Chamberlin vs Outer Space
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chamberlin
Experience the iconic sounds of the Chamberlin, a vintage tape-driven keyboard instrument. This app emulates the unique sonic characteristics of the original M1 Chamberlin, offering authentic instrument sounds for musicians and enthusiasts.
- Authentic Chamberlin sounds
- M1 Chamberlin emulation
- Core MIDI support
- Audiobus output
- MIDI input support
- Tape-based playback emulation
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This is the official and the only Chamberlin app with sounds from the original library. It contains 8 sounds from both the Chamberlin library and an emulation of the sound characteristics of the M1 Chamberlin. This instrument supports Core Midi, Audiobus output (Audiobus 2 & 3) and midi input (Audiobus 3 only). The Chamberlin is a keyboard instrument that, like the Mellotron, uses magnetic tape to play back recordings where each key has one tape. When you press a key, the tape starts and the corresponding pre-recorded note or sound is played back. When you release the key the tape is quickly rewound back to the start point. Invented in 1950 by the American, Harry Chamberlin, it became popular among recording musicians when it was manufactured in the UK as the Mellotron (a hyphenation of "melody-electronics"). Before the introduction of digital samplers, this was the only way for keyboardists to play real instrument sounds like strings, flutes, rhythm ensembles and sound effects from a keyboard instrument. Few people know about Chamberlins and Mellotrons, but almost everybody has heard the sounds they produce. Among the most well-known tracks are BeatIes "Strawberry Fields Forewer" (Mellotron flute), Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin" (Mellotron 3 violins), Oasis "Wonderwall" (Mellotron cello), Radiohead "Exit Music for a Film" (Mellotron choir), Lana del Rey "Ride" (Chamberlin flute), Air Soundtrack to "Virgin Suicides" (Chamberlin Female Voice), GOTYE "Somebody That I Used to Know" (Chamberlin flute). We at Mellotron.com have collected, conserved and improved Mellotrons since 1989, and have been making tape Mellotrons since 1999 (the MkVI and MkVII). Please check out our websites www.mellotron.com and www.digitalmellotron.com for a more complete history, real hardware instruments, our new digital M4000D series of instruments and the Mellotron Micro, tapes from the original masters, parts, service and lots of more info.
Outer Space
This app emulates a vintage tape echo unit from the seventies, featuring three playback heads and two spring reverb tanks. It models various tape responses and analog imperfections for authentic sound.
- Tape echo emulation
- Three playback heads
- Two spring reverb tanks
- Multiple tape responses
- Analog imperfection modeling
- AUv3 and Standalone support
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Outer Space is a faithful emulation plugin of a famous vintage tape echo made in the early seventies. As the original unit, Outer Space features a tape echo section with three playback heads and two spring reverb tanks. We have modelled three different tape frequency responses and saturations, along with all the analog imperfections of tape recording/playback. Available as AUv3 and Standalone.
Screenshots
Verdict
Chamberlin and Outer Space both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Outer Space's written reviews are positive against 50% of Chamberlin's. Outer Space also leads on ratings volume (16 vs 3). Chamberlin's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $19.99) and update cadence (daily vs every 6 months). On rating, 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
Chamberlin costs $1.99 and Outer Space $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Chamberlin against 5.0 for Outer Space. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outer Space has 16 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Chamberlin's written reviews are positive against 100% of Outer Space's.
Chamberlin ships an update daily, Outer Space every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chamberlin | Outer Space |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 141 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Markus Resch | AudioThing Ltd. |
Customer experience
Chamberlin
Outer Space
In-app purchases
Chamberlin
No in-app purchases
Outer Space
No in-app purchases









