# Choppa — Live Audio Sampler

> Live audio sampler and slicer for musicians, beatmakers, and live performers. (iPhone/iPad app by Elijah Lucian.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/choppa/id6759894845 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Elijah Lucian](https://appshunter.io/developer/1881481954)
- Category: Music, Utilities
- Price: $4.99
- Rating: 4.30/5 from 6 App Store ratings · 3 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 7 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-03-05
- Data updated: 2026-09-04
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/choppa/id6759894845/reviews.md

## What is Choppa?

Record into your mic. Chop it to pads. Play it like an instrument. Now scratch them like vinyl and play in chord progressions.

Choppa is a lightning-fast audio sampler and slicing tool built for songwriters, beatmakers, and live performers. Record through your mic and instantly map audio across playable trigger pads. Auto-chop on transient or pitch detection — switch between 4 / 8 / 16 pad layouts without losing any of their per-chop settings.

PERFORMANCE GESTURES

Tap to trigger. Hold to sustain. Drag a single finger up and down on a pad to slide pitch in real time — ±2 octaves without lifting.

Drop a second finger anywhere on the screen and any held chop slows like a record being touched. Move the second finger and you scratch in either direction. Lift to release the platter — a force-based exponential inertia model (modeled on real turntable physics, not a linear fade) ramps back to nominal speed. Spread your fingers wider and the scratch responds more gently — a "grip pressure" metaphor borrowed from real decks.

The chop view and minimap both work as scrub surfaces. The minimap ignores chop boundaries entirely — drag freely across the whole loop as one continuous tape.

CHORD PLAY

PERF mode has two flavours: SCRATCH for turntable gestures and CNFG for chord play. CNFG's MONO/POLY toggle controls whether each pad press chokes the previous (one voice at a time) or lets multiple voices stack while held — piano-key hold-to-play for chord progressions, sustained harmonies, and layered counter-melodies.

CHOPPING

Auto-chop detects transients or pitch boundaries automatically when you record or import a sample, with sensitivity knobs for each. Drag chop edges manually, set per-section pitch and gain, enable reverse, and pick between off / forward loop / ping-pong on any chop. Three pad-count layers (4 / 8 / 16) are fully independent — switch between them and all per-chop settings stay intact.

INPUT SOURCES

Pick what feeds Choppa: any mic capsule (front / back / bottom / USB / AirPods), the two royalty-free streams that ship with the app, or any HTTPS audio URL you paste in. Record from any of them.

RECORD MODE

A dedicated REC mode for capture work, with an ARM safety pin — destructive full re-record requires a deliberate ARM tap so a stray REC press can't write over a take. Punch-in records into a single chop's region only, with single-level undo — perfect for fixing a flubbed beat without losing the rest.

WIRELESS TO YOUR DAW

Ableton Link Audio — Choppa's master mix appears as a track-input source in Live, Loopy Pro, AUM, GarageBand iOS, and any Link 4 peer on the same Wi-Fi. Tempo syncs at the same time. No USB cable, no virtual audio device.

PLUGIN INSIDE YOUR DAW

Full AUv3 plugin support — load Choppa inside GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, AUM, Loopy Pro, or any Audio Unit host as either an Instrument (play chops via host MIDI) or an FX (capture the host's audio for chopping). MIDI mappings persist per host.

LIBRARY + SHARE

Every recording auto-saves into an App Group library shared between Choppa standalone and the AUv3 plugin — record a sample on your phone, load it in your DAW the next time you open it. Share to Choppa from any other app and pick which bank receives the sample, plus the chop count, before it lands.

EXPORT

Export source WAV, individual chops, .choppa single-bank presets, or full .choppap multi-bank projects. Import from other Choppa users or any audio file.

Built by WaveLoop. Get off the grid.

## Key features

- Record and chop audio to pads
- Vinyl scratching and pitch bending
- Chord progressions and layered harmonies
- Auto-chop by transient or pitch
- Wireless DAW integration (Ableton Link)
- AUv3 plugin support
- Multiple input sources

## Recent user reviews (3 of 3)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/choppa/id6759894845/reviews.md

### 5/5 — File import has now been fixed

*2026-08-04*

This app is so useful  making fast koala banks  but  also excellent as a sampler in all au host .

**Developer response:** hello. thank you for bringing this to my attention! please give 1.7 a try. i have hardened the importing, and added a bit of ease of use around it.  

happy chopping!

### 1/5 — File import broken for months

*2026-07-29*

As the title mention file import has been broken for several months and two update including 1.6

### 5/5 — A missing piece in the ecosystem

*2026-06-12*

This is a fantastic tool which - albeit - still needs some work and maybe a few additions but honestly it’s a complete game changer. Please consider implementing a workflow that allows scratching a “live audio feed” (with a buffer at least 16 seconds long please) 🙏🏼

**Developer response:** awe what a fun idea! ill add it to my list of things to play with! 

more work and additions are def inbound, thanks for supporting this journey!

## Frequently asked questions about Choppa

### What is Choppa?

Choppa is a lightning-fast audio sampler and slicing tool designed for musicians, beatmakers, and live performers. It allows you to record audio, chop it into pads, and play it like an instrument with advanced features like scratching and chord progressions.

### How much does Choppa cost?

Choppa is a paid application priced at $4.99. This one-time purchase grants you full access to all its features without any additional in-app purchases or subscriptions.

### What devices does Choppa support?

Choppa is available for both iPhone and iPad devices. It is designed to leverage the capabilities of these mobile platforms for music creation.

### Does Choppa have ads?

No, Choppa does not contain advertisements. As a paid application, it offers an uninterrupted user experience focused on music production.

### How often is Choppa updated?

Choppa was last updated on June 3, 2026, with version 1.5.0. This indicates a commitment to ongoing development and feature enhancements for users.

### Can Choppa be used with other music software?

Yes, Choppa offers robust integration capabilities. It supports Ableton Link for wireless DAW synchronization and functions as an AUv3 plugin within hosts like GarageBand and Logic Pro for iPad.

### What is the age rating for Choppa?

Choppa has an age rating of 4+. This suggests that the content and features within the app are suitable for a wide range of users, including younger individuals.

### What do users like about Choppa?

Based on its high rating of 4.7 stars, users likely appreciate Choppa's innovative features such as its realistic vinyl scratching, intuitive chord play, and seamless integration with DAWs. The ability to record and manipulate audio in real-time is a significant draw for musicians.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.9.0 — 2026-09-02

THE GROOVEBOX UPDATE

All four banks play at once. Every bank's sequence is a lane on one clock — switch banks mid-groove and you're just choosing what to edit. Different loop lengths drift into polymeter and drop back in on grid.

MIX — a fader per bank plus master. Or skip the panel: hold a bank chip and drag. The bar on every chip is that bank's level, so a silent bank explains itself.

WATERFALL MODE — see the sound as frequencies on every chop surface: the chop window, the minimap, the pads, the sequencer steps. The picture lights up under the playhead.

Looping chops crossfade at the wrap — the click is gone. BACKGROUND AUDIO keeps the groove going when you leave the app. Export a bank's sequence as one WAV, and Koala export imports properly now.

THE ROOM — the members wall, inside the app. Read it, post to it. Your purchase is the key.

Swipe the title to get around: right for inputs, down for library, left for settings.

### 1.8.0 — 2026-08-15

The sequencer update.

SEQ. A third mode on the MODE pill: the chop window becomes a 16-step sequencer. Select a step, press a pad, and the chop is laid on release — LAY auto-advances so you can drop a run as fast as you can tap. Long-press a step to set the loop end.

Steps show the sound. Every note draws the actual waveform it will play — pitch, direction, and loop mode included — and a cursor sweeps the grid in time with playback. Slide while laying a pad and the pitch drift records into the step, replaying on every trigger and drawn as a line over the note.

Longer notes, one gesture. Keep holding the pad and touch the step you want the note to end on. The span previews under your finger and is written when you let go.

Tempo, one tap away. Tap the CHOPPA title for the global BPM — type it or tap it in. Inside an AU host, Choppa follows the host's tempo and shows it.

Bank to Koala. Long-press a bank letter: EXPORT TO KOALA renders that bank's chops to individual wavs and hands them straight to Koala's importer — sequential pads, ready to play.

Sharper reading. The chop view dims the audio that won't play, pad trails now start where the chop starts (even for chops shorter than a blink), and the manual lives under HOW IT WORKS in the title popup.

### 1.7.0 — 2026-08-02

Import, rebuilt end to end.

FIXED: imports that silently did nothing. A decoder bug ate any 44.1 kHz file — most mp3s, m4as, and aifs — imported via the share sheet, Open In, or the FOLDERS tab: no error, no sample. One decoder now handles every import path, and when something genuinely can't be read, Choppa says so on screen.

The import window. Files longer than 10 seconds open a trim view: the full waveform, a crop window you drag by the edges or scrub by the body, 10/20/30-second presets plus FULL, and PLAY to audition exactly what you're about to take. The view zooms to your crop as you shape it.

Chop before you commit. The trim view carries the auto-chop controls — the same two glyph knobs as MAGIC plus a 4/8/16 grid — and shows ghost markers of exactly where auto-chop will cut, live as you turn the knobs. What you see is the split you get.

Cloud files are real files now. iCloud files that aren't on your phone yet show a cloud badge and a GET button — download, then import, automatically. No more taps that do nothing.

Share both ways. Library entries now share as the full recording (.wav) or as clips (.zip of every chop, with each chop's gain, pitch, and reverse baked in).

Sturdier under pressure. Choppa now recovers its audio engine when other apps seize the session, after phone calls that never "end," and even after a media-services crash — and takes in progress get finalized and saved instead of lost. Monitor settings no longer drift between modes across takes and relaunches.

### 1.6.1 — 2026-07-28

The 1.6 engine release — everything since 1.5.1 in one update.

INPUT FX — host AUv3 effects on your live input. Chain up to 4 effects (any installed AUv3 plus Apple's built-ins) that run before record and monitor: what you capture is what you hear. Lives in the transmissions drawer.

Near-instant monitoring. The whole input path moved into a single low-latency render callback — monitoring your mic now feels immediate instead of noticeably behind your voice.

Pre-record on the mic. Set PRE-RECORD (1–30s) and REC reaches back to before you pressed it — and starts instantly, no waiting for the input threshold. The tape always keeps 5 seconds free for live audio, and the setting shows its true reach-back (including under Low Power Mode).

The library grew up. Three tabs: CHOPS (yours), WAVELOOP (sounds shared by other WaveLoop apps), and FOLDERS (browse your own folders and import straight from them). Preview any entry in place with a play button and moving cursor, swipe left to delete, and the drawer opens fast.

Recording keeps your work safe. Takes that fill the tape now finalize and save instead of wiping. Normalize no longer distorts hot takes. Files opened from other apps respect your NORMALIZE / SAFE import settings. Your mic and capsule selection survives phone calls, route changes, and RESET AUDIO; picking a capsule mid-set no longer interrupts playing loops; pulling your headphones mid-take saves the take and mutes the monitor instead of squealing. The input LEVEL slider now works on mics.

Also: bipolar effect controls (like delay feedback) mark their neutral point and double-tap to reset, banks are labelled A–D in the share picker, a new BACKGROUND MIC setting (off by default — backgrounding releases the mic), and a cleaner fixed-height chop editor.

### 1.5.1 — 2026-06-09

AUv3 host fixes.

Two bugs that hit Choppa users running it inside AUM (and other AUv3 plugin hosts).

Pads no longer freeze after the first tap. A scratch-mode safety guard from the standalone app was firing in the plugin too, locking up subsequent pad presses. Now disabled in the host UI (where two-finger scratch lives on the minimap and chop view instead).

Importing audio via the + button no longer fails with "Decode failed: -50" on MP3, M4A, or any 44.1k source. The plugin's audio converter is now built with the same headroom the standalone app uses.

## Apps similar to Choppa

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Echo Pitch](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/echo-pitch/id1180443904) | 4.9 (16) | $4.99 | Music |
| [Perc8](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/perc8/id6759513561) | 3.3 (3) | $6.99 | Music |
| [Lattice](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lattice/id6756826552) | 4.9 (8) | $6.99 | Music |
| [Rivet 04 - Comb](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rivet-04-comb/id6758967505) | — | Free | Music |
| [Echo Beach: Sampler Beat Maker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/echo-beach-sampler-beat-maker/id6752037797) | 3.8 (12) | $9.99 | Music |
| [Rivet 03 - Verb](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rivet-03-verb/id6758967715) | — | Free | Music |

## More apps by Elijah Lucian

- [Tide: Beautiful Voice Notes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tide-beautiful-voice-notes/id6776111874)
- [LAOE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/laoe/id6776118871)
- [Infininote. Infinity + Notes.](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/infininote-infinity-plus-notes/id6797685573)

All apps by Elijah Lucian: https://appshunter.io/developer/1881481954

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*
