Buyer's Guides

Best Samplers: The best hardware instruments for sampling, performance, and going DAWless

We’re living in a fascinating time for music technology in which, while it looked for a while as if the all-powerful DAW might replace a huge swath of hardware music products, a lot of hardware is making a startling comeback. Samplers, in particular, seemed really caught in the crosshairs of the DAW, covering most of the sampling features with ease within the software.

That was during the ‘00s and ‘10s when the advancements of DAWs seemed unstoppable. But the story didn’t end there, as hardware samplers have been making quite the comeback. As with synthesisers and drum machines, it seems many musicians and performers began yearning for the days when sampling meant interacting with a physical sampler: using a companion machine to arrange and process audios and have a wonderful time splicing it all up.

And the beauty of the best samplers you’ll find below is that there is one for every budget and one for every musical task you could reasonably throw at a sampler. There are a few towards the end at the top end of the budget spectrum that can even challenge the DAW itself, veritable music computers that you can create entire tracks comprised of all the melodies and beats you have floating around your head. So, without further ado, let’s investigate these little musical joy boxes as we investigate the best hardware samplers, starting with the most affordable options.

Akai MPX8

If you want to spend less than £/$100 on your sample hardware while still getting a sampler with plenty of features to get you going on your hardware sampling journey, who ya gonna call? Akai, that’s who. The Japanese company are pretty lauded when it comes to providing samplers for every budget, and the MPX8 is a brilliant cheap sampler option. While not offering the depth of some of our later entrants, the MPX8 allows you to load in samples and assign them to its eight backlit pads, plus the bundled Akai free Loop Library and a library of samples. If portability is a big thing for your needs, the MPX8 is pretty teeny.

8 velocity-sensitive pads
SD card slot for sample loading
USB MIDI connectivity

Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O!

Buying one of the best samplers and then finding it fits snugly in your pocket is surely too good to be true, right? Incorrect! Looking closer to a Gameboy than sample hardware, Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator series also scores big points for how cute they look. If you are after those lo-fi vibes and a joyous time using your performance sampler, the PO-33 K.O! is a knockout. The effects are wonderful to use, and the provided drum sounds guarantee a wonderful time as you create a beat with your recorded sample using the built-in microphone.

Built-in microphone for sampling
16-step sequencer
Punch-in effects

Alesis SamplePad 4

Are you handy with a pair of drum sticks, or really fancy getting tactile with your performance sampler? Say hello to the Alesis SamplePad, a compact and affordable percussion pad that doubles up as one of the best samplers and sample triggers. It brings you four velocity-sensitive pads and a built-in sound library and is ideal for adding custom samples to live performances or studio sessions. An SD card slot makes loading your own sounds a breeze, and the intuitive interface is great for those new to hardware samplers.

4 velocity-sensitive pads
Built-in sound library
SD card slot for custom samples

Korg Volca Sample 2

Korg’s Volca line is a delightful series of musical boxes that each has its own niche and sounds stunning despite being so small and portable. The Volca Beats, for example, is one of the most popular budget drum machines out there. Sample 2 brings sampling to the Volca world, with a 10-part digital sampler, offering PCM sound playback which can be looped, a one-shot, or just the pure sampled sound. The 16-step sequencer is great fun to work with, with its motion sequencing automation. The USB-connectivity allows you to import samples from your computer.

16-step sequencer
6 voice polyphony
USB micro B for sample transfer

Artiphon Orba 3

While it looks more like a thermal detonator you’d chuck when Darth Vader sends his stormtroopers after you than a hardware sampler, Artiphon’s Orba 3 takes a well-deserved place in this best samplers list. As touched on, it couldn’t be more portable, and the built-in microphone means you can record sounds and stay inspired on the go. And besides bringing your own samples to the fore, it also has 300 sample-based sounds that you can use alongside the looper to layer and edit. It has multiple connectivity options to integrate with your music software. And unlike some of the names on this list, its built-in speaker comes with a rechargeable battery, so no need to make sure you have a pack of AAs on you at all times.

Synthesizer and sampler
Gesture-based control
Built-in speaker

Elektron Model:Samples

It’s time to head to Scandinavian sampling utopia with Elektron’s first best sampler entry, the Model:Samples. While the Swedes are among the names that offer samplers that are powerful enough to replace a DAW (more on this later), that will cost you. Model:Samples, rather, keeps proceedings below £/$300, while still offering a brilliant sampler that uniquely allows you to edit all the steps within the 64-slot sequencer. If you want a hardware sampler that lets you create samples that sound like nothing else, Elektron are a very strong contender.

6 audio tracks
Powerful sequencer
Compact and portable

Sonicware Liven LoFi-12

The terms ‘lo-fi’ and ‘sampling’ have become pretty synonymous, with that looping ‘Beats To Study/Chill To’ YouTube video becoming more influential on music sound aesthetics in recent years than perhaps its creator ever imagined. As sampling began with taking jazz music from vinyl records for hip-hop music, let’s embrace that! Sonicware are certainly doing that with the Liven LoFi-12, a ‘sampling groovebox.’ With 88 samples that come with the box, one of the stunning features of this performance sampler is that you can load in a sampler and then play that sample chromatically using its keyboard. It does a fantastic job of recreating early sampling sounds, particularly with onboard effects that include delay, filters, and bitcrusher to get those crunchy and warm lo-fi vibes.

Retro 12-bit sound engine
Built-in sequencer
Unique lo-fi character

Novation Circuit Rhythm

Up your sampling motivation with Novation. They are one of the big dogs in the world of MIDI controllers and other devices to sync up with your DAW, Ableton Live being a particular bedfellow of the company. Circuit Rhythm, though, can stand on its own two feet, DAW-free, as a standalone drum machine and sampler. You can record your samples straight into this hardware sampler and then go nuts as you slice up, loop, reverse, resample, and chromatically play them. This is all bolstered by the included effects to help your samples shine, including stutter, beat-repeat, lo-fi tape, reverb, compression, and more. Anyone who knows Novation will know this is a performance sampler in the truest sense, while it’s still a fantastic studio companion also. The rechargeable battery lasts for up to four hours, so that waking nightmare of your audio cutting out on stage shouldn’t ever be an issue.

8 sample tracks
Grid-based sequencer
Performance effects

Alesis Strike MultiPad

Alesis are back with a second claim in the best sampler conversation, and for this one, it’s time for any drummers reading to grab their sticks immediately. That said, don’t fret if you’re not a virtuoso drum specialist: if you’ve ever seen performers bolstering their live set by triggering drum samples with some sticks when they aren’t necessarily drummers, this would be a brilliant choice if you’ve ever fancied giving that a go. The Strike MultiPad isn’t purely for smashing out kicks and snares — you can load any samples at all and edit them at will with five built-in effects processors. You can then loop samples during the performances with the live audio looper.

9 velocity-sensitive pads
Sampling and looping capabilities
Built-in effects

Roland SP-404MKII

Fancy going for one of the best samplers that just happens to be made by one of the most lauded and storied names in music hardware, spanning synths, drum machines, and more? We are, of course, talking about Roland, and the SP-404MKII is their inaugural entry in this best music sampler compendium. A reimagining of the company’s original SP of legend, this MKII edition brings you 17 expressive pads, refined knobs, faster operation, and big old 16GB of storage. DJs will rejoice in DJ mode, while everyone is sure to love its intuitive and streamlined workflow. The USB-C connectivity ensures that the SP is brought into the modern era. It’s undoubtedly the most fun you will ever have using something that looks this much like a calculator.

Portable sampler and effects unit
Pattern sequencer
Extensive effects library

Roland MC-101

We now reach the exciting part of this best samplers list in which the worlds of samplers and grooveboxes collide, and you have instruments that are something of a DAW in a portable box. That’s right, Roland’s MC-101 can be used to produce whole music tracks, and it’s such a portable sampler that you can do so anywhere (within reason, not if you’re having lunch with the in-laws). Because this sampler is also a drum machine, a synthesiser, and much more. It’s preloaded with a vast number of sounds and patterns. For sampling, you have a huge array of effects to apply to your samples. For synths and drums, it uses Rolands' incredibly advanced ZEN-Core Synthesis System, meaning this little box can be made to sound like iconic synths such as the Roland Juno.

Sampling, synthesis, and sequencing
4 tracks with up to 64 steps
Compact and portable

Akai MPC One+

How many hardware samplers can call themselves a ‘standalone music production center ’? But Akai’s MPC One+ can certainly make so bold a claim. It’s standalone in the sense that it is a deeply powerful beat-making machine that you can keep as far away from your computer as you like. Of course, it has all the MIDI, USB and other connectivity you’ll need for making the two friends, and when you want to bring your own samples into play. Sample editing is a joy, thanks to the 7-inch touchscreen, putting you in control. The processor is very powerful, meaning you can make your fully arranged tracks as ambitious as you could want, with plenty of bundled effects also. The MPC workflow is renowned for a good reason.

7-inch touchscreen
Standalone operation
Extensive connectivity

Korg KAOSS Replay

Let’s bring a touch of chaos to the best sampler conversation, shall we? Korg’s KAOSS pads have been a heavyweight name in the world of sampling, and the KAOSS Replay is one of the most powerful hardware samplers to bear the name yet. Described as a ‘self-contained performance tool’, it brings you an unbelievable array of effects and immersive sample playback and capability. This is also one for the DJs. Anyone who knows the KAOSS line will be overjoyed to see one of its winning features, the touch screen that lets you play in effects, loops, and more so pleasingly with your own touch. Let chaos reign.

Dynamic performance sampler.
Intuitive pad layout and control.
Extensive effects and looping.

Elektron Digitakt II

Dropping £/$900 on a hardware sampler — no sweat, right? But, in all seriousness, the thing to bear in mind is you’re not just buying one of the best samplers and the most powerful, you truly are buying a little music computer that will bring you hours of joy. You can also add to its list of titles a drum machine, a MIDI sequencer, and much more. In terms of sampling, you couldn’t ask for a faster and more intuitive process for bringing your ideas into dreamland. There are 16 channels, and samples can be loaded onto the Digitakt II via the audio inputs or the internal memory. Beyond sampling, you will have a riotous time building full tracks on this machine with its brilliant synths and drums.

High-quality sampling and sequencing
8 audio tracks
Advanced modulation capabilities

Akai MPC Live II

If you do have enough liquid assets to invest in one of Akai’s most high-end bits of hardware in its lauded MPC range, the Live II is very much worth your consideration as you ponder over the best samplers. For those who dream of going DAWless and making music without being sat at a computer screen, this MPC very much gives you the power to do that. The 7-inch multi-gesture touchscreen gives you its very own full DAW editing software, and this box gives you everything you need to create a full track from scratch to a finished product. It also boasts its own built-in stereo monitors so you can drop beats wherever you wish. Its workflow is excellent, and the usual connectivity seen in our other samplers is bolstered by WiFi and Bluetooth. The MPC 2.8 software gives you a full laptop’s worth of MIDI to play with. One of the best samplers, and then some.

Standalone sampler and sequencer
Built-in battery
Touch screen and extensive connectivity

Native Instruments Maschine+

First up, if you’re not looking to drop a grand on a hardware sampler (who needs food, right?), note that the Maschine and Maschine Mikro are both great and won’t dent your wallet quite so heavily. But if you are looking to purchase a DAW-killing monster, Native Instruments’ Maschine+ is quite simply a beast. It’s a brilliant synthesiser. It’s a jaw-dropping drum machine. It’s easily one of the best samplers out there. It’s the company’s first product that was built to operate fully without a computer and does so with aplomb. The Maschine line has long been a choice for countless beatmakers, samplers, and producers, and the Maschine+ is a dream for sequencing, sampling, making music, and even connecting to other hardware instruments.

Standalone production and performance
Sampling, synthesis, and sequencing
Extensive software integration

I'm new to sampling. Which hardware sampler is best for beginners?

If you’re brand new to sampling and just looking to dip your toe initially, perhaps some of the latter price points have left your jaw on the floor. Don’t worry — any of the best samplers at the start of this article are brilliant starting points. Even the very first entry, the Akai Professional MPX8 is a great, affordable entry point to hardware sampling without being too overwhelmed by a veritable music computer. The Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O! is likewise a really fun option for experiencing the joy of sampling. Then, check out a few of the samplers that follow those, depending on what your budget is.

Share Article

Words By
Adam Protz