Comparison

Viking Synth vs Harmonus

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

Head to head
About

Viking Synth

This app emulates a classic monophonic analog synthesizer with advanced DSP technology. It features three variable wave oscillators, dual ladder filters, an LFO, and two modulation busses for versatile sound design. An intuitive interface and extensive preset library make it ideal for creating thick bass and rich lead sounds.

Highlights
  • Three continuously variable wave oscillators
  • Dual ladder filters (Lowpass/Highpass)
  • Multi-wave LFO
  • Two modulation busses
  • Intuitive user interface with expandable controls
  • 228 presets including Bass, Lead, and Synthwave
  • State-of-the-art DSP for authentic sound
Read full description

Viking Synth is an authentic emulation of a classic monophonic analog synthesizer. It has three continuously variable wave oscillators, two ladder filters with a Dual Lowpass or Highpass/Lowpass configuration, a multi-wave LFO, and two modulation busses. Viking Synth uses state of the art DSP technology to accurately reproduce the sound of the hardware. You get a desktop quality plug-in at an iOS friendly price. Viking Synth is an Audio Unit Extension Instrument (AUv3) that works as a plug-in inside host apps. Just open up your favorite host that supports Audio Unit Instruments and select it from the list of available Audio Units. Compatible with GarageBand, Cubasis, Auria, BeatMaker, AudioBus, AUM, Modstep, and more. The user interface of Viking Synth is designed for quick and intuitive control. Knobs and sliders expand during tweaking and are designed so the current value isn't hidden below your finger. The six pages divide the synth into logical sections that can be accessed quickly. The filter display acts as an XY pad for controlling cutoff and resonance. Simply double tap a knob or slider to reset it to its default value. Presets Viking Synth comes with 228 presets in the categories Bass, Bright Lead, Electro Bass, FX, Percussive Lead, Soft Lead, and Synthwave. The synth excels at thick bass and rich lead sounds. The 50 Electro Bass and 50 Synthwave presets were designed by renowned sound designer eXode. Presets work perfectly with GarageBand, Cubasis, and AUM. Oscillators At the heart of Viking are three adjustable wave oscillators. The continuously variable waveform knob gives the oscillators a unique sound that can’t be achieved with the fixed waveforms found in most synths. A noise oscillator provides three types of noise, one specifically modeled after the hardware. Modulation Two modulation busses and an LFO provide flexible modulation capabilities. All of the options hidden deep in menus on the hardware are immediately accessible with one tap. Filters The filters are classic transistor ladder filters modeled meticulously. Two DSP varieties are available allowing for either reduced CPU load or soft clipping plus three additional overdriven modes. The number of poles is adjustable for a wider range of filter sounds. Compare Viking to other synths: – Viking’s oscillators are free running, not sampled, wavetable based, or generated from a zero point – Viking’s oscillators use advanced techniques to avoid aliasing – Viking’s oscillators have instability, which is controllable through the tuning drift control – Viking’s nonlinear filter uses circuit modeling and provides soft clipping

About

Harmonus

Experience the warm and unique sound of a harmonium, inspired by a vintage Magnus Model 300. This app meticulously captures stereo samples for a natural organ sound without fan noise.

Highlights
  • Harmonium and harmonica sound emulation
  • Stereo sampled audio
  • Denoised sound quality
  • Vintage organ inspiration
  • Warm and unique tone
Features
Read full description

Originally this organ was inspired by a Magnus Model 300 Harmonium / organ (a brand of the "Magnus Harmonica Corporation") from our collection in perfect condition. It delivers a warm and unique sound between an accordion and a harmonica. The samples have been meticulously captured in stereo and denoised in order to render all the naturalness of the original organ without the noise of the mechanical fan

Screenshots

Viking Synth4 screens
Harmonus2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Harmonus at 100% against Viking Synth's 71%. Harmonus also leads on price ($2.99 vs $3.99). Viking Synth's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Viking Synth costs $3.99 and Harmonus $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Viking Synth holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 41 and 19 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Viking Synth's written reviews are positive against 100% of Harmonus's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Viking Synth versus Harmonus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterViking SynthHarmonus
Price$3.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.7 (41 ratings) — better4.4 (19 ratings)
Positive reviews71.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings41 — better19
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlamsoft, Inc.Julien Faure

Customer experience

Viking Synth

All ratings42 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive71.2%
Neutral10.6%
Negative18.2%

Harmonus

All ratings19 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Viking Synth

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Presets not showing up
  • Presets disappear
  • App not showing in AUv3 menu
  • Settings not saving after iOS 14 update
  • Crashes when opening presets browser
Show 1 more
  • Saved presets not loading

Requested features

5 requests
  • More subtle drive mode
  • Categorized preset browser
  • Polyphony option
  • Dark mode
  • More apps from developer

Harmonus

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Viking Synth

No in-app purchases

None

Harmonus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Viking Synth free?
Viking Synth costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Harmonus free?
Harmonus costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Viking Synth or Harmonus?
Viking Synth is rated higher. Viking Synth averages 4.7 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Harmonus averages 4.4 from 19 ratings.
Do Viking Synth or Harmonus have ads?
Neither Viking Synth nor Harmonus shows ads.

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