Trapezoid vs NightShine AUv3 Compressor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Trapezoid
This virtual instrument accurately simulates the sound and playability of a hammered dulcimer. It offers multiple tuning options, drag roll effects, and MIDI compatibility for a realistic musical experience. Designed for both beginners and experienced players, it fits right in your pocket.
- Authentic hammered dulcimer sound
- Standard and Michigan tunings
- Drag roll effects
- MIDI keyboard compatibility
- Velocity sensitive MIDI input
- Note name display
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Trapezoid is an amazing Hammered Dulcimer that can fit in your pocket. Written by an experienced Hammered Dulcimer player, this virtual dulcimer sounds and plays like the real thing! This app has the full range of a standard 12/11 style (9/9 style for 4:3 format iPads) instrument and supports both Standard and Michigan (octave) tunings. 12/11 means there are 12 bridges on the Treble (left) side of the instrument, 11 bridges on the Bass (right) side of the instrument. To play, just touch the strings on either side of the left (Treble) bridge or the left side of the right (Bass) bridge just like on the real instrument. To get repeated note "drag roll" effects, drag quickly horizontally across the strings. The sensitivity of the drag effect may be set on the settings screen. Touch the "?" to show the note names for the strings. Touch the "S" or "M" below the "?" to toggle between Standard and Michigan (octave) tuning. Touch the "Shhh" icon on the upper right corner to quiet all the strings. Touch the "i" to bring up the settings screen where you can set the overall volume, enable or disable the drag roll feature, and set the roll sensitivity for how far you need to drag to get the roll effect. The app also may be played from a MIDI keyboard connected to a hardware MIDI interface or other MIDI controller or MIDI file player apps. On the settings page you may select the MIDI channel number. When playing via MIDI, the app is velocity sensitive based on the velocity sent with the Note-on events. Lowest note is A2 (MIDI note 45). Range is full chromatic from A2 through D6. The app will respond to MIDI volume messages on the selected MIDI channel. To truly experience the full stereo spread of the instrument, plug in a set of headphones or amplified speakers. Playing Hint for Smaller Phone Users: On the smaller screen phones the strings are pretty close together. If you are having trouble hitting the notes you want, show the note names by touching the "?" and then, when playing touch directly on the note names for best playing accuracy. Audio samples of Wes Chappell's amazing dulcimer provided by Jesse Chappell from ThumbJam.com. The instrument was built by James Jones, from Bedford, VA. I have played and taught the Hammered Dulcimer for over 20 years. This app sounds and plays as close to the real instrument as I'm capable of doing on a touch screen. Be sure to visit the AppCordions.com website to watch the demo videos!
NightShine AUv3 Compressor
This professional audio effect emulates the classic Alesis 3630 hardware compressor. It offers authentic analog modeling with advanced oversampling for pristine sound quality and musical compression. Features include dual detection modes, variable knee processing, and precise control over dynamics.
- Alesis 3630 hardware emulation
- 16x oversampling for pristine audio
- Dual Peak/RMS detection modes
- Advanced knee processing with variable width
- Authentic analog-style waveshaping
- Brickwall limiter and auto makeup gain
- 16 professional presets
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Transform your audio with NightShine, a premium AUv3 compressor that captures the legendary warmth of the classic Alesis 3630 hardware compressor. This professional dynamics processor combines authentic analog modeling with cutting-edge 16x oversampling technology for pristine audio quality and musical compression characteristics. NightShine features dual detection modes (Peak/RMS), advanced knee processing (Hard/Soft with variable width), and authentic analog-style waveshaping for harmonic saturation. The 16x oversampling engine eliminate digital artifacts while maintaining automatic latency compensation, delivering pure analog-like sound quality. Controls include precise threshold (-40dB to 0dB), ratio (1:1 to 20:1), attack (0.1ms to 200ms), and release (50ms to 3000ms) settings. Additional features include an optional brickwall limiter and auto makeup gain. Ready to use with 16 professional presets covering vocals, drums, bass, mix bus compression, and mastering. Perfect for vocal processing, drum enhancement, mix bus compression, and mastering. NightShine delivers professional results with the perfect blend of vintage character and modern precision.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Trapezoid at 5.0 against NightShine AUv3 Compressor's 3.3. Trapezoid also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). 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
Trapezoid costs $1.99 and NightShine AUv3 Compressor $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Trapezoid holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Trapezoid ships an update every 9 days, NightShine AUv3 Compressor every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Trapezoid | NightShine AUv3 Compressor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 3.3 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #191 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Eskin | DiscoDSP LLC |
Customer experience
Trapezoid
NightShine AUv3 Compressor
In-app purchases
Trapezoid
No in-app purchases
NightShine AUv3 Compressor
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Trapezoid free?
Is NightShine AUv3 Compressor free?
Which has better reviews, Trapezoid or NightShine AUv3 Compressor?
Do Trapezoid or NightShine AUv3 Compressor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Trapezoid or NightShine AUv3 Compressor?
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