Top Features of the AudioModern SoundBox: A Comprehensive Review

Where Sound Design Meets Innovation at an Affordable Price

Audiomodern, a company known for its innovative plugins like Playbeat and Riffer, continues to push boundaries with the SoundBox MPE Sampler. This sampler isn’t just another plugin—it’s a platform for creating, sharing, and customizing multi-sampled instruments. Designed to cater to both professionals and hobbyists, it’s a user-friendly, community-driven tool with an affordable price point. Whether you’re looking for cinematic vocals or abstract strings, SoundBox has you covered with its wide variety of expansions. Available on macOS, Windows, and soon iOS, SoundBox has quickly gained a reputation for its flexibility and MPE support, making it a unique tool in any sound designer’s arsenal.

Sound Quality

The core of SoundBox revolves around its multi-sampled engine, which can handle up to four layers of instruments. Each layer offers extensive fine-tuning controls—such as volume, pan, and glide—giving users granular control over the sound. Audiomodern’s focus on realism and expressiveness is evident, particularly with its MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) support. This allows for highly dynamic and nuanced performances, giving artists more depth and control over their sound.

The sound library expands further with three initial expansion packs—Cosmo for keys, Kromium for strings, and Voxmotive for vocals. These packs offer a rich palette for cinematic compositions, electronic music, and experimental sound design.

User Interface (UI)

The interface of AudioModern SoundBox is clean but compact, which has drawn mixed feedback. The small control elements might not appeal to users who prefer larger displays. However, despite its size, the Vector Engine in the UI stands out as a highlight, offering a creative and fun way to mix layers by dragging the mouse or using a MIDI controller.15

Ease of Use

One of SoundBox’s greatest strengths is its intuitive workflow. Once an expansion pack is purchased and the engine is unlocked, the user can easily begin crafting their own sounds or altering presets. The community-driven platform encourages sound designers to share their work without paywalls, which fosters a collaborative environment.

Features

AudioModern SoundBox comes equipped with a wide range of creative tools:

• Sampler Engine: Supports classic and multi-samples with options for reversing, looping, and more.
• Effects: Includes reverb, delay, EQ, filter, distortion, and more, though some users feel the selection lacks more experimental effects like granular or spectral processors.
• Modulation: Four freely mappable LFOs with different modes, including step sequencing.
• Arpeggiator and Sequencer: Each layer has its own arpeggiator with unique playback modes and a parameter step sequencer, adding movement and complexity to the sounds.
• Vector Engine: Enables dynamic mixing of up to four layers in real time.

Presets

At launch, SoundBox offers three expansions (Cosmo, Kromium, and Voxmotive), each providing a variety of high-quality presets. These preset libraries are versatile, covering everything from cinematic textures to intricate soundscapes for electronic music. While users can modify these presets extensively, SoundBox also encourages the creation of entirely new instruments, which can then be shared with others via the community-driven platform.

Performance

The plugin runs smoothly on macOS and Windows, with full support for Apple Silicon chips. CPU efficiency is notable, with the sampler engine running multiple layers without major issues. Latency is minimal when using MIDI controllers, making it reliable for live performances.

Integration and Compatibility

SoundBox integrates well with all major DAWs (VST3, AU, and AAX formats), and it’s designed with future expansions in mind. MPE support adds another layer of compatibility, particularly for expressive MIDI controllers like the ROLI Seaboard.

Pros:

• Affordable entry price with one expansion purchase
• MPE support for expressive sound design
• Strong community focus with free sharing of custom instruments
• High-quality sample engine and creative modulation options

Cons:

• Small UI elements, difficult for some users
• Limited experimental effects (no granular synthesis)
• Requires expansions to unlock the full engine

Conclusion

The Audiomodern SoundBox MPE Sampler offers a perfect blend of affordability and functionality. Its community-oriented platform, combined with powerful sound design tools, makes it a must-have for sound designers looking to experiment and share their work. The minor limitations in the UI and effect selection don’t detract from its overall value, especially considering the flexible expansion packs and MPE support.