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Overview

Sample Directories is where you point Sample Vault at the folders on your disk that contain your audio files. The app scans recursively — pick your top-level samples folder and it handles every subfolder. You don’t need to reorganize anything first; Sample Vault reads your library regardless of how it’s structured.
Sample Vault never deletes or moves your original files. They stay where they are on disk.

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What processing unlocks

When you add a directory, Sample Vault starts working through it in the background. Rather than tracking internal stages, the Library status readout tells you what your library can do right now — each capability arrives on its own, and every sample becomes usable the moment the capability it needs is ready. Everything except cloud backup is free, unlimited, and automatic. Deep Tagging, which sharpens description matches, and Deep Search, the optional AI pass over your whole library, both need a plan and an internet connection. You can start browsing and playing samples as soon as they’re found, long before any of this finishes.

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When something can’t be processed

Files that can’t be read — missing, moved, or in a format Sample Vault doesn’t support — are counted separately in the Library status readout rather than holding your library permanently short of complete. Open a directory in Sample Directories to see what failed and why, grouped by cause, with the ones worth retrying separated from the ones that will always fail.

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Adding Your First Directory

On first launch, setup looks for the folders your sample services already use — Splice, Loopcloud, ADSR, Noiiz — and offers the ones it finds, with the number of samples in each. Tick the ones you want and they’re added to the library and start scanning; skip them and nothing is added. Custom locations are yours to add by hand. After that, you can add a directory from multiple places:
  • File Browser: Click the ”+” button in the sidebar to add a directory directly from the file browser
  • Settings: Go to Settings → Sample Directories and click “Add Sample Directory”
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Select Folder

Select the folder containing your samples (this can be your main sample library folder)
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Configure Options

Choose processing options for the directory:
  • Analysis speed: Choose how much CPU and RAM to use — Battery, Balanced, Fast, or Max. The dialog shows the estimated resource cost for each level
  • Per-folder upload and deep-tagging: The dialog shows a tree of the folders being added with checkboxes for cloud upload and Deep Tagging on each one. Toggle them individually and watch the running totals — directory count, file sizes, and the number of samples that will be deep-tagged update as you go so you can see exactly what the scan will do before committing
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Start Browsing

Your samples appear immediately in the Library once scanning completes. Processing continues in the background.

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Monitoring Progress

Open Library status from the title bar. It shows how far along each capability is, how many samples can’t be read, and an estimate of how much longer the rest will take. The readout also surfaces:
  • Cloud Sync state (paid plans)
  • A pause/resume control while processing is active, plus the Analysis Speed slider
For the raw background queue — individual jobs, their errors, and retries — see the Processing log. You don’t need to watch it, though. The first time a newly added library finishes analyzing, Sample Vault lets you know — in the app with suggested first searches to try, and with a system notification if you’re in your DAW or another app at the time. If you’re signed in, you’ll also get an email when your library is ready, plus a reminder if the app was closed before analysis finished.

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When samples become available for each feature

  • Browsing, playing, and search by name or token: as soon as the file is found. Samples play from your disk, with no upload or tagging needed.
  • Tempo and key filters: as soon as the folder is scanned, for every file whose name says so.
  • Sound Profile filters, waveforms, level-matched playback, and duplicate detection: once the sound-characteristics row is ready. Tempo and key are filled in here for the files that named neither.
  • Similar Samples and reference matching: once Find similar, match a reference is ready.
  • Search by description: once Search by describing the sound is ready for that sample; until then it is still reachable by name and tokens.
  • Genre, creator, and sample-pack filters: available throughout, but only trustworthy for folders you’ve deep-tagged — elsewhere the values are guessed from filenames.
  • AI Assistant: works from the moment a sample is found, and gets sharper as each capability lands.

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Managing Directories

  • View Details: Click on any directory to see detailed processing information and a list of all files
  • Rescan Directory: Use this when you’ve added new samples to an existing folder
  • Retry Failed Files: If some files failed processing, you can retry them individually or all at once
  • Delete Directory: Removes the directory from Sample Vault but doesn’t delete your actual files

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Best Practices

Name your directories clearly: The AI assistant can see directory names, so “Trap Samples 2024” is better than “New Folder (3)”
  • Use nested folders: You can add just your main samples folder - Sample Vault will process all subfolders
  • Don’t worry about file organization: The AI will understand your samples regardless of how they’re organized
  • Add highest-priority folders first so you can start working sooner
  • Use meaningful folder and file names (e.g., kick_130bpm_Cm.wav) to improve early filtering before AI tags are ready
  • Let large libraries process overnight: You can keep browsing and playing samples while analysis runs in the background

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Troubleshooting

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Why are my samples taking so long to process?

Processing time depends on several factors:
  • File size and number: Larger collections take longer
  • Audio analysis: Each file needs tempo detection, key analysis, and audio fingerprinting
  • Analysis speed: The default Balanced preset leaves headroom for your DAW. Bump it up in your app Preferences (or in the System Status panel while analysis is running) to finish faster
  • Deep Tagging queue: Deep Tagging runs online, so it depends on the AI service being reachable
Large libraries (10,000+ samples) can take several hours to fully analyze. The good news is you can browse and play samples immediately after scanning — analysis and deep-tagging continue in the background.
The Analysis Speed slider in your app Preferences scales CPU and RAM usage together across four presets — Battery, Balanced, Fast, Max — so you can match it to whatever else you’re doing on the machine.

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Some of my files show as ‘Failed’ - what happened?

Common causes:
  • Corrupted audio files: The file may be damaged
  • Unsupported format: While Sample Vault supports most formats, some obscure codecs aren’t supported
  • Longer than ten minutes: Anything over that is a recording rather than a sample. It isn’t analysed for filters like tempo or key — it stays searchable by name and description, and its sound tags come from its opening seconds
Right-click the failed sample or directory and use the “Analyze sample” option to retry analysis.

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My samples aren’t showing up in search results

Check that:
  • The capability your search needs is ready — check Library status, which names each one and how far along it is
  • You’re searching in the right location (the Library vs AI Assistant)
  • Your search terms match your sample content
  • AI Sample Suggestions is enabled in preferences if you want suggested samples in your results