SFZ Players
There are several SFZ players, which are used to play samples as defined in SFZ files.
Sforzando currently offers the most complete SFZ standard support, including ARIA extensions, but SFZ files which only use the SFZ v1 or SFZ v2 standard will work with multiple SFZ players.
We use “Free and Open Source” (FOSS) as defined by the OSI as “software to be freely used, modified, and shared.”
Supported Opcodes #
Below are the known links to the various lists of supported opcodes:
BassMIDI, Bitwig, HISE, LinuxSampler, liquidsfz,
OpenMPT, sfizz, zerberus (MuseScore <= v3.6.2) or else in our Wiki.
Players #
| Name | License | Linux | macOS | Windows | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calfbox | GPL-3.0-or-later | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | C library and Python module to build audio applications like MIDI sequencers or samplers (SFZ or SF2 via Fluidsynth). |
| Carla (SFZero) | GPL-2.0-or-later | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Fully-featured audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats. |
| Grace | MIT | X | X | ✓ | |
| liquidsfz | LGPL-2.1 | ✓ | X | X | SFZ sampler library with LV2 and JACK support. |
| sfizz | BSD-2-Clause | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | SFZ library, AU/LV2/VST3 plugin with JACK support. |
| SFZero | FOSS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | An SFZ (and SF2) player and Juce module. |
| Zerberus | FOSS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | MuseScore SFZ synthesizer. |
| LinuxSampler | Custom | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| BassMIDI VSTi | Freeware | X | X | ✓ | Extension to the BASS audio library, enabling the playing of MIDI files and custom event sequences, using SF2 soundfonts and/or SFZ to provide the sounds. MIDI input is also supported. |
| HighLife | Freeware | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | A sampler with integrated effects and wave editor, with support for WAV, MP3, OGG, RAW, FLAC, SND (Akai MPC 2000) and even AKP (Akai S5000/S6000) audio formats. |
| sforzando | Freeware | X | ✓ | ✓ | A free, highly SFZ 2.0 compliant sample player. Supports almost all SFZ v1 and v2 opcodes, plus ARIA extensions. |
| TX16Wx Sampler | Freeware | X | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Zampler | Freeware | X | ✓ | ✓ | Synth-based sample player using SFZ format as its sound generator. It supports very minimal SFZ v1 opcodes, only for key-range and velocity-range mapping. |
| ARIA | OEM | X | ✓ | ✓ | An audio sampling and synthesis Engine based on the SFZ 1.0 / SFZ 2.0 open file formats for instrument programming and the Scala open file format to define scales and temperaments. |
| Bliss Sampler | Commercial | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | An UI themable sampler and wave editor in VST2/3 and AU audio plugin format with selectable high quality interpolation and integrated effects. |
| Samplelord | Commercial | X | X | ✓ | Sample player as standalone or VSTi plugin for Windows 32-bit OS that can load different sounds in different formats. Has basic parameter controls, supports only SFZ v1 opcodes. |
| TAL-Sampler | Commercial | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Unify | Commercial | X | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Falcon | Commercial | X | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Wusik 8008, Wusik One, Wusik EVE V5 | Commercial | X | X | ✓ |
Import from SFZ #
| Name | License | Linux | macOS | Windows | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitwig Studio | Commercial | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Sampler device supports the import of SFZ. Also via drag & drop. |
| HISE | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| MSoundFactory | Commercial | X | ✓ | ✓ | Sampler module imports/exports SFZ. |
| OpenMPT | BSD-3-Clause | X | X | ✓ | |
| Poise | Freeware | X | X | ✓ | Simple 16 drum pads percussion sampler, 8 layers. Very limited SFZ support. |
| Renoise (Redux) | Commercial | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
No longer available #
- Alchemy (Camel Audio was acquired by Apple, and the current incarnation of Alchemy no longer supports SFZ.)
- Cakewalk sfz (backup on web.archive.org)
- Equator 2 (per Equator 2 FAQ, “SFZ import is not currently supported”)