Comparison

Phosphor 3 vs TfxEcho

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

Head to head
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.

About

TfxEcho

This audio plugin offers a warm, dark echo effect inspired by analog delay units. It allows for adjustable delay times, feedback, and filters, with modulation capabilities and tempo syncing. The plugin captures high-frequency signals for a versatile sound.

Highlights
  • Echo and delay effect
  • BBD-inspired delay lines
  • Adjustable delay time (20-1200 ms)
  • Feedback control (0-100%)
  • Low-pass and high-pass filters
  • Modulation rate and width
  • Tempo sync
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

TfxEcho is an echo effect AudioUnit Extension plugin. It uses delay lines which are inspired by BBD (bucket brigade device). BBD is used in various analog delay unit and is known for its warm and dark sound. The delay line uses fixed length buffer and an artificial clock to sample input signal in variable sampling rate. When the delay time is changed, the delay line can produce pitch change effect which is similar to the behavior of the BBD based analog delay unit. The delay line is inspired by BBD, but it is not emulation of the any particular BBD. Unlike the typical BBD based delay unit, frequency range of the delay line is not limited. The delay line is capable to capture signal in higher frequency up to about 22KHz. Features AudioUnit Extension - Delay Time: From 20 ms to 1200 ms - Feedback: From 0 % to 100 % - Adjustable lowpass filter and high-pass filter. - Modulation rate: From 0.01 Hz to 10 Hz - Modulation width: From 0 ms to +/- 10 ms - Delay time can be synced to tempo provided by the host application. Host Application Host application uses system audio input as an audio source and processed audio signal is routed to the system audio output.

Screenshots

TfxEcho2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: TfxEcho at every 3 months against Phosphor 3's every 11 months. TfxEcho also leads on chart position (#185 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Phosphor 3 costs $5.99 and TfxEcho $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Phosphor 3 against 4.7 for TfxEcho. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 12 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Phosphor 3's written reviews are positive against 80% of TfxEcho's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phosphor 3 ships an update every 11 months, TfxEcho every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on July 6, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Phosphor 3 versus TfxEcho: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhosphor 3TfxEcho
Price$5.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.7 (9 ratings)4.7 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.6% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings912 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#185 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.5
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAudio Damage, Inc.Ryo Togawa

Customer experience

Phosphor 3

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

TfxEcho

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

Phosphor 3

No in-app purchases

None

TfxEcho

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Phosphor 3 free?
Phosphor 3 costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TfxEcho free?
TfxEcho costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Phosphor 3 or TfxEcho?
TfxEcho is rated higher. Phosphor 3 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while TfxEcho averages 4.7 from 12 ratings.
Do Phosphor 3 or TfxEcho have ads?
Neither Phosphor 3 nor TfxEcho shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phosphor 3 or TfxEcho?
Phosphor 3 ships an update every 11 months, and TfxEcho every 3 months. Most recently, Phosphor 3 was updated on July 6, 2026 and TfxEcho on September 20, 2026.

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