You can access the advanced search options by clicking the settings button on the right side of the search bar.
You can also use the advanced search option manually by using the following syntax.
By default, Soundly will use its inbuilt thesaurus to search for sounds with similar names used in the search phrase. You can disable this option in window->settings under the search header.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes you can share collections. The person you share it with must also have access to the files to see them
Fill out the email address and set user rights for the collection you wish to share. If you wish to edit an already existing user
Edit or select already existing contacts rights to manage and add sound effects to a collection
If you wish to edit an already existing user
Select users within the organization and set user rights to use a collection.
If you wish to edit an already existing user:
Users on the Pro monthly or a multi-user subscriptions can upload their local files to the Soundly cloud and share them with other users.
Open a sharable link for this questionA Soundly user can only be signed in to one computer at the time. If you try to sign in to another computer, the first computer will be logged out.
However, Soundly does support simultaneous logins for multi-user accounts. Granting multiple users in your organization access Soundly using a single community login.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes. If you spot a selection, the selection will transfer with handles. If you wish to send a selection or a whole sound effects to a marked track in Cubase, where the cursor is located, follow these steps:
Yes. If you spot a selection, the selection will transfer with handles. If you wish to send a selection or a whole sound effects to a marked track in Logic Pro, where the cursor is located, follow these steps:
Yes. If you spot a selection, the selection will transfer with handles. If you wish to send a selection or a whole sound effects to a marked track in Nuendo, where the cursor is located, follow these steps:
Yes. If you spot a selection, the selection will transfer with handles. If you wish to send a selection or a whole sound effects to a marked track in Pro Tools, where the cursor is located, follow these steps:
Yes. If you spot a selection, the selection will transfer with handles. If you wish to send a selection or a whole sound effects to a marked track in Reaper, where the cursor is located, follow these steps:
We give big discounts to educational institutions. Contact us with information regarding number of users and school documentation.
Open a sharable link for this questionWe offer a 50% discount to students. Contact us with a scanned copy of your student ID.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes, Soundly works natively with Apple computers running ARM.
Open a sharable link for this questionSoundly reads UCS files and has built-in tools to rename your own files to the UCS file naming system.
The Soundly Pro Library is fully UCS compliant.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes, Soundly works with all versions of macOS from 10.10 until the most recent version. It also works well with Apple silicon and the M1 chip through Rosetta 2.
The legacy version of Soundly works with MacOS 10.6 to 10.9 and is available here.
Open a sharable link for this questionYou can index sound effects from your computer, external storage device, or your local network by dragging and dropping file(s) or folder(s) over Soundly. This does not mean that you physically upload the files; it means that Soundly indexes them to the search function, so they are easy to locate, along with the sound effects from the Soundly Pro library. If you have your sound effects stored on an external storage device, you’ll still need to have this connected to your computer.
Open a sharable link for this questionSelect subscription: Free, 24hr Pass or Pro Monthly.
Fill out the email address and set user rights for the library you wish to share. If you wish to edit an already existing user:
Set desired rights or remove user(s). * ## Contacts Edit or select already existing contacts rights for access and uploading to a private library:
If you wish to edit an already existing user:
Select users within the organization and set user(s) rights. If you wish to edit an already existing user:
To cancel your subscription, you can go to user -> profile in the Soundly software.
If you don’t have access to the Soundly software, you can Contact us with your account email, and we can cancel the subscription for you.
Open a sharable link for this questionWhen you drag files or folders over the Soundly interface, you will see an option whether to upload to your private cloud, or index your local stored sound effects. Select the Cloud option.
Open a sharable link for this questionUsing a shared folder between an online and offline system Soundly can push files from Soundly running online to Soundly running offline. A typical workflow will be Soundly running on an online laptop, e.g., the “email machine” in the studio, sending files to the offline editing system.
To use the Cloud Bridge feature:
Yes. Everything will be as you left it.
Open a sharable link for this questionSome audio applications will take exclusive control of an audio device’s drivers so that other apps can’t play any sound at the same time. To disable exclusive mode:
If you are a Pro Tools user, see When is Rewire a necessity?
Open a sharable link for this questionIt’s your own private space in the Soundly cloud where you can upload sounds and share them with other users.
Open a sharable link for this questionWe give discounts to multi-users depending on how many users you need. Contact us with information regarding number of users, and we will get back to you with an offer.
Open a sharable link for this questionDownload the pre-redesign version of Soundly here:
Legacy versions:
On Mac Soundly requires OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later (including Catalina). For OS X 10.9 and older, you can download the legacy version here.
On Windows Soundly requires Windows 7 or later. If you are running a pre Windows 7 system, download the Windows legacy version here.
Open a sharable link for this questionWhen in Edit Marker mode:
You can select a 2nd target app to spot files to, without changing the primary target app:
If you have saved selections of different libraries, you can see the shortcuts to the selections next to the selection title when clicking the three-dotted library menu button. Example as seen in the menu:
Software that works with Soundly includes, but is not limited to:
All other software that supports Drag&Drop is supported by Soundly.
Open a sharable link for this questionOS X:
Note CMD = Command button in the CMD+Shift+g.
The full path to the file is "Users/[Your User]/Library/Application Support/Soundly"
In Finder, you can also select Go in the menu bar, and select Open in Finder.
Windows
Do you have other questions? Email us at mail@getsoundly.com.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe two most common issues when the drag and drop-feature doesn’t work are:
In Windows Soundly needs to run with the same permission level as the corresponding program you wish to drag and drop to. Try changing the permission level for Soundly on Window to Administrator. If Soundly is already running as Administrator, try changing it to User.
Soundly does not have permission/ability to save copies at the designated storage location Go to Window -> Settings -> Audio Storage Location in the Soundly software, and try changing the audio storage to a different folder.
Sometimes audio applications take exclusive control of an audio device’s drivers, potentially blocking Soundly’s output. This is known as “Exclusive-Mode, and you bypass it by:
Go to Multi-user Admin. You can either:
Soundly can browse, audition, and transfer sound clips from collections stored on remote servers and NAS disks. You can share your collection from home or work and access it anywhere in the world. To prepare a collection for sharing, Soundly must create a database file and index the library on the local machine.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe sounds in the Soundly Pro and Soundly Free libraries are cleared for commercial use, including video games. Games created while subscribing to Soundly Pro stay cleared even if you end your subscription.
If you add the Freesounds library, be sure to choose CC0-only to only see the sounds which are available for commercial use and that do not require attribution. If you already have added the library, you can choose CC0-only by right-clicking on the Freesounds library in the sounds panel within Soundly
All other add-on libraries are cleared for commercial use.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe sounds in the Soundly Pro and Soundly Free libraries are cleared for commercial use. Any projects created while subscribing to Soundly Pro stay cleared even if you end your subscription. This includes, but is not limited to: podcasts, films, video games.
The sounds must be used as part of a project with other media. That means that you can not resell the sounds, either as is, or modified.
If you add the Freesounds library, be sure to choose CC0-only in order to only see the sounds which are available for commercial use and do not require attribution. If you have already added the library, you can choose CC0-only by right-clicking on the Freesounds library in the sounds panel within Soundly
All the other add-on libraries are cleared for commercial use.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe Freesound library contains sounds with mixed licenses for commercial use. If you intend to use the sounds commercially, make sure to choose the CC0-license option when adding the Freesound add-on library. This can be done at any time by right-clicking the Freesound library in the Sounds-tab and choose ‘Creative Commons 0 only’.
Open a sharable link for this questionAdd a folder to the shared network database:
Add sounds to an existing shared network database folder.
First you need to make sure you have a storage device on you local network containing a Soundly database folder:
If you are signed in to Soundly and would like to make changes in your user account, but have forgotten your password:
If you are not signed in and got a “wrong password” message:
First you need to have a storage device with sound effects connected to your local network and viewable from your computer. The libraries you wish to create must be in folders.
If you already have set up a local database via Networking in settings and you wish to add this database to your shared database switch on Duplicate local database. With this setting on, selected users will have access to a pre-indexed library with the possibility to add or delete material.
If you wish to have password protection on your shared network database switch on Password protect and select password.
If you wish to have control over the administration of your shared network database switch on Restrict editing. You can add admins if you wish to have several users in control.
Open a sharable link for this questionIn the subscription menu, click More Options. Click Select and Contact us with information regarding number of users, and we’ll get back to you with an offer.
Open a sharable link for this questionTo silently install or uninstall Soundly on Windows using the /S
argument, follow these steps:
Before Starting:
/S
.Silent Installation:
soundly-setup.exe
).soundly-setup.exe /S
and press Enter. Soundly will be silently installed without displaying any interface during the process.Silent Uninstallation:
C:\Program Files\Soundly\
).uninstall.exe /S
and press Enter. Soundly will be silently uninstalled without displaying any interface during the process.Note: Ensure you have administrative privileges when attempting to silently install or uninstall software, as this process requires elevated permissions.
Open a sharable link for this questionWith a multi-user subscription, your company or studio can manage several user accounts with one or several admin accounts. In the multi-user admin panel, you can control user access to Soundly’s sound effects cloud. You’ll also get access to private cloud storage, so that your company or studio can upload your libraries and share them with your users. Contact us for pricing. We offer attractive discounts for multi-users.
Open a sharable link for this questionLibrary access include Soundly’s library, add-ons, and uploaded private libraries.
Libraries are stored on your computer, external storage device or local network.
Open a sharable link for this questionSoundly runs on Google’s infrastructure, and it is making all requests over HTTP (https) using port 443 and port 80.The IP-ranges are available here. If your setup allows opening up for domains, Soundly needs access to appspot.com and storage.googleapis.com There is also an option to connect to an alternative server. To connect to the alternative servers, go to Window->Settings in Soundly, and toggle the Connect to alternative Soundly server option in the Networking area. The URL to the alternative server is server.soundly.cloud
Open a sharable link for this questionDock-mode places the Soundly interface on the bottom on the screen. When enabled, only the necessary tools for a good workflow are clickable: the searching tool, search result, and the waveform frame with editing tools.
If you wish to go to Settings or Store click Undock and you see the standard view.
Open a sharable link for this questionIf you are using Pro Tools, you might be using hardware that support sound to Pro Tools exclusively. Then you’ll need Propellerhead’s Rewire.
Soundly now also has a custom AAX monitor plugin, which we recommend using instead of ReWire. It comes pre-installed in Windows and can be installed in settings on OS X.
If you are a Windows user, Rewire is already installed in Soundly:
Problems regarding access to Soundly’s servers or domains soundly connects to are often due to firewall restrictions. Connecting through Soundly’s proxy server usually solves this issue, including associated services such as Freesound.org, Google Drive, or Amazon S3.
The proxy server routes all Soundly’s network requests through it. The proxy server might introduce a somewhat slower connection in some cases, but it is sometimes the only solution. All other internet traffic on the computer stays unaffected, as the proxy server is only used internally in Soundly.
Soundly shows you the connection status and routes traffic through the proxy server from now on.
Open a sharable link for this questionThere is a setting in Logic Pro that must be enabled for audio files to be saved on your hard drive.
No. Your local files are only viewable and available for yourself.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes, you can if the database is located on a network drive that is mountable over HTTP. Most NAS and server systems support this. Soundly supports common protocols like WebDAV and SMB. Instructions on using WebDAV are available within the Soundly app under Database -> Connect to remote sound library
Open a sharable link for this questionThe Soundly Voice Designer supports several SSML tags to enable more natural and expressive speech. Please note that it’s not guaranteed that all voices will support all tags.
The supported tags include:
Emphasis tag: Used to add emphasis to a word or phrase.
To use the emphasis tag with Soundly, you can set the level attribute to “strong” or “moderate” to indicate the degree of emphasis. Here’s an example:
I <emphasis level="strong">really</emphasis> enjoyed the movie.
In this example, the emphasis tag is used to add strong emphasis to the word “really”.
Attributes level: The degree of emphasis. The supported values are “strong” for strong emphasis and “moderate” for moderate emphasis.
Prosody tag: Used to adjust the pitch, rate, and volume of speech.
To use the prosody tag with Soundly, you can adjust the pitch, rate, and volume of speech using the pitch, rate, and volume attributes. Here’s an example:
She spoke <prosody pitch="+50%">loudly</prosody> and <prosody rate="slow">slowly</prosody>
In this example, the prosody tag is used to increase the pitch and slow down the rate of speech.
Attributes: pitch: The pitch adjustment, specified as a percentage relative to the baseline pitch. A positive value raises the pitch, and a negative value lowers the pitch. rate: The rate adjustment, specified as a percentage relative to the baseline rate. A positive value increases the rate, and a negative value decreases the rate. volume: The volume adjustment, specified as a percentage relative to the baseline volume. A positive value increases the volume, and a negative value decreases the volume.
Say-as tag To use the say-as tag with Soundly, you can specify the interpretation using the interpret-as attribute. Here’s an example:
My phone number is <say-as interpret-as="telephone">555-1234</say-as>
In this example, the say-as tag is used to specify that the sequence of digits “555-1234” should be spoken as a telephone number.
Attributes: interpret-as: The interpretation of the content. The supported values are “cardinal” for a cardinal number, “ordinal” for an ordinal number, “characters” for individual characters, “fraction” for a fraction, “expletive” for an expletive, “spell-out” for spelling out the content, “date” for a date, “time” for a time, “telephone” for a telephone number, “address” for an address, “interjection” for an interjection, and “verbatim” for verbatim content.
Break tag: Used to insert a pause in speech.
To use the break tag with Soundly, you can set the strength attribute to “none”, “x-weak”, “weak”, “medium”, “strong”, or “x-strong” to indicate the strength of the pause. Here’s an example:
The train arrives at <break strength="strong"/> 10:30.
In this example, the break tag is used to insert a strong pause after the word “arrives”.
Attributes time: The duration of the pause in milliseconds. The value can be a decimal number, such as “250ms” for a 250 millisecond pause.
Phoneme tag: Used to specify the pronunciation of a word or a sequence of phonemes. To use the phoneme tag with Soundly, you can specify the phoneme sequence using the ph attribute and the alphabet using the alphabet attribute. Here’s an example:
The word <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="dɪˈfɪnɪtli">definitely</phoneme> is often misspelled.
In this example, the phoneme tag is used to specify the IPA pronunciation of the word “definitely”.
Attributes: alphabet: The phonetic alphabet used to specify the phoneme sequence. The supported values are “ipa” for the International Phonetic Alphabet, “x-sampa” for the Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet, and “upu” for the Universal Phonemic Alphabet. ph: The phoneme sequence to be pronounced.
Open a sharable link for this questionTo ensure a consistent experience across different machines, Soundly allows you to save and distribute a settings file. Here’s how you can create one and use it on multiple computers:
Activating Portable Mode:
soundly_settings.ini
next to the Soundly application.soundly_settings.ini
file at startup. If it exists, the app will use it for settings.Distributing the Portable Settings:
soundly_settings.ini
file to other machines.Creating a Settings File:
/Users/[YourUser]/Library/Preferences/com.soundly.Soundly.plist
. You can copy this file for distribution.Using the Settings File on Another Mac:
/Users/{YourUser}/Library/Preferences/
.com.soundly.Soundly.plist
file in this directory. If there’s an existing file with the same name, ensure you back it up or overwrite it.By following these steps, you can ensure a consistent Soundly setup across multiple machines.
Open a sharable link for this questionYes. You can route audio to sequencers with Soundflower as an output device. Here’s how:
Note: Soundflower is only available for OS X. There are other options for Windows, but we haven’t tried any out.
Open a sharable link for this questionSoundly is always looking to expand our selection of sounds. Please reach out to us here and tell us about your sounds. We would love to have a listen, so we would appreciate a link where we can download a few examples of your files. The audio quality should at least meet 24bit 96khz.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you and discussing a possible collaboration.
Open a sharable link for this questionIn settings under Local Database, click on “New.” Set the database file where you would like it, i.e., on your external drive. Index your files, and you’re good to go. If you want to connect to this database from another computer, click the folder icon under “Local Database” in settings and select the database.
Open a sharable link for this questionSoundly also works great in an offline environment, and an offline license is synced to your computer every time you go online. To enter offline mode, do the following. Click User in the application menu bar. Click Offline mode. You’ll now have access to your indexed local sound effects.
For computers that are always offline, you can import an offline license file. You can either export this from Soundly running on a computer with an internet connection or get in touch with us, and we can generate a license for you.
To export an offline license:
To import an offline license:
When working in an offline environment, Cloud Bridge for Offline Systems might still help access our cloud library. Read more about Cloud Bridge here.
Open a sharable link for this questionPlease send us a message marked as ‘Sound library related’ via the Contact form, and we’ll be in touch.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe AAX-plugin is pre-installed on Windows. On Mac, go to the Audio Device area in Settings, and install the plugin from there.
Open a sharable link for this questionThere are two kinds of promo codes: The Coupon code where you must enter your payment information and the Promo code where you don’t need to enter any payment information
If you already have an account, go to user -> profile in the Soundly software and choose Upgrade pick the Pro Monthly option. On the payment page, toggle the Have promo code option and enter your promo code.
If you don’t have an account, register your account, and follow the previous instructions on the payment page.
Soundly is meant to be online. When using Soundly offline, you won’t have access to the sound effects cloud (or private cloud). However, you can still use Soundly with your locally stored sound effects (computer, external storage device, or local network). Here’s how:
Yes. Select desired sound effects and click s to spot them to the cursor, or b to spot them to the bin.
Open a sharable link for this questionPlugin not found:
Pro Tools may report the plugin not being found. Please follow this guide
Pro Tools not starting/crashing on startup:
Remove the Soundly ReWire plugin named SoundlyDevice.bundle located at Mac: /Library/Application Support/Propellerhead Software/Rewire Windows: /Program Files/Soundly
Open a sharable link for this questionChoose “Microsoft Sound Mapper.” in Soundly settings as the Audio Output Device. In Cubase, use the generic low latency ASIO driver instead of the dedicated UR22 ASIO driver.
Open a sharable link for this questionThe Soundly Monitor VST3 and AAX plugins serve as a virtual audio output from the Soundly App to your DAWs.
Soundly Monitor is prefered over ReWire as it offers full multi-channel support.
To change the number of output channels in the plugin, you must first disconnect by selecting another output device in Settings and then reconnect to the plugin.
The plugins comes pre-installed on Windows. On Mac, go to Settings and install the plugins under Audio Device
Open a sharable link for this questionWhen using a shared network database the folder your sound effects are stored in contains a database file. This file makes sure all the content is indexed in Soundly so that when others connect, the library is pre-indexed, and if other users have permission, they can edit the content.
Open a sharable link for this questionAll the sounds in the Soundly Pro library are 96khz/24bit or higher.
The sound resolution of third-party add-on libraries varies from library to library.
Open a sharable link for this questionSoundly might not have full access to your disk, and be unable to access the files.
Soundly is always looking to expand our selection of sounds. Please reach out to us here and tell us about your sounds. We would love to have a listen, so we would appreciate a link where we can download a few examples of your files. The audio quality should at least meet 24bit 96khz.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you and discussing a possible collaboration.
Open a sharable link for this question