited: Nov 6, 2025

What I tend to do is, probably use a torrent and only select what I need before downloading, I never use loops at all, I feel like it's reducing creativity too much and too obvious (sometimes), uh same goes for one shot basses and stuff I have no use for em

 

I'd recommend just digging in, getting a structure on HDD and then inserting new stuff into that. Have your library your way. Theres no easy other way to make things properly useful.

 

Definitely. The only problem though, is that the tracker that only has uncompressed content, where you can pick and choose; is that it misses a lot of stuff. On the other tracker, you download from another source and not be able to select only the parts you want. That's where thing would come into play for me: