Sound Show vs Soundplant

Sound Show is a soundboard and multimedia player for managing audio cues in live performances. Tracks can be layered or crossfaded, with separate volume and playback controls. It can project video, images, text and webcam feeds on a second display. Sequences can include delays, automatic starts, simultaneous playback or waits for input; playlists support autoplay, shuffle, looping, saving and loading. Supported sound formats listed include MP3, WAV, FLAC, MP2, WMA, OGG and AIFF. The free edition allows up to 10 tabs and 40 sounds per tab, with limited visual customization, some locked modules and up to two audio outputs. Pro costs €45, paid once and adds unlimited tabs and sounds, custom grids, skins and icons, integrations, and up to eight outputs. The Android remote can control the desktop software when both devices share a Wi-Fi network. Requirements include Windows 10 21H1 or newer, macOS 11 Big Sur or newer, Linux x86_64 and Android 6.0 or newer.

Soundplant is a desktop app that turns a computer keyboard into a sample trigger and playable instrument. Users can assign sound files to 88 keys by dragging and dropping them, or trigger sounds with MIDI. It supports playlists, recording, unlimited sound polyphony, and per-key effects such as volume, panning, EQ, pitch, reverb, and distortion. Soundplant runs on Windows and macOS; listed minimums are 64-bit Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.14 or later. The free version is for noncommercial use, supports 16-bit uncompressed WAV files, and includes 25 launches of paid features; after those, a reminder appears every five launches. A Single User License costs $69 as a one-time purchase and covers one user on Windows and Mac, with installation on multiple computers for that person. It lasts for the purchased version and includes 2 years of free upgrades. The standalone app works offline, has no ads or account requirement, and collects no user data.