Six underrated virtual samplers you should try

Sugar Bytes Egoist | €99

Available as a VST/AU plugin for PC/ Mac or as an iOS app, Egoist is an unconventional sample-slicer with a 303-style sequenced bassline synth, drum machine and seven effects.

New Sonic Arts Nuance 2 | €99

Bored of overcomplicated, bloated samplers? Check out this CPUfriendly, streamlined plugin, which offers unison, quick drag-and-drop modulation, XY pad and more.

Togu Audio Line TAL-Sampler | £46

This four-layer virtual sampler emulates the signal path and associated artefacts of several hardware samplers.

NI/Tim Exile Flesh | £89

Not a sampler as such, but instead lets you load in a rhythmic sample then play back the sliced sample as it drives four engines: a mono-, poly- and sub bass synth and effects.

Serato Sample | $99

Chop, loop, pitch and stretch a sample into up to 16 segments, then jam in your cuts, MPC-style. It’s basic, but the stretching and shifting algorithms are some of the best.

Audio Damage Quanta | $99

A granular synth breaks a sample into grains, then recombines them. This one has a uniquely intuitive interface, visual feedback, synthetic osc and breakpoint modulation.