Following in the footsteps of Playa is Sonivox Sampla (Mac / Win; $149 MSRP), a new virtual sampler plug-in for -- you guessed it -- hip-hop production. Sampla places MPC-style sampling within a virtual instrument environment and allows you to record, slice, loop, and assign (keymap) WAV, ACID, AIFF, and MP3 samples. Learn Mode lets you interface your MIDI pad controllers and controller keyboards directly with Sampla, so that you can use whatever means desired to play your samples.

If you want to take the easy route and play without importing anything, take advantage of the plugin's comprehensive factory sound bank that includes more than 250 instrument presets and pad layouts. You'll get acoustic and electronic drumkits, basses, keyboards, leads, guitars, strings, brass, pads, vocals, symphonic construction kits, censorship bleeps and blips, and select loops from the Sonivox LoopLine Series.

Sampla also includes 16 user-assignable pads, effects (tempo sync stereo delay, EQ, and chorus), an assignable filter section with 10 filter types, and a graphic waveform display with drag and drop capability. The virtual instrument is compatible with any MIDI keyboard or pad control, and works standalone or as a VST / RTAS / Audio Units plugin for Macs and PCs.

For a limited time, Sampla is available at the introductory price of $99.