From your first sound
to an exported track

1. Audio setup

Choose Audio / MIDI settings on Home, or open Audio / MIDI near the transport in the studio. Select your Windows playback device, playback buffer and sample rate. Device default, 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz are available; unsupported settings are rejected before changing the active output. A smaller buffer responds faster; a larger buffer gives the computer more time to process instruments and effects.

Use a moderate buffer such as 256 or 512 samples, where your device offers it. If you need to change the device’s default sample rate, use Windows sound settings or the interface’s control panel, then reconnect audio in Sampledex. Increase the buffer if you hear clicks or dropouts. The Windows build uses JUCE’s Windows audio backends; ASIO is not included.

To test output, load a factory demo from New project, select Song and press Play. Headphones are useful when recording a microphone.

Working on a slower laptop

Start with the built-in instruments and a small project. If playback clicks, try a buffer of 512 or 1024 samples where available. A larger buffer adds delay when playing live, so reduce it when recording if playback stays clean. Close other demanding applications and reduce the number of heavy instruments and effects in the project. Keep the laptop connected to power for longer sessions. When an instrument is using too much processing time, select its MIDI track and choose Track → Freeze instrument. Sampledex renders the instrument to audio while keeping mixer, effects and routing controls live. Use Track → Unfreeze instrument to return to MIDI editing; the original notes are retained. Freeze supports single-output instruments; shared drum-kit parts and samplers with separate pad/zone outputs require a supported bounce/export route or routing changes.

2. Find your way around

Use the Home page

Home opens at launch and puts project creation and setup in one place. Reopen it with the Home button or File → Home. Choose Blank studio, Open project, or Continue studio to return to the current song. Audio / MIDI settings opens device configuration, Scan VST3 plug-ins scans the configured folders, and Windows user guide opens this guide. Add other plug-in folders through Tools.

Each genre template has two choices: Create project loads instruments and empty patterns; Open demo loads editable notes as well. The descriptions and BPM help you choose. Scroll Home to see the remaining templates on a short display.

Give the timeline more room

1. Click Focus timeline or press F6 to hide the browser and editors, including floating panels. This gives the arrangement the available workspace.
2. Click an editor tab when you need to edit notes, sounds or audio. Press F7 to show or hide the current editor and F8 to show or hide the browser.
3. In split view, drag the horizontal divider down to enlarge the timeline or up to enlarge the editor. Double-click it to give each area equal space.
4. Drag the divider beside the browser to change its width. Double-click to restore its default width.

Use the Windows title-bar maximize button or View → Maximize / restore main window to fill the available desktop area.

Focus editor gives the selected editor the workspace. Click Split view to bring the timeline back. View → Balanced workspace shows the browser and docked editor alongside the arrangement. Time and Height controls change zoom within an editor; the dividers change how much screen space it gets. The arrangement has a visible zoom slider. Hold Ctrl while using the mouse wheel over the timeline to zoom around the pointer, or use View → Zoom timeline in / out. Fit arrangement horizontally shows the song width; Make timeline tracks taller / shorter changes the lane height.

Float, dock, hide and restore panels

Each Browser, Piano roll, Sound, Mixer, Audio, Steps, Automation and Routing panel has Float and Hide controls in its header. Float opens a resizable window that you can move independently. Its Dock button returns it to the main workspace. Several different panels can float at the same time.

Closing a floating window hides that panel. It keeps the project and edits intact. Reopen it with View → [panel name] → Show or its editor tab. Each panel’s View submenu also offers Hide, Float in its own window and Dock in workspace. The top-bar Layout button opens the same workspace choices.

For a single laptop screen, keep the editors docked and use F6 to return to the arrangement. Scroll inside compact panels to reach their remaining controls. If you lose track of a panel, choose View → Reset layout and dock all panels.

Sampledex saves panel positions and sizes when it closes and restores them at the next launch. Floating panels are moved onto an available display if a previously used screen is disconnected. Workspace settings are separate from your song.

3. Create and save a project

1. From Home, choose Blank studio, Create project on a genre template, or Open demo. The File menu also provides New project, New from template and Factory demos.
2. Use the browser’s Add Drums, Add Bass / 808, Add Keys or Add Synth buttons for more instruments. Open the Track menu to add, rename or remove tracks, choose instruments and manage effects.
3. Select a track to edit its clips, instrument and mixer controls.
4. Choose Save project or press Ctrl+S.

Move projects between Windows and Mac

Windows Build 54 saves format 13 for the existing Mac Build 51. Open a Windows Build 53 format-14 project in Windows Build 54, then use Save As to create a compatible copy. Windows Build 54 also continues to read supported older projects.

Save the project as .sdxp. Close it, then ZIP the entire .sdxp folder/package for transfer, including Project.sdx and its media. Extract the ZIP on the other computer and open the .sdxp. Do not send only Project.sdx. Keep an untouched backup before updating or transferring work.

Windows row mute/solo is carried into the Mac-readable notes as zero hit probability for inaudible sounds. The notes remain editable. In Windows Steps, right-click a hit and choose Hit chance → 100% to make it play on every pass. On Mac, use the note/step Chance control to change those hits; Mac Build 51 does not have the newer Windows row mute/solo controls. Existing drum-sampler pads carry custom names. Windows keeps supplementary edit-state files with the project so an unchanged return restores its original row settings and note probabilities. If the Mac edits or resaves the project, Windows honors that newer musical document instead of restoring stale settings. Keep a Windows backup when moving work between these versions. For a single-file .sdx project, its adjacent .<filename>.windows-state folder holds the supplementary settings; keep it alongside the file. Using a complete .sdxp package is simpler for transfer.

Sampledex stock sounds travel with their project settings. Third-party instruments and effects need compatible plug-ins installed on both computers. Audio Units are Mac-only; bounce those tracks to audio when sharing with Windows. The project retains unavailable plug-in state, but that plug-in cannot sound until a compatible installation is available.

Use a .sdxp project package for projects with audio. It is a folder containing Project.sdx and the project’s media. Move or back up the whole package. Open project asks whether you want a Project folder (.sdxp) or a Project file (.sdx), then opens the matching Windows picker. Choose the complete package folder, or choose its internal Project.sdx through the file picker. Both open the package and its media.

Save As creates a separate destination. Save checks for changes made to the destination outside Sampledex so it does not silently overwrite a newer project. Keep working copies outside the application’s installation folder.

Import audio and MIDI

1. Select one or more audio and MIDI files in Windows File Explorer. You can mix file types in the same drop, up to 64 files within the project’s track limits.
2. Drop them on the arrangement at the desired time. The snap grid sets the position, and the files become separate tracks at that position. Dropping elsewhere in Sampledex uses the playhead position. The File menu and browser also provide import commands.
3. Review Import audio and MIDI. The summary shows each file’s audio tempo information or MIDI tracks, tempo and meter events.
4. Leave Project timing → Keep project tempo and meter selected to preserve the current clock. To adopt MIDI timing, explicitly choose Use tempo and meter from [file]. Only that chosen MIDI file supplies the project’s timing over its imported span.
5. Click Import. Wait for completion before editing the new tracks. One Undo removes the entire batch.

Cancel the review or press Escape during preparation to leave the project unchanged. A file that cannot be decoded stops the batch with an error; Sampledex does not publish a partial import. A Sampledex project must be opened on its own rather than mixed into an audio/MIDI drop.

MIDI uses the project clock unless you choose a timing source. Standard MIDI File formats 0 and 1 with ticks-per-quarter-note timing are supported. Format 2 and SMPTE-timed files report an unsupported-format error; export a supported MIDI format from the source application first. Tempo-only files have no importable performance tracks and are rejected. MIDI brings in musical events, not the source application’s instruments or sound.

4. Playback, tempo and time signature

Song plays the arrangement. Pattern auditions the selected MIDI pattern in a repeating loop. Return to Song to hear every track. The transport can show bars/beats/ticks or minutes/seconds. The arrangement ruler seeks within the song.

Change the tempo

1. Use the BPM field in the transport or the visible tempo picker above the tracks.
2. Choose Fixed for one tempo across the song, or Tempo Map for changes over time.
3. In Tempo Map mode, a BPM edit creates or updates the point at the playhead. Step holds its BPM; Linear and Smooth change it toward the following point.

Tap estimates BPM from repeated taps. The Tempo button opens the graph, where you can add, drag or remove tempo points. Tools includes half/double tempo, constant tempo over a loop and map reset. Tempo-follow audio is prepared after timing changes; watch the status area while it is processing.

Meter, markers and looping

Use Tempo / meter, or Tempo Tools at narrow window sizes, to set a time signature. The Markers menu adds a marker, jumps to one, removes it, or sets a loop from the selected clip. Click Loop to enable arrangement looping and Click for the metronome. Transport → Position display switches between bars/beats/ticks and time; Transport → MIDI recording count-in selects Off, 1 bar or 2 bars.

5. Arrange clips

Double-click an empty area of a MIDI track to create a pattern clip. Select a clip to edit its source pattern below. Pattern clips can share their notes: editing one source updates all linked placements. Use Clip → Make pattern unique before changing only one placement.

Shift-click selects several clips on the same track. The Clip menu provides Copy selected clips, Cut selected clips, Paste clips at playhead, Duplicate selected clips and Delete selected clips. Paste onto a track of the same type; the snap grid sets the paste position. Choose Clip → Join selected clips or press Ctrl+J with the timeline focused to join the selected MIDI patterns or consolidate audio clips. Undo restores the original placements.

MIDI notes and pattern controller events move, copy and join with their clips. Track automation stays at its arrangement positions, including imported pitch-bend automation. Review and edit those automation lanes independently after rearranging clips.

The Tools → Timeline tool menu exposes the same editing tools as the arrangement toolbar. The Clip menu includes duplicate, split at playhead, delete and the available audio-processing commands for the selected clip.

Choose the snap grid before editing. Use the visible bar count, zoom, overview and scrollbars to navigate. + 8 bars extends the arrangement. Right-click a clip for commands; Undo restores the previous project state.

6. Edit MIDI notes

Select a MIDI clip and open Piano. The vertical keyboard auditions the selected instrument. The note grid spans all 128 MIDI pitches; scroll or change Height to reach another register.

Selected groups move together and stay within the pattern and MIDI pitch range. Locked notes are protected. Click the piano roll first, then use Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+C/X/V to copy/cut/paste notes, and Delete to remove selected notes.

Quantize pattern aligns notes to the current grid. Tools also quantizes starts, ends or lengths, snaps pitches to the selected scale, transposes by an octave, reverses timing or humanizes velocity. The key and scale controls set the highlighted pitches; highlighting does not itself change notes.

7. Sounds and sampling

The browser contains 74 factory presets. Search by name or choose a category. Load applies a preset to the selected track; when an instrument needs a MIDI destination, Sampledex can create one. Use a preset’s Preview button to hear it without replacing the project instrument. Preview level controls audition volume; Stop preview ends it. Click the star to save a favorite and choose Favorites only to narrow the list. Project Patterns places an existing pattern, and Files navigates local folders for audio, MIDI and projects.

The Sound tab opens the selected instrument editor or a sampler inspector. For a melodic sample or drum pad, set the root note, tuning, gain, pan, envelope and playback options. Loop and One-shot control playback. Source and loop range fields specify the retained sample region.

On a narrow panel, controls wrap into a vertical list; scroll to reach the source, loop and envelope controls. Sampler edits remain pending until Apply; Revert reloads the saved settings. Apply affects the selected instrument or pad. Select an unlocked MIDI track before loading a sample. A drum rack’s pad selector chooses the pad being edited.

8. Build a beat

1. Select a MIDI track and its pattern, then open Steps.
2. Choose a sound row. Drum instruments show their pad names; other instruments show note names. Rename row... gives a pitch your own name. Leave the name blank to restore its instrument name.
3. Click a step to add a hit; click it again to remove it. Shift-click selects a hit without toggling it.
4. Use the Bar selector, arrow buttons or numbered tabs to edit another bar. The selector shows the current and total bars; hover over a numbered tab for its meter and partial-bar status. Beat divisions and the number of sixteenth-note cells follow the pattern’s time signature.
5. Start playback to see the active step. Enable Follow playhead to follow the playing source bar; choosing a bar manually turns this off.

Hear and balance each sound

Each row has > to audition its pitch, M to mute it, S to solo it within the instrument, and ... to open its sound settings. The lower Sound... button opens the selected row’s sound. Row names, mute and solo are saved with the track and apply across its patterns. Separated drum parts share these controls with their kit’s instrument. Muting keeps the notes available for editing.

Row mute and solo work with sounding MIDI pitches. Transposed shared drum parts retain their correct pad controls. For an ordinary instrument track with transposed clips, row mute and solo are disabled; use the Mixer for track mute and solo.

Velocity and swing

Drag an active step up or down to change its velocity. Release to keep the change as one Undo step. The velocity lane below the grid edits existing hits on the selected row. You can also select a hit and set Velocity numerically from 1 to 127; with no hit selected, this sets the level for new hits. Locked hits retain their values.

Set Swing from 0 to 75%, then click Apply swing. This edits eligible notes throughout the shared pattern, not just the visible bar. Zero is straight timing; the percentage is the delay applied to alternate sixteenth-note steps. Applying the same amount again does not keep moving those steps later. Locked notes and notes that do not lie on the nominal step grid are preserved. Existing note ends are retained, so a delay that cannot fit a note is rejected; reduce swing or lengthen that note in Piano.

Copy bars and change pattern length

These edits affect every placement linked to the source pattern. Use Make unique first for an independent variation. Each completed operation is one Undo step. When changing the length, a selected placement showing the complete source follows the new length; trimmed or looping placements keep their own arrangement windows. Other linked placements keep their existing windows.

Work on one screen

Opening Steps gives its grid more initial height; the workspace divider remains adjustable. Compact reduces row height; short panels use compact rows automatically. Used sounds shows pitches used anywhere in the current pattern; turn it off to add another sound. Scroll vertically for more rows. Use Shift+mouse wheel, a horizontal trackpad gesture or the horizontal scrollbar when a bar has more cells than fit. Focus Steps docks a floating Steps panel if needed, hides the browser and gives the editor more room; Split view restores the divided workspace. If the grid is too short to work comfortably, use Focus Steps or enlarge the editor with the workspace divider. Use Piano for detailed pitches, note lengths, off-grid timing and note locks.

Hit chance

Right-click an existing hit and use Hit chance to choose 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%. Zero is silent and keeps the note; 100% plays on every pass. A zero-chance hit is dimmed and shows 0% when space allows. Locked hits cannot be changed. Each change is one Undo step.

Use the keyboard in Steps

Click the grid or a row name to focus Steps. Arrow keys move the selected row or cell and scroll it into view without changing notes. Enter toggles the selected hit; Delete or Backspace removes it. Page Up / Page Down changes bars, Home / End selects the first or last step in the visible range, and F2 renames the selected row. Ctrl/Cmd shortcuts keep their application-wide behavior; use the bar buttons to copy or paste a bar. Text fields retain their normal typing controls.

9. Edit audio clips

Import audio and MIDI from File Explorer, the browser, File commands or the Audio tab. Select the audio track and use the Audio tab’s clip selector to choose the clip.

• Start bar / Move clip: move the clip to a musical position.
• Source offset / Length / Apply trim: set the portion of the source to retain.
• Duplicate after: place a copy immediately after the selected clip.
• Lock clip: protect it from edits; unlock before changing it.
• Fade in / Fade out: set fades in seconds.
• Reverse, Normalize and Split: process or divide the clip.
• Processing tools: slip the source, change gain, repeat, stretch or revert processing.

Scroll the Audio panel to reach all controls at smaller window sizes. Choosing a processing operation sets its amount to a useful starting value; check that amount before applying it. Revert does not use an amount.

Source tempo and original playback speed

Imported audio keeps its original speed. Sampledex reads embedded tempo tags when available, otherwise estimates the pulse from a bounded part of the audio. The import review and Audio editor distinguish metadata, an estimate, an uncertain estimate and unknown tempo. Unknown tempo leaves the Source BPM field blank. An estimate can be half or double the intended BPM, especially for sparse or changing rhythms; listen and verify it.

Use Analyze tempo to analyze the selected clip again, or enter the known source BPM manually. Only clicking Follow BPM adapts that clip to the project’s timing. Entering a number or importing a file does not itself stretch the audio or change project tempo. The source timing of a clip already following tempo is retained in the project. Detailed beat-marker editing is still a difference from the macOS editor.

Imported tempo tags and estimates are cached for the current app session. After restarting Sampledex, a fixed-speed clip may show unknown source tempo; use Analyze tempo again or enter its BPM. Saved Follow BPM timing remains part of the project.

Full-file imports are limited to two hours, mono or stereo, and 8–192 kHz. Oversized recordings are rejected rather than silently truncated. WAV and AIFF are the most predictable interchange formats; compressed support depends on the decoder and Windows codecs.

10. Mix and route

Open Mixer for track, bus and return strips. Master stays in its own column while channels scroll horizontally. Volume, pan, mute, solo and meters are at the top; short strips use horizontal level controls to keep the mix visible. Scroll below these controls for instruments, inserts and channel routing. Click an instrument to open its editor. Click an insert for a menu with Open editor, Toggle bypass and Remove insert.

Click Sends in the Mixer header to show or hide the selected track’s sends below the strips. The count in the button shows how many sends the track has. Drag a send to hear its level change during playback; release to keep one Undo step, or enter a level in decibels. Send headings show Pre/Post, Off and Read state. Read automation controls its fader while active; turn the lane Off or edit its points before adjusting the level manually. The send area scrolls when more sends are present.

Open Routing to add buses and returns, change a channel’s output, and create or edit sends. Post-fader sends follow the source fader; pre-fader sends do not. Sidechain sends feed a compatible effect’s detector input. Invalid feedback routes are rejected. Shared reverb and delay returns start fully wet.

11. Automation

1. Select the destination track and open Automation, or use A in its track header.
2. Create a Volume, Pan, Modulation or Pitch bend lane.
3. Click the graph to add a point. Drag a point to adjust time and value; right-click to remove it.
4. Choose Linear, Hold or Smooth for a point’s transition to the next point.
5. Enable the lane’s Read mode to hear it during playback.

The toolbar wraps when the panel is narrow so Read and Delete remain available. Switching tracks changes the available lanes. Creating plug-in parameter and send automation from this interface remains a difference from the macOS application; existing saved lanes still use the shared playback engine.

12. Record MIDI and audio

MIDI

1. Select an unlocked MIDI track with an instrument.
2. Open Live keyboard or select a MIDI input in Audio / MIDI.
3. Choose the starting position and optional one- or two-bar count-in.
4. Press Record take, play, then press Stop to finish.

The take becomes an editable MIDI pattern. The count-in holds the arrangement start until recording begins. Selecting computer keys without a hardware MIDI device is supported.

Audio

1. Open Audio / MIDI → Recording input and choose your microphone or interface. System default input follows Windows sound settings. Allow desktop microphone access in Windows.
2. Choose Recording channels → Mono for the first input channel or Stereo for the first two. The selected device must provide the requested channels.
3. Set the arrangement start and press Audio take.
4. Press Stop to finish and import the recording into an audio track.

Audio takes use the selected input and start without a count-in. Input device and mono/stereo choices are remembered. Device selection does not open the microphone; pressing Audio take does. A disconnected named input reports an error instead of switching silently to another microphone. Startup lead-in is trimmed when the take is placed. If importing a completed take fails or is cancelled, the raw WAV remains in the temporary directory and Sampledex reports its path. An incomplete take is rejected if the writer overflows or a disk write fails. Check the input level and available disk space before a long session.

13. Use VST3 plug-ins

Install a Windows x64 VST3 edition of the plug-in. Open Audio / MIDI to manage scan folders, then run the scan. The scanner runs separately so a failing vendor scan can be stopped without running it inside the main app.

Load an instrument onto a MIDI track or add an effect to a track, bus, return or master. Apply changes in the editor as required before saving or changing the project. Missing plug-in identities remain in the project and are reported during playback.

Audio Units, VST2 and macOS plug-in binaries do not run in this Windows build. The supplied macOS Indie collection binaries are excluded; use available Windows editions separately.

14. Export and share

Open File → Export or use the Export shortcut button. Choose a WAV or AIFF mix for audio delivery, WAV stems for separate audio files, or MIDI/MIDI stems for notes and controller data.

For audio, choose 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz. WAV offers 24-bit PCM or 32-bit float; AIFF uses 24-bit PCM. Set an Effect tail of 0, 1, 2, 5 or 10 seconds to retain reverb and delay after the arrangement ends. Export uses the captured project’s mute, solo, routing and effects. Choose the destination and wait until the status confirms completion.

Bounce a track inside your project

Select the track and choose Track → Bounce selected track to audio. This renders its effects and routing to a new audio track. The original remains editable and is muted after a successful bounce; master processing stays live. Choose a sample rate and effect tail, then wait for the new track. One Undo restores the state before the bounce.

Sampledex stops the bounce if muting the source would change a sidechain detector, or if shared bus/return effects process it together with another unmuted source. Use Freeze instrument for a MIDI instrument, or export a WAV while keeping the original routing active.

Audio export renders the instruments and effects. MIDI files contain musical events; they do not carry VST3 software or its sound. A MIDI file export also creates a companion .json file with arrangement and routing reference information. Keep the exported pair together. Share the complete .sdxp folder when another Sampledex user needs the editable project and its audio.

15. Keyboard shortcuts

Text fields handle typing and text-editing shortcuts while they have focus. Help → Keyboard shortcuts opens the shortcut reference. The Help menu also opens these offline guides.

16. Troubleshooting and current limits

The Windows interface follows the original Sampledex workspace, but some native workflows remain incomplete: detailed warp-marker editing, direct marker/loop dragging, full section editing, plug-in/send automation creation and parts of native accessibility. Audio count-in is not implemented. This guide describes the available Windows controls rather than assuming every macOS command is present.

Windows hardware, third-party plug-ins and recording sessions still need testing on the target machine. Local tests on another operating system do not establish Windows compatibility.

View 1–64 bars in Steps

Use the View selector to show 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 bars together. The default is four bars. View zoom changes only what is visible. Use Length… to change the actual pattern length. Short patterns show their existing bars without adding empty music.

The bar selector and numbered tabs choose the active bar. Clicking a step or moving the keyboard selection into another bar makes that bar active for Copy bar, Paste bar and Clear bar. Beat headings show bar and beat when space allows. Zoom in to edit individual hits in a dense overview. Follow playhead advances the visible range when playback leaves it. Duplicate +bar appends a copy of the active bar.