that’s handy for what is in view, yes. what I really want is for the Sample Editor to only care about that selection: audition plays only that selection, for example, even while I click-drag or otherwise edit piece of it. really, just having left/right locators + looping that is specific to the Sample Editor would do. IMHO that makes a lot of sense: loop markers that apply only while inside the Sample Editor (or MIDI editor, too), just like the normal Left / Right locators + Cycle apply when back in the Project view.
and I swear I thought Cubase had this feature already…