Storage for samples can be quite overwhelming for someone that is new to music production, as there's many different parts all of which should go in various places. First we'll cover a couple suggestions on how you can go about storing and organizing your libraries/packs, and then we'll cover a few hard no's for where you should avoid at all costs. Please note that this is about the storage of the sample files themselves, not the plugin files (.vst, .dll, .vst3, .component, etc.).

The most recommended way to group your downloaded libraries is by developer, all within a larger "Samples" folder which we will be using for the rest of this article. In this case the "Samples" folder is to contain all sample libraries and packs from all developers, and then within is each developers individual folder (Spitfire Audio, LABS, etc).

These two terms are often used interchangeably within music production, but in some instances they do refer to slightly different things. A "Pack" is typically considered a download of audio files that can be pulled into your DAW directly (.wav, .ogg, .flac), and is often used for drums or other one shot style of sounds. A "Library" is a collection of samples used to create a single target sound, for example each download from within LABS is a library.

In the real world these terms are both used to reference the same thing, but when discussing how to structure your folders there is a distinct difference. For "Packs" you likely want to split them up by instrument, storing all of your "Kicks", "Snares", etc, each in their own folder. For "Libraries" you likely want to split them by developer instead, since they will often come with their own proprietary format, installer, and other data that may be important to find.

If you're going to store the packs on the same drive as your OS (not an external drive) then there's a few locations you want to choose from. You should be able to easily find the location you pick so that any issues can be quickly and easily resolved. If you have no clue where to start then the default paths work great.

Windows:

C:\Users\youruser\Spitfire\

macOS:

MacHD/Users/youruser/Spitfire/

If you would like to use a different location then here's a few suggestions for folders you can create (these will not exist by default):

Windows:

C:\Users\youruser\Samples\LABS\

C:\Users\youruser\Desktop\Samples\LABS\

C:\Users\youruser\Documents\Samples\LABS\

C:\Samples\LABS\

macOS:

MacHD/Users/youruser/Desktop/Samples/LABS/

MacHD/Users/youruser/Documents/Samples/LABS/

MacHD/Users/youruser/Samples/LABS/

If you're going to store on an external drive then you'll want to be aware of a few things. First, we do not currently supporting sharing one drive across two systems. Second, ensure that your drive is properly formatted for your machine (NTFS for Windows, APFS for macOS). Third, make sure that the drive is connected directly to your system, and not going through a USB hub or some other device that may be slowing the drive down as this can result in drastically worse loading times. We recommend using an external SSD vs a hard drive where possible for the best performance.

When creating the folder here, there are a few approaches but the most common is to organize by developer. For example, if you have a drive named "SA Drive 3" then you may have a folder structure that looks like this:

D:\SA Drive 3\Spitfire Audio\LABS

D:\SA Drive 3\Some other developer\Some other library

Or the macOS equivalent:

/Volumes/SA Drive 3/Spitfire Audio/LABS

/Volumes/SA Drive 3/Some other developer/Some other library

There are some folders on your system that are not intended for sample storage, and as a result they can cause errors if you decide to use them. These are the following:

Windows:

C:\Program Files\

C:\Program Files (x86)\

C:\Users\not your user\

macOS:

MacHD/Applications/

MacHD/Users/youruser/Music/

MacHD/Users/youruser/Library/

MacHD/Users/not your user/