Comparison

DM2 The Drum Machine vs Phosphor 3

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

Head to head
About

DM2 The Drum Machine

Create and manipulate electronic beats with a synthesis-based drum machine. Features a graphic editor for sound design, a step sequencer with customizable patterns, and finger-drumming capabilities. Includes a mixer, effects processor, and song arrangement tools for exporting and sharing your music.

Highlights
  • Synthesis-based sound creation
  • Graphic sound editor
  • 16/32 step sequencer with polymetric options
  • Finger-drumming with recording and quantization
  • Professional mixer and FX section
  • Song arrangement and export capabilities
  • MIDI mappable with over 130 parameters
Read full description

DM2 is a synthesis-based drum machine with a dedicated graphic editor, for the creation and manipulation of sound . Yeah, blah blah blah… let’s start again. Your lucky stars have all aligned. There are blue skies and smooth sailing ahead. So throw your worries away, and get ready for DM2 to bring endless fun and blissful joy to your face. Your colleagues and friends will be amazed at the new you, wondering how your fingers produce such ravishing beats. Strangers may come up to you in cafés and ask you, “That rhythm sounds like heaven. How do you do that?”. Life can be good, so tap your feet, shake your head and let’s start making some groovy electronic beats with DM2. DM2 has been made by the core team that brought you DM1, one of the consistent best selling drum machines for iPad, awarded with an Apple Design Award in 2012. If DM1 was cool, DM2 is ice cold. Now let’s talk business. DM2 contains 6 pages. Each page does 1 thing. Or perhaps 2. A BIG, BIG STEP SEQUENCER. 16 or 32 step patterns. Or why not 7 or 25 steps? Or even polymetric tracks (poly what? no worries, just a fancy word for complex rhythms, yet super easy to make). And while we are at it, steps can also be singles, duplets, triplets or quadruplets for even sophisticated rhythms. Again it is all about drawing funny objects to make funky beats. THE DRUMS PAGE. Where the sonic magic happens. Six touchable graphs to create sounds. Oscillators, LFOs, filters, noise generators, all the usual suspects in a drawable interface. This may look a tiny bit daunting at first, but the beauty is that whatever you touch, you’re not going to break anything. So give everything a whirl, and get experimental. And if you need some inspiration, DM2 contains plenty of ready-made sounds too. THE PADS PAGE. Maybe you prefer finger-drumming? Sure, go ahead. Press REC and record your rhythms. Of course, there is an automatic quantize function, so that you’ll never miss a beat again. THE MIXER PAGE. Big and beautiful, it will transform your iPad into a professional mixing desk for the price of a magazine. THE FX SECTION. A powerful Effect processor. Just switch everything on and see where it takes you. THE SONG PAGE. Last but not least, put all your hard work in the previous pages together in a shiny song. DM2 is fully MIDI-mappable with more than 130 assignable parameters that can be controlled by an external MIDI controller. Finally, because music makes the people come together and mixes both the bourgeoisie and the rebel, you can export your creations to share with the world. DM2 is packed full of save/import/export abilities. Ahh, the wonder of modern technology! For anyone interested in immersing themselves in some tech specs, please see below. Otherwise, feel free to stop reading now, grab your copy of DM2, and get jamming. What are you waiting for? ———————————————————————————————— Website : www.audionomy.fr Youtube : www.audionomy.fr/youtube.htm Facebook : www.facebook.com/audionomydev Twitter : www.twitter.com/ audionomyapps ———————————————————————————————— • Graphic design by Jonas Eriksson, world class graphic master • Drum kits can be saved, exported and imported (iTunes, iCloud, Dropbox, etc) • 16 or 32 Steps Polymetric Sequencer • Single, duplet, triplet or quadruplet step • Audio Synthesis with graphic editor • 1 oscillator + 1 noise generator • 2 self-oscillating filters • 2 volume envelopes • Pitch modulation • Distortion per track • Stereo panning • Copy, paste and swap sounds • Pads to record patterns, with Beat Repeat effect • Full Mixing Desk • 4 Effect Pads : Compressor | Overdrive | Phaser | Chorus | Delay | Reverb • Mode song • Songs export and import • Export audio • Full Midi implementation • Audiobus + IAA + Ableton Link compatible ————————————————————————————————

About

Phosphor 3

This app recreates a vintage digital synthesizer, offering a faithful emulation of a classic sound engine. It includes modern features like MPE, extensive modulation, and a new UI for sonic exploration.

Highlights
  • Vintage digital synthesizer emulation
  • Additive synthesis engine
  • MPE support
  • Extensive modulation routing
  • Preset manager
  • Tuning tables
Read full description

Glow in the dark synthesis. Phosphor 3 is a dual-oscillator additive synthesizer that puts the raw building blocks of sound at your fingertips. Draw, randomize, or select up to 64 harmonics per oscillator, then shape them with envelopes, LFOs, cross-modulation, and a flexible mod matrix. Originally inspired by the alphaSyntauri, a rare digital additive synth from the early 1980s, Phosphor 3 takes that concept far beyond its origins with modern MPE expression, polyphonic modulation, and a full effects engine. --- Additive Oscillators Two identical additive oscillators, each with up to 64 individually editable harmonics. Start from classic shapes: sawtooth, triangle, square, or draw your own harmonic spectrum directly in the partial editor. The intelligent randomizer generates musically useful timbres with variable rolloff, density, and formant peaks, so every click produces something worth exploring. Choose 16, 32, or 64 partials per oscillator to balance complexity against CPU. Each oscillator has independent level, pan, transpose, fine tune, a noise generator with lo-fi downsampling, and cross-modulation (FM) for pushing timbres into harsher, more complex territory. Modulation Two ADSR envelopes with adjustable attack, decay, and release curves. Two LFOs with four waveforms (pulse, sine, saw, random), tempo sync, and the option to run polyphonically, a separate LFO per voice, or globally. An 8-source modulation matrix routes velocity, pressure, pitch bend, mod wheel, CC 74, triggered random, and both LFOs to destinations across the oscillators and effects. Effects Stereo delay with independent left/right time, feedback, and cross-channel feedback for ping-pong and rhythmic patterns. Tempo sync locks delay times to your DAW. Dual band-pass filters after the delay let you carve the wet signal into resonant, frequency-specific textures. Expression Full MPE support with per-note pitch bend, pressure, and slide across 16 polyphonic voices. Mono legato and mono retrigger modes with adjustable portamento. Unison mode for thick, detuned stacks. A scrollable 128-key on-screen keyboard with velocity from touch position, pitch bend from horizontal drag, and channel pressure from vertical drag, no hardware controller required. Tuning MTS-ESP client support for real-time microtuning from any MTS-ESP master. TUN file import for custom scales. Standard 12-TET with adjustable A4 reference. Supports AUv3 for use in GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, and other AUv3-compatible hosts.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: DM2 The Drum Machine at every 6 weeks against Phosphor 3's every 11 months. Phosphor 3's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (79% vs 67%). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

DM2 The Drum Machine costs $5.99 and Phosphor 3 $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Phosphor 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of DM2 The Drum Machine's written reviews are positive against 79% of Phosphor 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DM2 The Drum Machine ships an update every 6 weeks, Phosphor 3 every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and July 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
DM2 The Drum Machine versus Phosphor 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDM2 The Drum MachinePhosphor 3
Price$5.99$5.99
Rating4.3 (14 ratings)4.7 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPascal DouillardAudio Damage, Inc.

Customer experience

DM2 The Drum Machine

All ratings13 ratings
Positive76.9%
Neutral7.7%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative26.7%

Phosphor 3

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral14.3%
Negative7.1%

In-app purchases

None

DM2 The Drum Machine

No in-app purchases

None

Phosphor 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DM2 The Drum Machine free?
DM2 The Drum Machine costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phosphor 3 free?
Phosphor 3 costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DM2 The Drum Machine or Phosphor 3?
Phosphor 3 is rated higher. DM2 The Drum Machine averages 4.3 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Phosphor 3 averages 4.7 from 9 ratings.
Do DM2 The Drum Machine or Phosphor 3 have ads?
Neither DM2 The Drum Machine nor Phosphor 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DM2 The Drum Machine or Phosphor 3?
DM2 The Drum Machine ships an update every 6 weeks, and Phosphor 3 every 11 months. Most recently, DM2 The Drum Machine was updated on September 16, 2026 and Phosphor 3 on July 6, 2026.

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