Comparison

Stringcalculator vs Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer

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

Head to head
About

Stringcalculator

Calculate string properties for various instruments. Determine diameter, tension, and tone based on material, frequency, and scale length. Supports multiple units of measurement.

Highlights
  • Calculate string diameter, tension, and tone
  • Supports gut, nylgut, carbon, Tynex, and nylon strings
  • Set custom frequencies
  • Calculate in cm, mm, or inches
  • Adjustable scale length
Features
Read full description

A string calculator to calculate single strings for historical (or modern) stringed instruments. Calculates strings from gut, nylgut, carbon (PVF), Tynex and nylon. Diameter, tension, tone and scale can be calculated. You can set any frequency instead of the chamber tone a'. Calculates in cm, mm or inch.

About

Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer

This app is a powerful MIDI sequencer designed for music production. It allows users to create and arrange complex musical pieces with multiple tracks, extensive clip libraries, and advanced looping features. Easily organize and import MIDI data to build songs efficiently.

Highlights
  • 16 Tracks per instance
  • Over 7000 MIDI clips library
  • Media Bay for organizing clips
  • Remote Looping functionality
  • Song Mode for arranging sections
  • Full CC controller editing
  • Sync to Host
Features
Read full description

Helium is a lightweight AUv3 MIDI sequencer plugin designed specifically for AUM. It supports up to 16 tracks of unlimited length with the ability to direct output to 16 channels on up to 16 MIDI output ports. One of the great features is the ability to import and maintain libraries of MIDI clips using Helium's 'Media Bay'. These clips are freely available all over the internet and may contain individual chord sets, chord progressions or drum tracks. You can quickly build a song by dragging and dropping your MIDI clips from the media bay onto your timeline. You can also save your own clips directly to the media bay to create your own personal MIDI clips libraries. Long press on a clip to preview its contents using the currently selected MIDI device. Helium now ships with a library of over 7000 MIDI clips, consisting of every chord and chord progression you could ever need. Helium allows many different ways to import additional MIDI clip libraries. Simply drag and drop your ZIP collections directly to your PC/MAC web browser and they are automatically unpacked into the clips library folder. You can also drag and drop files between the Media Bay and the iOS Files app. Helium supports a sync mode called 'Remote Looping'. This was something we recently introduced into our MultiTrack Recorder plugin and is very useful for breaking down the timeline into sections.  You can define up to 12 loops which can be used to specify the locations of say the intro, verse, chorus, and outro within your song, then trigger these loops seemlessly in sync with the host tempo. Once captured, these loops can then be triggered by incoming MIDI notes. A new addition to Helium is the ability to piece together loops into songs, so you just concentrate on creating a single verse, chorus, bridge etc. and piece everything together without the headache of having to re-arrange your timeline. Features ○ 16 Tracks per instance. ○ Includes a library of over 7000 MIDI clips. ○ Assignable MIDI channel and Bus per track. ○ Full editing of CC controllers using the controller lane. ○ Independent vertical and horizontal zooming. ○ Import & Export MIDI tracks. ○ Media Bay, organize your MIDI flips libraries. ○ Clip Preview from Media Bay ○ Drag and Drop from the Media Bay directly to the timeline. ○ Drag and Drop to Files App. ○ Remote Control with Looping advanced functionality. ○ Step Recording. ○ Build in Mixer to adjust relative track levels with Mute/Solo. ○ Sync to Host. ○ Up to 16 outputs (configurable). ○ MIDI Clip Preview ○ Ghost Note Feature ○ Multi level undo and redo. ○ Song Mode ○ Multi-Take Record Please checkout the help manual for details on where to find my tutorial videos on Helium and where to download some fully featured and free MIDI clip libraries. This is not recommended to use on small iPhone screen sizes such as the SE models. You can adjust the screen scaling to suite your iPhone model by long pressing the MENU button and changing the scale.

Screenshots

Stringcalculator1 screens
Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer at fortnightly against Stringcalculator's every 16 months. Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). Stringcalculator's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and price ($2.99 vs $7.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Stringcalculator costs $2.99 and Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stringcalculator ships an update every 16 months, Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stringcalculator versus Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStringcalculatorHelium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer
Price$2.99 — better$7.99
Rating—4.3 (55 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better74.5% of reviews
Number of ratings—55 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMartin Uhlig4Pockets.com

Customer experience

Stringcalculator

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer

All ratings55 ratings
Positive83.6%
Neutral5.5%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive74.5%
Neutral7.8%
Negative17.6%

Bugs and requests

Stringcalculator

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Notes get stuck
  • Randomization causes crashes
  • MIDI out channels not visible in AUM
  • App crashes frequently
  • MIDI import mixes tracks
Show 7 more
  • Notes lag when dragging
  • Grid looks off relative to piano roll
  • Sustain pedal causes issues
  • Exported MIDI files inaccessible
  • Song mode does not follow host tempo
  • Inconsistent behavior with loops in song mode
  • Loop button issue on empty instance reload

Requested features

15 requests
  • Scale key and random velocity
  • Arpeggios patterns
  • More gradual randomization approach
  • Scissor tool for shortening MIDI events
  • Latch option for press/hold to audition MIDI sequences
Show 10 more
  • Patterns view like Atom
  • Tutorial on using chord track
  • Aftertouch recording
  • Time stretch feature
  • Higher automation window setting
  • Turning off quantization
  • Individual loop lengths for tracks
  • More ghost tracks visible and colored
  • Looping sequences of different lengths (workaround exists)
  • MIDI channel switching controlled by AU Param

In-app purchases

None

Stringcalculator

No in-app purchases

None

Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stringcalculator free?
Stringcalculator costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer free?
Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Stringcalculator or Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer have ads?
Neither Stringcalculator nor Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stringcalculator or Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer?
Stringcalculator ships an update every 16 months, and Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer fortnightly. Most recently, Stringcalculator was updated on October 15, 2026 and Helium AUv3 MIDI Sequencer on October 20, 2026.

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