SoundEdit · Compared

An alternative to Hypercrate, Sononym and TwistedWave.

Sample managers sort and audition; audio editors change one file at a time. SoundEdit does both: it plays any sound from your keys and pads, records anything your Mac plays, and opens every folder of sounds you own. SoundEdit Pro measures each one and makes kits for the sampler on your desk. Here is how that stands against Hypercrate, Sononym, AudioCortex 2, SampleStack and TwistedWave, from each vendor’s own pages.

Get SoundEdit on the Mac App Store SoundEdit for Mac

Feature by feature.

Marked plainly: where SoundEdit wins, and where it doesn’t. “Not listed” means the vendor’s own pages don’t list it.

Feature	SoundEdit	Hypercrate	Sononym	AudioCortex 2public beta	SampleStack	TwistedWave
Edit the audio itself	Yes: a full editor, every step kept in the file’s History, undo after quit	Not listed: Inspect shapes a sound for audition, files unchanged	Not listed: a browser	Basic: delete, trim, fades and markers	Basic: crop, cut, split and fades	Yes, with unlimited undo
Play a sound from your keys or MIDI	Yes: polyphonic, with slices on keys and pads	Repitched MIDI auditions; live playing not listed	A MIDI device triggers and pitches the selected sound	A MIDI keyboard plays the selected sound	Multisample instruments, from MIDI or the computer keys	Not listed
Record anything your Mac plays	Yes: What’s Playing, one app, or any input	Not listed	The line input, as a search query	The audio input	Not listed	No: its FAQ points to other apps
Your folders, where they sit	Open any folder; nothing imported	Add folders to its library; files stay put	Measuring and similarity need a Library database	Browses every folder on the Mac	Add folders as libraries; files stay put	No library; batch runs on folders
Measures tempo, key, loudness and kind of sound	With Pro: all four, plus root note and true peak	Key, BPM and type; loudness as a live meter	BPM, pitch and one-shot or loop; peak and RMS, not LUFS	All four	BPM and pitch; key typed by hand	Loudness (LUFS)
Search in plain words, find similar	With Pro: both, and similar to a sound you drop in	Both	Find similar, from any sound or a recording	Both	File names	Not listed
Writes tempo, root note and loops into the file	With Pro: Write Into Files, where samplers read them; ⌘Z restores the file byte for byte	No: its own index	Not listed: its own database	Tempo and key in its own chunk, cue markers	Cue points; root note on Deluge export	Not listed
Kits for hardware samplers	With Pro: sent to OP-XY, OP-1 field and EP-133 over USB; MPC, SFZ, Decent Sampler, SoundFont and Ableton; folders fitted to two dozen samplers	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Profiles for dozens of devices; EP-133 transfer through TE’s own tool; OP-1 and OP-XY not listed	Not listed
Your plug-ins over whole folders	With Pro: recipes, heard as source or result before you run	Not listed	Not listed	Audio Units in node chains, one source at a time	Conversion to a device’s format	Yes: Audio Units and VST
Works with your AI agent	MCP: Claude or any MCP client works in SoundEdit	Not listed	Not listed	Its own assistant; Claude Desktop through an extension	Not listed	Not listed
How you pay	Free to try; a one-time unlock for the editor and for SoundEdit Pro. No subscription.	One-time, with 12 months of updates; optional yearly renewal	One-time	One-time; the price rises at 1.0	Yearly subscription or lifetime	Subscription, yearly or monthly
Platforms	Mac	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux	Mac, Windows, Linux	Mac	Mac	Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad, web

Rival facts from each vendor’s own pages (product pages, manuals, update feeds and App Store listings), checked 4–5 November 2026: Hypercrate, Sononym, AudioCortex 2, SampleStack, TwistedWave.

Looking for an alternative?

An alternative to TwistedWave, without a subscription

TwistedWave has been a subscription since version 29; SoundEdit is free to download, with a one-time unlock. Both are full editors that batch-process whole folders: TwistedWave with Audio Units and VST, SoundEdit Pro with recipes of steps and Audio Unit chains, heard before they run. SoundEdit also records anything your Mac plays, which TwistedWave’s FAQ leaves to other apps, plays the sound from your keys and pads, and opens your folders in a Library. TwistedWave also runs on Windows, iPhone, iPad and the web.

An alternative to Hypercrate that edits and records

Hypercrate finds, auditions and layers the sounds you own, in key and in time. SoundEdit’s Library opens any folder, and SoundEdit Pro measures every sound in it (what it is, its tempo, root note, key and loudness), plays loops in your tempo and key, and finds sounds by plain words or by a sound you drop in. It also does what Hypercrate’s pages don’t list: a full editor, recording anything your Mac plays, tempo and root note written into the files, and kits sent to an OP-XY, OP-1 field or EP-133 over USB. Hypercrate also runs on Windows and Linux.

An alternative to Sononym that measures key and loudness

Sononym finds sounds by how they sound, once a folder is analysed into its Library database. SoundEdit Pro finds similar sounds too, from any sound you drop in, and measures what Sononym’s descriptors don’t: a key, major or minor, and loudness in LUFS. What you fix, a tempo, a root note or a loop, Write Into Files puts in the file itself, where a sampler finds it. Sononym also runs on Windows and Linux.

An alternative to SampleStack that sends kits over USB

SampleStack prepares sounds for dozens of hardware samplers, as a yearly subscription or a lifetime unlock. SoundEdit Pro makes kits and sends them straight to an OP-XY, OP-1 field or EP-133 over USB, where SampleStack leaves EP-133 transfer to TE’s own tool and doesn’t list the OP-1 or OP-XY, and fits whole folders to two dozen samplers. SampleStack covers more devices; SoundEdit adds an editor you play, recording and a measured Library.

An alternative to AudioCortex 2

AudioCortex 2, in public beta, pairs a library with a basic editor and an assistant of its own. SoundEdit works with the agent you already use, over MCP, and adds what AudioCortex’s pages don’t list: recording what your Mac plays, slices on keys and pads, and kits for hardware samplers.

How each one charges.

SoundEdit is free to download. The editor and SoundEdit Pro each try free for 14 days, then a one-time unlock, with no subscription. Hypercrate and Sononym are one-time licences too; Hypercrate’s includes a year of updates, with renewal optional. AudioCortex 2 is one-time and still in public beta, with its price set to rise at 1.0. SampleStack is a yearly subscription or a lifetime unlock, and TwistedWave is a subscription. Each vendor lists its current prices on its own site.

Where the others win.

Hypercrate and Sononym also run on Windows and Linux, and TwistedWave on Windows, iPhone, iPad and the web; SoundEdit is a Mac app. TwistedWave’s batch runs VST plug-ins as well as Audio Units. SampleStack has profiles for more hardware samplers than SoundEdit fits folders to. AudioCortex builds its own assistant in, with a model that runs on the Mac if you want one; SoundEdit works with the agent you already use. And Sononym can search by a sound you record. If one of those is the center of your work, that product will serve you well, and we’d rather you know it now.

What none of the others lists: recording anything your Mac plays, a full editor you play from your keys, and tempo, root note and loops written into the files themselves, where a sampler finds them.

Questions.

Is there an alternative to TwistedWave without a subscription?

Yes. SoundEdit is a full audio editor for the Mac with a one-time unlock: free to download, and the editor and SoundEdit Pro each try free for 14 days. TwistedWave has been a subscription since version 29.

What is a good alternative to Hypercrate on Mac?

SoundEdit. Its Library opens any folder, and SoundEdit Pro measures every sound (what it is, its tempo, root note, key and loudness), plays loops in your tempo and key, and finds sounds by plain words or by a sound you drop in. It also edits, records anything your Mac plays, and makes kits for hardware samplers.

Is SoundEdit a sample manager or an audio editor?

Both. SoundEdit is an audio editor you play like an instrument, with a Library that opens any folder of sounds, nothing imported. SoundEdit Pro measures every sound in it, plays loops in your tempo and key, and makes kits for hardware samplers.

Can SoundEdit record audio from other apps on a Mac?

Yes. SoundEdit records what’s playing on the Mac, one app, or any input, and the take draws into the waveform as it arrives.

Can SoundEdit make kits for OP-XY, OP-1 field and EP-133?

Yes, with SoundEdit Pro: kits for OP-XY, OP-1 field, EP-133, MPC, SFZ, Decent Sampler, SoundFont and Ableton, sent straight to OP-XY, OP-1 field and EP-133 over USB, and whole folders fitted to two dozen samplers.

Can an AI agent use SoundEdit?

Yes. Turn on Settings ▸ Agent, and Claude or any MCP client works in SoundEdit while it’s open: the file in front of you and every edit. With SoundEdit Pro it also reads what SoundEdit measures and works in the Library.

What replaced Audiofile’s Sample Manager and Wave Editor?

SoundEdit, from the same makers. Wave Editor’s ideas went into its editor, and Sample Manager’s into its Library.

What SoundEdit carries forward, and what to try first

Try it on your own sounds

The trial is the argument.

Every claim above is testable for free: the editor and SoundEdit Pro each have a 14-day trial. Bring your own folders.

Get SoundEdit on the Mac App Store Everything SoundEdit does