Comparison

Viking Synth vs TB Lowtone

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

TB Lowtone

This app is an innovative bass synthesizer and AUv3 plugin that uses loudness-domain harmonic synthesis for deeper, more consistent bass sounds. It features multiple oscillators, modulation options, and built-in effects, plus an AI randomizer for creating new patches.

Highlights
  • Loudness-domain harmonic synthesis
  • 3 analog-simulated oscillators
  • Voltage-controlled noise synthesizer
  • AI randomizer for patch generation
  • Extended LFOs and ADSR envelope
  • Pro quality effects (reverb, chorus, delay)
  • AUv3 plugin support
Read full description

TB Lowtone is an innovative bass synthesizer app and AUv3 plug-in featuring three analog-simulated, voltage-controlled oscillators with a large variety of waveform algorithms, continuous pulse-width modulation (PWM), Frequency Modulation (FM) and oscillator hard sync, complemented by a voltage-controlled noise synthesizer, parameter modulation a re-designed non-linear voltage controlled filter. TB Lowtone is the world's first bass synthesizer featuring loudness-domain harmonic synthesis, creating deeper, more consistent and production-ready bass sounds compared to conventional synthesizers operating in the (linear) amplitude domain. TB Lowtone also features an AI randomizer that generates new patches with a single click, and which learns from the patches you have already created to generate new, personalized patches! Loudness-domain synthesis Loudness perception of tones and harmonics is known to be highly non-linear and intricately frequency and level dependent. Equal loudness contours, or Fletcher-Munson curves demonstrate this drastic effect for sine tones, which is especially relevant for low frequencies. The loudness of a synthesizer bass note, and all its individual harmonics, will therefore depend strongly on what note you play on your synth's keyboard. To overcome the resulting inconsistencies in loudness and timbre, TB Lowtone features innovative, loudness-domain synthesis algorithms that adjust each harmonic individually to compensate for loudness deviations across frequency. Modulation and FX TB Lowtone provides two extended low-frequency oscillators (X-LFOs) featuring a wide range of waveforms. The LFOs can be beat and key synced, with a configurable onset delay and a specific number of cycles to run. In addition, a conventional ADSR envelope with configurable onset delay is provided. To top if all off, a gate editor designed to quickly put together modern production modulation patterns is available as well to modulate a range of VCO, VCN and VCF parameters. Reverb, chorus, and delay effects and a high-quality peak limiter are provided to produce production-ready sounds. Features: - 3 VCOs plus a VCN featuring a wide range of waveform algorithms - All VCOs support hard sync, pulse-width modulation (PWM) and frequency modulation (FM) - Lots of filter types for spectral shaping - 2 LFOs, one extra envelope and a gate editor for parameter modulation - Pro quality effects (reverb, chorus, delay, peak limiter) - Unique loudness domain synthesis algorithms - A smart randomiser that learns from your patches - AUv3 with resizable UI and dozens of color themes to choose from - Preset management including import and export options - Undo, redo, A/B switching What you should know: - Licenses acquired for this platform are not compatible with other platforms. - Audio Unit (AUv3) extensions require an iPad mini 2, iPad 4 or later models.

Screenshots

Viking Synth4 screens
TB Lowtone2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Viking Synth at $3.99 against TB Lowtone's $9.99. Viking Synth also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (42 vs 14). TB Lowtone's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 69%). On update cadence, 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 TB Lowtone $9.99 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 — 42 and 14 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of Viking Synth's written reviews are positive against 85% of TB Lowtone's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Viking Synth ships an update every 4 months, TB Lowtone every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Viking Synth versus TB Lowtone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterViking SynthTB Lowtone
Price$3.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.7 (42 ratings) — better4.4 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews69.4% of reviews84.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings42 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlamsoft, Inc.ToneBoosters

Customer experience

Viking Synth

All ratings42 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral11.3%
Negative19.4%

TB Lowtone

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral15.4%
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

TB Lowtone

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Viking Synth

No in-app purchases

None

TB Lowtone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Viking Synth free?
Viking Synth costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TB Lowtone free?
TB Lowtone costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Viking Synth or TB Lowtone?
Viking Synth is rated higher. Viking Synth averages 4.7 out of 5 from 42 ratings, while TB Lowtone averages 4.4 from 14 ratings.
Do Viking Synth or TB Lowtone have ads?
Neither Viking Synth nor TB Lowtone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Viking Synth or TB Lowtone?
Viking Synth ships an update every 4 months, and TB Lowtone every 3 months. Most recently, Viking Synth was updated on September 23, 2026 and TB Lowtone on September 9, 2026.

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