StepBud vs S
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StepBud
This app is a versatile MIDI sequencer that allows for unlimited steps and detailed control over each step's parameters. It integrates with other music apps and supports various sequencing modes for creative performances.
- Unlimited steps
- Step parameter control (note, velocity, rate, etc.)
- Custom MIDI CC messages
- Step locking and skipping
- Master fader with copy/shift modes
- Step Editor for detailed note editing
- Arpeggio modes (up, down, random)
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StepBud is a MIDI Sequencer with Audio Unit AUv3 plugin, Audiobus and Ableton Link. Add an unlimited number of steps to your sequencer. Your steps appear with a LED and a fader on top of your screen. You can change the active mode that your step faders displaying/controlling. - Set the current note or chord in range of the scale and key you selected with respect the range of the octave you want to focus, - Set the velocity, rate, gate time, modulation, pitch bend, portamento, probability and swing for each step, - Try increasing the rate and repeat count your steps if you want to add more flavor. - Send unlimited custom MIDI CC messages if you want to control your hardware or software synth parameters. - Lock steps if you don't want them to change their value. - Skip steps for creating interesting live performances. Below the step faders, you have a master fader where you can control your entire sequencer. It has two modes which you can change from the settings strip on the bottom of the app. - In copy mode, it assigns its value to each step. - In shift mode, it shifts up or down each step. If you want to go off-scale or try some crazy chords on some of your steps, or maybe on all of them, you can go to the Step Editor by double tapping the LED of the step you want to edit. In StepBud's powerful Step Editor, you can set your step's notes either from the virtual keyboard or your connected MIDI keyboard. Don't forget to enable MIDI in port of your MIDI keyboard or the you want to receive MIDI from the settings menu. You may also preview the selected notes by pressing the preview button in Step Editor for making sure you created the perfect sound for your particular step. You can also toggle the steps you want to disable by tapping its LED. If you long-press the LED, you can access a menu where you may copy/paste the steps around, remove them or edit them. If you enable the lock mode from the settings strip on the bottom of the app, you may adjust each visible step fader on the screen by a single swipe gesture without having to lift your finger up. Try to change your arppegio mode from the settings strip. You can sequence your steps up, down, up-down or random order. StepBud is a MIDI sequencer app and it does not generate sounds itself. You need to route its MIDI out port in the settings menu to the audio app you want to sequence. Please note that you need to have an iOS 11+ device and an Audio Unit host application such as AUM, apeMatrix, Cubasis, BeatMaker or Audiobus in order to use the StepBud as an Audio Unit plugin. And don't forget to route StepBud's MIDI out to the app or audio unit you want to sequence. StepBud's MIDI layer powered by free and open-source project AudioKit https://github.com/AudioKit/AudioKit Also, StepBud offers its core components for free on GitHub. Feel free to star, fork or contribute. https://github.com/cemolcay/MusicTheory https://github.com/cemolcay/LiveFader https://github.com/cemolcay/MIDIEventKit
S
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The whole Roland S-1 panel on your iPhone or iPad, over USB-C. The S-1 hides half its brain behind the Shift key. This editor puts all of it in front of you: all 54 parameters, laid out like the SH-101 panel — the synth the S-1 rebuilds — so the signal chain reads at a glance. WHAT IT DOES • All 54 control changes, with faders where the SH-101 had them and knobs where it did not. • Follows the hardware: move a knob on the S-1 and the screen follows in real time. • 60 factory presets in six categories. Versions of the patch charts from the original SH-101 manual, the club sounds the 101 became known for, and a bank built by ear against the unit. • Four sequencers: step piano roll, three-layer euclidean, scale-based generative and arpeggio. • Motion recording: move any control while it plays and it gets automated step by step. • A randomizer that blows up the whole engine and still leaves something audible. • Your own sound library, with export and import. • Light and dark. Spanish, English and Portuguese. WORTH KNOWING You need a Roland S-1 connected over USB-C. The editor makes no sound of its own: it sends MIDI to the unit, and the unit is what you hear. The S-1 does not answer SysEx. There is no way to read a sound out of it or store one over MIDI, so the library lives in the app and WRITE is pressed on the unit. The app selects the target pattern and dumps the sound so all you do is confirm. The whole parameter map comes from the official v1.02 manual. PRIVACY Nothing is collected. No accounts, no network, no analytics. Your sounds stay on your device. Made by fantasmogenesis.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: S at $2.99 against StepBud's $4.99. StepBud's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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
StepBud costs $4.99 and S $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | StepBud | S |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (38 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 70.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 38 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cem Olcay | Cristopher Alejandro Yescas Arreola |
In-app purchases
StepBud
No in-app purchases
S
No in-app purchases









