For years, Soundpaint was mostly a player for 8Dio’s own sample libraries. Version 5.0 changes that. The free sampler, often pitched as a Kontakt alternative, finally lets you build your own instruments and edges much closer to a proper sound-creation environment, without touching its business model: the engine is still a free download.
From a sample player to a real instrument
The headline feature is Brush, a built-in sample editor and mapping system that, for the first time, lets you load your own audio and turn it into multi-sample instruments. You set start and end points, configure loops, and the in-house time-stretching algorithm, Time Pro, automatically detects the source BPM. In short, Soundpaint no longer just replays 8Dio content: it becomes a sampler you feed yourself. If you want the fundamentals first, our explainer on how sampling works lays the groundwork.
Eight layers and an arp that goes deep
The engine moves from four to eight layers, so a single patch can stack up to eight independent sound parts—plenty for lush pads or hybrid instruments. The fully redesigned arpeggiator handles up to 128 steps, with subdivisions pushing resolution to 2000 steps. You get:
- per-step length, stutter and glue;
- chords, swing and inversion modes;
- four round-robin modes (reset release, sequential, random, neighbour) that add subtle variation to every note and make acoustic instruments feel alive.
That kind of automatic variation is exactly what many virtual instruments lack. Modern engines keep pushing it, much like Bitwig Studio 6.1’s granular sampler.
A much bigger effects rack
The rack gains several modules: a vintage drift to bring back old-hardware instability, a micro tune with scales, and a 505 emulation. Legato HAL 4 and Time Pro now offer phrase sync, and the chain adds boost, transient shaper, pump shape, limiter and expander. There is also modwheel strumming, a diatonic pitchbender and A-Z typing-keyboard control, plus performance improvements.
Free, with one paid extra
Soundpaint 5.0 remains a free download for macOS and Windows, standalone and as VST3, AU and AAX. The only new paid item is the Looper, a tape-machine emulation with five parallel loopers, launched at $69 (down from $99). Everything else, including Brush, only needs an account. See the official Soundpaint page for details.
My take
A sample editor inside a free engine is the detail that changes everything: Soundpaint stops being a shop window for 8Dio libraries and turns into an actual sandbox. Eight layers and a 2000-step arp are not gimmicks—they open the door to dense sound design at zero cost. The usual trade-off still applies, you stay in the 8Dio ecosystem for premium content, but for anyone who wants to build their own textures for nothing, the barrier to entry has never been lower. Worth downloading just to try Brush.
