Sample Logic Morphestra (Mac/Win, $649)

Starting with a huge array of acoustic samples—natural sounds, vocals, orchestral and percussion instruments, and more—adding top-flight scripting and sound design in Native Instruments Kontakt (free Kontakt Player included), and pre-installing it all on a Glyph Technologies hard drive eliminates a lot of drudgery and lets you get straight to the music. Sample Logic has done that with Morphestra to deliver an imaginative 27GB library of instruments, atmospheres, stings, and rhythms for film and game composers.

Whatever the sound category, from sublime to satanic, the sounds retain an organic feel that blends well with more traditional material. Beyond assembling a huge array of instruments, Sample Logic has solicited a number of high-profile composers and sound designers such as David Lawrence, Mark Isham, and Tom Salta to fashion imaginative multis for diverse genres. As usual, the competition among cinematic libraries was fierce, but Morphestra delivers that extra edge to make it our Editors'' Choice.