Alto vs midi Sampler
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Alto
A comprehensive guide to musical instruments, detailing their registers, transpositions, playability, and sound characteristics. Explore dozens of instruments by family, alphabetically, or by score order, with highlighted registers and simple transposition features.
- Instrument registers and transpositions
- Playability and sound characteristics
- Explore by family, alphabet, or score
- Registers highlighted by difficulty/timbre
- Simple transposition feature
- Includes woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, vocals, and more
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This is the ultimate instruments guide for musicians, composers, songwriters, conductors, students and educators. It includes the registers, transpositions, playability, and sound characteristics of dozens of instruments. With this app, you can: - Explore by family, alphabetically, or by score order - See registers highlighted by difficulty and timbre - Transpose with a simple tap - See open strings, vocal ranges, timpani tunings for different sizes of drums, and more. In this version: - Woodwinds: Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Eb Clarinet, Bb Clarinet, A Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Chromatic Harmonica, Diatonic Harmonica, Ocarina, Bassoon, Contrabassoon - Brass: French Horn, Piccolo Trumpet, Trumpet in D, Trumpet in C, Trumpet in Bb, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Tuba - Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass - Keyboard and Percussion: Piano, Celesta, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone, Fender Rhodes, Xylophone, Timpani - Choral: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass - Operatic: Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass - Harp - Guitar, Bass Guitar
midi Sampler
Transform your device into a powerful musical instrument sampler. Record or import sounds to create custom instruments, play live with virtual keyboards, or connect an external MIDI controller. Explore a vast library of free sound samples.
- Create custom instruments from single sounds
- Receive MIDI messages from external keyboards
- Import common audio formats (wav, mp3, caf, m4a)
- Automatic scale generation across 8 octaves
- Two independent multi-touch virtual keyboards
- Free downloadable sound samples
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"midi Sampler" turns your device into a sampler for professional musicians and / or DJs composers able to: - Create the entire musical instrument from a single sampled sound - Receive MIDI messages from an external MIDI keyboard and play the corresponding notes - Turn any MIDI keyboard in any musical instrument / special effect that you want The application is simple and immediate ... once started you can immediately play the musical instrument of default "GRAND PIANO" (or download, by pressing the "i" (info button) -> "SAMPLES" of "midi keyboard", and play the FREE sound samples available on website www.ngcybit.it -> "Samples Collection"). To create a new musical instrument just: 1) record only one sound / voice / special effect "note: LA" or "note: A" (using the record button of "midi Sampler") or create it using any wave editor for Mac or PC (for example: Audacity). All the common audio formats are supported by "midi Sampler": - wav - mp3 - caf - m4a - etc ... 2) import the sound recorded or created with Your hands in your device: - through synchronization (using the iTunes software for Mac or PC) - by using the "iTunes File Sharing" 3) select the sound that you have imported using the buttons "Import" and/or "Samples" of "midi Sampler": "midi Sampler" will create for you the full scale of sounds and assign them to the virtual keyboard with 8 octaves of "midi Sampler", at which point you can play live with your instrument or entertain your friends with a scale of special effects using the two independent keyboards displayed on the monitor of the device and/or using any external MIDI keyboard connected to your device via: - iRig MIDI adapter - a camera connection kit USB adapter + USB to MIDI adapter (Apple compatible - generally used to connect an external MIDI keyboard to a Mac or PC) You can also import a song from the iTunes library and by controlling "SAMPLE START POSITION" select a sound of interest by extracting it from the imported song: "midi Sampler" will automatically create the complete musical instrument. The "SAMPLE START POSITION" control can also be used to choose the exact start position of the sound sample to be played: the "SAMPLE ATTACK POSITION". With "midi Sampler" you can record or manually create the sound you want and turn your device + external MIDI keyboard in any musical instrument you want! Features: - Import any type of sound and automatic generation of the scale of sounds (8 octaves) - Ability to store an infinite number sounds using the archive of sounds ("Samples Archive") of "midi Sampler" - "Samples Collection" with many sound samples free downloadable - "General MIDI samples" FREE library downloadable from the "Samples Collection" - Two independent keyboards multi-touch (24 + 24 keys) with independent octaves control for each keyboard - Ability to receive the MIDI messages from an external MIDI keyboard / MIDI device (with independent octaves control) - Filter for the MIDI IN messages - "Bending" control to change the sound in real time - "Sample Start Position" control to remove the initial part of a sound sample (eg silence) by specifying the start time instant of the sample (AUDIO CUT FEATURE) - "Sustain Pedal" - Multi voices (up to 96) - Default "GRAND PIANO" sample - Ability of "recording" of musical patterns during live performances: enabling the recording (using the "midi Sampler" recording button), "midi Sampler" will record (audio file) the music played by the user using the keyboard (multi-touch keyboards or external MIDI keyboard)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Alto at 67% against midi Sampler's 0%. Alto also leads on rating (4.3 vs 2.6) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 30 months). midi Sampler's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.6). On ratings volume, 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
Alto costs $4.99 and midi Sampler $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Alto holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Alto's written reviews are positive against 0% of midi Sampler's.
Alto ships an update every 2 months, midi Sampler every 30 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Alto | midi Sampler |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (6 ratings) — better | 2.6 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 30 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Erik Lee | Gianluca Natalini |
Customer experience
Alto
midi Sampler
In-app purchases
Alto
No in-app purchases
midi Sampler
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Alto free?
Is midi Sampler free?
Which has better reviews, Alto or midi Sampler?
Do Alto or midi Sampler have ads?
Which is updated more often, Alto or midi Sampler?
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