I am looking for a free/inexpensive/affordable (any of these) software solution for my massive sample collection.

I don't want the bells and whistles of a music manager, as these usually have all the unnecessary features for a simple library format.

Ideally, I've been looking for something where I can categorize by loop-style, instrument type, bpm, anything, but haven't been successful in my search at all. There are many well-designed Mac-based solutions, but no affordable PC options I can find.

For info, I am running Windows 7 on an i5 ACER laptop. I use my samples with my 404SX, inside Acid Pro, and Pro Tools. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

It may be too late for you...but...

You can use windows to do this...

I name all my samples something that makes sense but can be searched in windows 7.

For instance, all my drums are named DRUM-xxxx.wav
All my vocal snippets are called VOX-xxx
etc. etc.

If you already have a lot of samples, that'd be a lot of renaming to do...but if you don't mind 'starting over' you can do something similar as you create/download samples. Just name them something that's searchable. You don't even need specific directories for this...though I think there may be an OS limit to how many files are in one directory.

Thanks for the response. I unfortunately don't have any stretch of time for me to accomplish that. You're right - that would have been a good idea had I planned this well from the start, however...

I've looked at a few ideas - ifoundasound, Breezer by Revel Software, Sample Manager by Ry Audio. All seem OK, but only Breezer (which will be out at the end of the month) seems to be an option (and I despise having limited options). Considering your idea, I might speak with some programmer friends of mine to see if they can develop something. Thanks again for your input.

you can try this , it plays the sound then lets you right click it, and move it somewhere else. http://www.26thavenue.com/index.php?act ... wavbrowser can help you rip through sounds, and if you need to rename lots at once, try php or a windows batch command because the windows renamer leaves spaces,that break links

you can also use cool edit to quickly move files with the auto preview in the browser

Thanks for that 26th Avenue suggestion. I just got Breezer by Revel Software, and it totally fits the bill. If you want, check out www.revel-audio.com, and look at both Breezer Express and Professional. They're simple and easy to use. It cost a few bucks, but with the number of samples I have, it was worth it.