Right up there with the electric guitar in its influence on the sound and shape of modern music, the sampler is as relevant today as ever, giving us the means by which to turn our own samples and recordings into playable instruments, as well as ready access to all manner of convincing real-world emulations. Here are our six top picks.

Native Instruments Kontakt 6

One of the first ‘serious’ software samplers to hit the market, Kontakt has become the de facto industry standard in the two decades since its launch, thanks in no small part to the ever-expanding universe of amazing multi-sampled instrument libraries available for loading into it. Although the editing interface could be generously described as ’a little tired’ these days, the power and versatility of the engine behind it – incorporating a raft of superb filters, effects modules and modulation options, and a diversity of time stretching/pitch shifting algorithms – are unarguable. NKS compatibility makes it a particularly good fit for NI’s Komplete Kontrol S-Series keyboards, too, on which the Light Guide RGB LEDs are used to reflect the onscreen keymap colours.

Ultimately, though, it’s the endless stream of free and commercial third party libraries that’s established this remarkable sampler as a cornerstone of modern music production. From drums, basses, synths, keys and guitars to full orchestral suites, world instruments, complex vocal generators, cinematic sound design tools and so much more, there’s almost no musical sound imaginable that hasn’t been worked into a Kontakt NKI.

Steinberg HALion 6

Released in 2001, Steinberg’s flagship virtual instrument has since ballooned from its original specification as a straightforward sampler into a truly epic sampling and synthesis platform. As well as the expected comprehensive multi-sample mapping and editing, HALion integrates analog, granular, and wavetable synthesis engines, and provides all the effects and modulation sources required to bring them to life. It also puts actual sampling back on the agenda with the Sample Recorder, which makes light work of capturing any input signal and automatically mapping it as a multi-sampled instrument. Support for LUA scripting, meanwhile, enables the creation of impressive custom graphical interfaces; and although HALion is nowhere near as well catered to in terms of third-party libraries as Kontakt, the 40GB+ factory soundbank is packed with excellent instruments of all kinds.

Probably the most overtly powerful plugin in our list when it comes to sheer sound design potential, HALion takes the very concept of what a sampler can be to the next level.

Apple Sampler (Logic Pro)

We’d almost given up hope of Apple ever updating Logic Pro’s much-loved but undeniably archaic EXS24 sampler – resolutely unchanged since 2002’s Mk II update – when, in 2020, out of nowhere, an entirely new replacement for it was revealed as a headline feature of Logic Pro X 10.5. The imaginatively named Sampler is a night-and-day improvement on its predecessor in every department, introducing a totally rebuilt interface with integrated multi-panel editing (as opposed to the separate editor window of old), more and better filters and modulation sources, and a generally transformed user experience. Happily, it also imports EXS24 patches flawlessly, making the transition for those heavily invested in that venerable workhorse effortless. And for those frequent occasions when you just need to throw a single sample across the keyboard in a hurry, Sampler’s streamlined sibling, Quick Sampler, presents a brazen (but wholly effective) rip-off of Ableton’s Simpler with which to do it. It’s a double-header triumph for Apple and a major feather in Logic Pro’s instrumental cap.

Ableton Sampler

Bundled with the Suite edition of Live, and available at a very reasonable price for owners of other editions, Sampler is essentially an expanded multisampling version of Live’s stalwart Simpler single-sample playback device – which is, itself, no slouch. Management of keyzones and velocity mapping are handled in the intuitive Zone editor, which pops up from the Device View to fill Live’s main panel; and filtering, saturation and modulation are applied polyphonically, the last upping the numbers from Sampler’s one LFO and three envelopes to three and five, respectively. It’s a must-have for any Live user looking to build their own multi-sampled instruments, and the tight integration with Live and Ableton’s Push and Push 2 controllers only adds to Sampler’s appeal.

Togu Audio Line TAL-Sampler

Togu’s acclaimed plugin carves its own sonic niche with the ability to convincingly imbue the grit, noise and variance of five vintage DACs (including those of the E-mu Emulator II and Akai S1000); wildly entertaining real-time time stretching controls, evoking the hands-on spirit of classic hardware samplers; and the Service Control panel, where per-voice fluctuation of tuning, filter cut-off and envelope timings can be dialled in for even more old-school wobble.

Beyond that, TAL-Sampler fields the usual facilities for mapping samples, setting loop points and fades, adjusting key ranges, etc, as well as a decent showing of modulation tools, and EQ, delay and reverb effects. And although the rigid four-layer architecture restricts velocity mapping somewhat, that doesn’t feel like an issue, as this one’s really intended for rigging up retro-sounding instrumental constructions and grungy playable experiments, rather than building polished, ultra-realistic multis.

Focused on texture and dirt, TAL-Sampler is unique, fun and refreshingly different.

New Sonic Arts Nuance 2

Clearly prioritising speedy workflow and low resource usage over fancy features and deep editing, Nuance 2 is nonetheless a considerably better furnished sampler than a first glance at its pared-back interface might suggest, offering a surprisingly rich modulation scheme (an XY pad, plus three each LFOs, envelopes and step sequencers), eight unison voices, four filter/FX slots, choke groups, a Pad View for drum kits, sample tagging and more. Equally importantly, this svelte plugin/standalone instrument makes the importing and mapping of samples so easy that even those with much higher-end alternatives at their disposal may well find themselves gravitating towards it for all but the most technically demanding single- and multisampling tasks. Slick, reliable and creatively liberating.

What’s your favourite software sampler? Let us know in the comments.