Tap Delay vs Phosphor 3
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tap Delay
This app recreates the warm, analog sound of vintage tape echo machines with a modern tapped delay engine. It offers 24 taps for rhythmic effects, tape simulation with saturation and noise, and live input processing from various sources.
- Multi-tap delay machine
- 24 taps for rhythmic effects
- Tape simulation (Saturation, Noise, Flutter)
- MIDI controllable
- Live input processing
- Audiobus 3 and IAA compatible
- AUv3 support
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Back in the “old days”, producers and engineers created delay and echo effects using tape machines. Tap Delay combines the warm sound of vintage tape echo machines with a modern, step sequencer-like tapped delay engine which continues the tradition of the tape echo machines into the 21st century. The Tape simulation includes all relevant aspects for the recreation of a faithful analog tape sound: • Compression and Saturation • Tape hiss • Tape head bias • Wow and Flutter (Tape speed instability) • Smooth speed / delay time changes Three feedback filters with hipass/lowpass and bandpass characteristic simplify the creation of authentic dub echo effects. The built-in Limiter allows for endless feedback sounds. Use live input from any source - Microphone, Guitar, Audiobus and Inter App Audio - or take a song from your iTunes library for processing. Features: • Multi-tap delay machine • 24 taps for rhythmic delay effects • Tape simulation ( Saturation, Noise, Flutter ) • Alias free tape saturation through oversampling. • MIDI controllable including Tempo sync • Delay loop equalizer for dub effect. • Glitch free simulation of variable tape speeds. • Spatial echo rotation effect. • Audiobus 3 compatible with state saving • IAA compatible ( Auria, Cubasis, Garageband ). • AudioUnit AUv3 with parameter automation. • Ableton Link. • Integrated iTunes player.
Phosphor 3
This app recreates a vintage digital synthesizer, offering a faithful emulation of a classic sound engine. It includes modern features like MPE, extensive modulation, and a new UI for sonic exploration.
- Vintage digital synthesizer emulation
- Additive synthesis engine
- MPE support
- Extensive modulation routing
- Preset manager
- Tuning tables
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Glow in the dark synthesis. Phosphor 3 is a dual-oscillator additive synthesizer that puts the raw building blocks of sound at your fingertips. Draw, randomize, or select up to 64 harmonics per oscillator, then shape them with envelopes, LFOs, cross-modulation, and a flexible mod matrix. Originally inspired by the alphaSyntauri, a rare digital additive synth from the early 1980s, Phosphor 3 takes that concept far beyond its origins with modern MPE expression, polyphonic modulation, and a full effects engine. --- Additive Oscillators Two identical additive oscillators, each with up to 64 individually editable harmonics. Start from classic shapes: sawtooth, triangle, square, or draw your own harmonic spectrum directly in the partial editor. The intelligent randomizer generates musically useful timbres with variable rolloff, density, and formant peaks, so every click produces something worth exploring. Choose 16, 32, or 64 partials per oscillator to balance complexity against CPU. Each oscillator has independent level, pan, transpose, fine tune, a noise generator with lo-fi downsampling, and cross-modulation (FM) for pushing timbres into harsher, more complex territory. Modulation Two ADSR envelopes with adjustable attack, decay, and release curves. Two LFOs with four waveforms (pulse, sine, saw, random), tempo sync, and the option to run polyphonically, a separate LFO per voice, or globally. An 8-source modulation matrix routes velocity, pressure, pitch bend, mod wheel, CC 74, triggered random, and both LFOs to destinations across the oscillators and effects. Effects Stereo delay with independent left/right time, feedback, and cross-channel feedback for ping-pong and rhythmic patterns. Tempo sync locks delay times to your DAW. Dual band-pass filters after the delay let you carve the wet signal into resonant, frequency-specific textures. Expression Full MPE support with per-note pitch bend, pressure, and slide across 16 polyphonic voices. Mono legato and mono retrigger modes with adjustable portamento. Unison mode for thick, detuned stacks. A scrollable 128-key on-screen keyboard with velocity from touch position, pitch bend from horizontal drag, and channel pressure from vertical drag, no hardware controller required. Tuning MTS-ESP client support for real-time microtuning from any MTS-ESP master. TUN file import for custom scales. Standard 12-TET with adjustable A4 reference. Supports AUv3 for use in GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, and other AUv3-compatible hosts.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Phosphor 3 at 4.7 against Tap Delay's 4.2. Phosphor 3 also leads on update cadence (every 11 months vs every 29 months). Tap Delay's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $5.99) and device support (3 vs 1). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Tap Delay costs $1.99 and Phosphor 3 $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Phosphor 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 9 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 78% and 79% positive.
Tap Delay ships an update every 29 months, Phosphor 3 every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tap Delay | Phosphor 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (13 ratings) | 4.7 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 29 months | Every 11 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Harry Gohs | Audio Damage, Inc. |
Customer experience
Tap Delay
Phosphor 3
In-app purchases
Tap Delay
No in-app purchases
Phosphor 3
No in-app purchases









