Comparison

Sanshin vs FET Acoustic Compressor

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

Head to head
About

Sanshin

Learn to play the traditional Okinawan Sanshin instrument with this app. It displays finger positions and corresponds to "Kun-Kun-Shi" musical scores in Kanji, making it accessible even for beginners.

Highlights
  • Learn Sanshin finger positions
  • Kanji score display
  • Beginner-friendly interface
  • Okinawan music exploration
  • Interactive learning tool
Read full description

The "Sanshin" (Sanxian,三線) is a traditional and very popular musical instrument in Okinawa. Okinawa is beautiful islands located on the end of the southwest of Japan. The Sanshin is indispensable to life of people in Okinawa with traditional "Shima-Uta" that means song of islands. The Sanshin looks like the shamisen that is the tradition musical instrument of Japan similarly. But, the performance method of the Sanshin is farther simpler than the Shamisen,and is friendly musical instrument. In this application, proper finger positions will be displayed on the screen with Kanji. These also correspond to scores that is called "Kun-Kun-Shi" written in Kanji. We hope you will enjoy playing the Sanshin even if you have not played a Sanshin. Please try and enjoy it!

About

FET Acoustic Compressor

This app emulates the warm, musical character of classic FET compressors for acoustic instruments and more. It offers intuitive controls for punch, presence, and glue, with a special "All-In" mode for aggressive sounds. Designed for mobile studios and live performance.

Highlights
  • Classic FET compression emulation
  • Voiced for acoustic guitar, versatile for other instruments
  • Intuitive controls: IN, ATTACK, RELEASE, RATIO, OUT, DRY, SC HPF
  • Special "All-In" mode for aggressive sounds
  • AUv3 plugin support for popular DAWs
  • Low latency for live performance
  • Factory presets included
Read full description

FET Acoustic Compressor brings the warm, musical character of classic FET compression — voiced in the tradition of the Cali76 by Origin Effects and the vintage 1176 circuit it's based on — to your iPhone and iPad. Dialed in for acoustic guitar, but equally at home on electric guitar, bass, vocals, keys, or any source that benefits from that signature FET feel. Whether you're tracking at home, mixing in a DAW, or running signal live through Loopy Pro or AUM, FET Acoustic Compressor gives your sound the punch, presence, and glue it needs. Voiced for feel The compression curve, soft knee, and gentle FET saturation are tuned for the transients and dynamics of acoustic strings — but that voicing translates beautifully to any instrument that needs a compressor with character. It sits, it glues, it breathes. Full control, intuitive layout - IN — Drive the input and push into compression - ATTACK / RELEASE — Fast enough to catch a pick attack; slow enough to let the body bloom - RATIO — 2:1 to 20:1 for everything from gentle leveling to heavy squash - OUT — Trim your output level - DRY — Blend in parallel compression for the best of both worlds - SC HPF — High-pass the sidechain so low-end doesn't trick the detector - Gain Reduction Meter — See exactly what's happening in real time All-In mode Tap the RATIO label to activate All-In — the infamous "all buttons simultaneously" trick from vintage 1176-style compressors. Ratio jumps to 100:1, the knee tightens, and asymmetric FET saturation adds the gritty, pumping character that's made this mode a go-to for aggressive sounds. A secret weapon hiding in plain sight. Factory presets to get you started - Compressed Fingerstyle - Dynamic Fingerstyle - Pop Strumming Built for the mobile studio and stage - AUv3 plugin — use in GarageBand, AUM, Loopy Pro, Cubasis, and any AUv3 host - Low latency — optimized for live performance and real-time processing - 4x oversampled processing for clean, artifact-free compression - Designed for iPhone and iPad *Cali76 is a trademark of Origin Effects Ltd. 1176 and UREI are trademarks of their respective owners. GarageBand is a trademark of Apple Inc. AUM is a product of Kymatica AB. Loopy Pro is a product of A Tasty Pixel. FET Acoustic Compressor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the above companies.*

Screenshots

Sanshin4 screens
FET Acoustic Compressor1 screens

Verdict

The call

Sanshin and FET Acoustic Compressor both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of FET Acoustic Compressor's written reviews are positive against 25% of Sanshin's. FET Acoustic Compressor also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 16 months). Sanshin's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $5.99). On rating, 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

Sanshin costs $1.99 and FET Acoustic Compressor $5.99 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 — 5.0 for Sanshin against 5.0 for FET Acoustic Compressor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 25% of Sanshin's written reviews are positive against 100% of FET Acoustic Compressor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sanshin ships an update every 16 months, FET Acoustic Compressor every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sanshin versus FET Acoustic Compressor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSanshinFET Acoustic Compressor
Price$1.99 — better$5.99
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCRIMSON TECHNOLOGY, IncShelbybark LLC

Customer experience

Sanshin

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral20.8%
Negative54.2%

FET Acoustic Compressor

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sanshin

No in-app purchases

None

FET Acoustic Compressor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sanshin free?
Sanshin costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is FET Acoustic Compressor free?
FET Acoustic Compressor costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sanshin or FET Acoustic Compressor?
Sanshin and FET Acoustic Compressor are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Sanshin or FET Acoustic Compressor have ads?
Neither Sanshin nor FET Acoustic Compressor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sanshin or FET Acoustic Compressor?
Sanshin ships an update every 16 months, and FET Acoustic Compressor every 2 months. Most recently, Sanshin was updated on November 6, 2026 and FET Acoustic Compressor on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons