Comparison

Link to MIDI vs Drambo

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Link to MIDI

Synchronize MIDI devices with Ableton Link sessions. This app bridges the gap, making your MIDI hardware compatible with Link-enabled music software for stable, quantized clock synchronization.

Highlights
  • Ableton Link to MIDI Clock Sync
  • Link-enabled MIDI devices
  • Launch quantization
  • Stable clock output
  • Fine offset control (±250 ms)
Features
Read full description

Link to MIDI = Ableton Link to MIDI Clock Sync. Link to MIDI connects Ableton Link to musical devices that support MIDI Clock Sync. Simply join a Link session, connect your MIDI device, and that's it. Your MIDI device is now Link-enabled. Link to Midi features launch quantization, an incredibly stable clock output, and a fine offset control (±250 ms) to perfectly line up the receiving MIDI device's playback. Note: Link to MIDI is only recommended for use with hardware MIDI devices. Connecting to apps is possible, but may lead to a poor user experience due to software challenges in synchronizing to MIDI Clock. Ableton Link fixes this. Please contact the developers of your favorite apps and ask them to support Ableton Link.

About

Drambo

This app offers a flexible sound design experience, allowing users to build beats, create synthesizers, and process audio with effects. Its innovative modular system simplifies connections and organization, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced musicians. It functions as a standalone application or a plugin within a DAW.

Highlights
  • Modular sound design
  • Intuitive cable-less connections
  • Advanced sequencer
  • Standalone and AUv3 plugin
  • Over 140 modules
  • Polyphonic stereo processing
Features
Read full description

"Drambo changes the face of iOS music apps." Cult of Mac Drambo is your all-in-one sound laboratory that adapts to your workflow: build beats as a groovebox, design synths, or transform audio with effects, standalone or inside your favorite DAW. At the core of Drambo is a fresh approach to modular design that makes creating with modules easy, fun, and accessible. Connections happen automatically as you add or move modules, so there are no messy cables to slow you down. The interface adapts to your workflow, generating modulation controls when you need them, and even lets modules contain other modules for perfect organization. You’re always free to override the automatic connections, but most of the time, you can just dive in, experiment, and shape sounds without getting tangled in wires. Use a deep and innovative sequencer to compose patterns and whole tracks, for production or live performance. Go beyond simple looping sequences with parameter locking, conditional step components, parameters automation and powerful scene morphing. Drambo works equally well as a self-contained standalone app or audio unit plugin with audio and MIDI connectivity as an AUV3 instrument, audio effect and MIDI effect. You can use Drambo as • A Complete Studio: Produce entire tracks and perform live in a self-contained, multitrack environment. • An Endless modular playground, that allows you to build, modify and store custom instruments and effects. For instance: build a custom synth, sample and resample, build a Theremin using a gyroscope module, or turn your table into a playable surface, by processing microphone input with physical modelling modules. • An Advanced MIDI Sequencer: Control hardware or AUv3 instruments. Generate custom MIDI CC messages or send modulation signals to physical modular synths via DC-coupled interfaces. • The Ultimate AUv3 Plugin: Load Drambo inside other DAWs as an instrument, audio effect, or MIDI processor. Replace dozens of standard plugins by building your own complex modular delays, reverbs, decimators, or modulators in seconds. • A Unified Audio-Visual Studio (Drambo Visual IAP): Arts united. Step into another realm of modular visual synthesis to build complex generative video art, or seamlessly patch your audio and visual engines together for deeply integrated performances. Features: • Polyphonic, stereo processing and audio-rate modulation. All signals are equal. Up to 16 voices per modular instrument rack. • Unique modular concept: cable-less, drag'n'drop, color coding dynamic interface, automatic connections, and customizable compact, rack views. • Directional flow makes Drambo routing and patching straightforward. Signal flows only left to right, so there are no instant feedback routings in Drambo. Delayed feedback is possible using certain modules. • Simple and clean interface, that scales to every size and device orientation • Over 140 modules available, such as: oscillators, samplers, physical modelling modules, LFOs, envelope generators, filters, audio effects, mixers, MIDI processors, sequencers and math functions. (Includes a macro oscillator based on the famous Eurorack Plaits module, with 24 synth engines) • Custom modular racks that can be nested, with presets at the track, rack, and module level. • Clip launcher / song arrager. • 16-tracks, polyphonic sequencer with parameter locks, automation and step components. 8 dedicated step sequence editor types, piano-roll, powerful automation designer with drawing modes and cubic Bezier curves. • Audio Units hosting ( standalone app only ) • Morph groups: you can morph many parameters using a single slider. • Available as a standalone app, AUv3 instrument, effect and MIDI effect. • MIDI and Ableton Link support Drambo is all about control. Control things that other apps don’t even give you access to. Visit the BeepStreet page for help and tutorials, and Patchstorage for community content.

Screenshots

Link to MIDI2 screens
Drambo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Link to MIDI at $4.99 against Drambo's $24.99. Link to MIDI also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). Drambo's advantage is ratings volume (331 vs 74). On rating, review sentiment, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Link to MIDI costs $4.99 and Drambo $24.99 up front. Drambo sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Link to MIDI asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drambo holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 74 and 331 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 95% of Link to MIDI's written reviews are positive against 87% of Drambo's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Link to MIDI ships an update fortnightly, Drambo every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Link to MIDI versus Drambo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLink to MIDIDrambo
Price$4.99 — better$24.99
Rating4.6 (74 ratings)4.8 (331 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.5% of reviews — better86.7% of reviews
Number of ratings74331 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB149 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexandernautBeepStreet

Customer experience

Link to MIDI

All ratings73 ratings
Positive90.4%
Neutral5.5%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive94.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative1.8%

Drambo

All ratings330 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.1%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews226 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative10.2%

Bugs and requests

Link to MIDI

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Drambo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Audio cutting out after 5 minutes of use
  • Presets and patches not loading properly
  • Incompatibility with certain iOS devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Stem/track export functionality
  • MIDI CC learn and external control
  • Ableton Link support
  • More parameter control and modulation options
  • Improved piano roll and sequencing tools

In-app purchases

None

Link to MIDI

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Drambo

One-time5
  • Granular extension$4.99
  • Waves extension$4.99
  • Formants extension$4.99
Show 2 more
  • DSP extensions 1$4.99
  • Visual extension$14.99

Questions

Is Link to MIDI free?
Link to MIDI costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Drambo free?
Drambo costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Link to MIDI or Drambo?
Drambo is rated higher. Link to MIDI averages 4.6 out of 5 from 74 ratings, while Drambo averages 4.8 from 331 ratings.
Do Link to MIDI or Drambo have ads?
Neither Link to MIDI nor Drambo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Link to MIDI or Drambo?
Link to MIDI ships an update fortnightly, and Drambo every 5 weeks. Most recently, Link to MIDI was updated on October 29, 2026 and Drambo on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons