FunkBox Drum Machine vs DM1 for iPhone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FunkBox Drum Machine
This app offers a collection of vintage drum machine sounds for composing, recording, and performing music. It allows users to create custom drum kits, edit patterns, and export loops. It's compatible with various iOS devices and integrates with other music apps and hardware.
- Vintage drum machine sounds
- Compose, record, and play music
- Create custom drum boxes
- Edit and create rhythm patterns
- Export audio and MIDI loops
- Audiobus 3 and Inter-App Audio support
- Ableton Link and CoreMIDI sync
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Funkbox contains all your favorite vintage drum machine sounds in one funky quirky little app! FunkBox is a full featured drum machine that you can use to compose, record and play your songs live. It has been used in the studio by electronic artists such as Gorillaz (on their album “The Fall”) Tom Middleton (Global Communications, Jedi Knights) and Steve Cobby (Fila Brazillia), and also by alternative/indie musicians such as tUnE-yArDs, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA), Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre), and Reggie Pace (Bon Iver, No BS Brass). It's also been used on stage by rock/pop musicians such as Joan Osborne and Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) live in concert. Its quirky vintage sounds, ease of use and advanced features have made it popular with many musicians worldwide who use it to make all sorts of different styles of music. FunkBox was featured in Computer Music Magazine's "Amazing Music Apps" special issue and Electronic Musician magazine's "Attack of the Killer Apps" best music tools for the iPad. FunkBox 4.0 features: The look, feel, sound and quirks of a classic vintage drum machine. iOS 10 compatible, iPhone 5 retina graphics compatible, iPad retina graphics compatible. Universal app that works great on iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Buy it once and you can use it on all your iOS devices. Fourteen classic boxes to choose from, including favorites like the 808, 909, CR-78, LM-2, MRK-2, DX, TOM, and more. Create your own custom boxes by mix and matching preset samples, or even import and use your own custom samples. Includes 36 preset rhythm patterns, plus several more bonus banks. Easily edit the included patterns to create your own beats. Export your drum loops as audio or midi via email, audio pasteboard, or the iTunes folder. Easily share your custom boxes and patterns via email with your friends, or between your devices. Use Audiobus 3 and Inter-App Audio to exchange live audio with other apps. Use Ableton Link or CoreMIDI to sync up with “real” music equipment or other music apps, multi-tasking in the background or on other nearby iOS devices. Use the bonus MIDI bass sequencer to play a bassline along with your beat using another iOS app or a “real” hardware synth! …and lots more. Need some old school beats? Grab yourself some funk in a box.
DM1 for iPhone
Transform your iPhone into a powerful beat-making machine with this advanced vintage drum machine. Create intricate rhythms with a step sequencer, play beats on drum pads, and apply a wide range of real-time effects. Easily compose songs and export your creations.
- 154 electronic drum kits
- Step sequencer
- Drum pads with quantized recording
- Mixer with channel controls
- Real-time FX trackpads
- Song composer with timeline editing
- Instrument mode for melodies
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DM1 is an advanced vintage Drum Machine. It turns your iPhone into a fun and creative beat making machine. Easy and fast to use, loaded with 154 superb electronic drum kits and beautiful hyper-realistic graphics, DM1 has been designed for a lot of instant fun. As electronic musicians ourselves, we, at Fingerlab, have developed DM1 with the intention of delivering the perfect mix between fun playability and powerful sonic capacities. We always keep in mind the importance of a beautiful design with the right balance of powerful abilities while avoiding clumsy, overbusy interfaces. Check our 154 electronic drum kits. 42 classic vintage drum kits plus 112 in-house produced electronic kits, edited and mastered at Fingerlab professional studio. DM1 offers 5 main sections: 1 - THE STEP SEQUENCER frees your imagination with a smart use of the multi-touch screen. Just turn on and off steps in your sequence with the tip of your fingers to create cool beats, or unexpected rhythms! 2 - THE DRUM PADS simply lets you play and record the beat that tickles your fingers. No need to be a first-class drummer, automatic quantize does the work for you. 3 - THE MIXER for quick and subtle sound mixing of your drum kits. Featuring settings for volume, pitch, sample length, custom drum kit element for each channel, mute and solo mode. 4 - THE FX TRACKPADS a creative FX trackpad to distort, modulate and transform your beats. The effects include: Overdrive, Delay, Reverb, Phaser, Formant, Dalek, Filter, Compressor, Envelope follower, Dub Delay, Texturizer, Robotizer, and Noise Gate. 5 - THE SONG COMPOSER allows you to quickly make a song with the beat patterns you have created. Just drag and drop the patterns onto the timeline. Fast and easy. Specifications: - Retina Display - Graphic design by Jonas Eriksson - Smart ergonomy for fast creativity and fun - 108 vintage and produced drum kits, mastered at in-house Fingerlab Sound Studios - 48 additional drum kits available with In-App Purchases - Instrument mode allowing to add bassline, chord and melody - 3 instruments: Piano, Korg MicroPreset and Cello Strings - 3 other instrument (Clavinet, Marimba, MiniLogue) are available with In-App Purchases - Step Sequencer with multi-touch matrix - Mixer page with pitch, length and level rotary controls, pan controls, and custom drum kit per channel - 9 Drum pads, quantized recording - FX Trackpad for real-time sonic destruction - 16 or 32 Steps per patterns - The Randomizer tool - Extra fast drum kit loading - Playable pattern selection for extra creativity - Mode song with intuitive editing - High-quality export to SoundCloud, DropBox, Email, iTunes shared folder, AudioCopy or any other apps - Audio background mode - Audiobus support - Import & Export your song project (DropBox, Mail, iTunes folder) - Full Midi implementation - Inter-App Audio support Watch DM1 video trailer on YouTube Fingerlab's channel: http://www.youtube.com/fingerlab Feel free to let us know what you think and what you'd like to see in the next DM1 update. Enjoy! Watch us : vimeo.com/ fingerlab Visit us : fingerlab.net Follow us : twitter.com/ fingerlab Contact us : contact@fingerlab.net Powered by Fingerlab http://www.fingerlab.net
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: FunkBox Drum Machine at none against DM1 for iPhone's 1. FunkBox Drum Machine also leads on iOS requirement (9.3 vs 15.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
FunkBox Drum Machine costs $4.99 and DM1 for iPhone $4.99 up front. DM1 for iPhone sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. FunkBox Drum Machine asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for FunkBox Drum Machine against 4.1 for DM1 for iPhone. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 70 and 79 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of FunkBox Drum Machine's written reviews are positive against 73% of DM1 for iPhone's.
FunkBox Drum Machine ships an update every 2 months, DM1 for iPhone every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FunkBox Drum Machine | DM1 for iPhone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (70 ratings) — better | 4.1 (79 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.1% of reviews — better | 73.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 70 | 79 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 253 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synthetic Bits, LLC | Fingerlab |
Customer experience
FunkBox Drum Machine
DM1 for iPhone
User reviews
FunkBox Drum Machine
From 70 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent little classic drum machine with sequencer
- 👍 Great for messing around with some beats offline
- 👍 Usability and interface are superb (even moreso on an iPad)
- 👍 Samples sound good
- 👍 Fun, fast and simple keep inspiration at the forefront
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes whenever trying to open settings
- 🐛 App won't close, have to reboot every time
- 🐛 Saving patterns not working, crashes
- 🐛 Cannot access the settings, puts me back to Home Screen
- 🐛 Midi is a pain, always asks about Bluetooth, doesn't stay set
DM1 for iPhone
From 79 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💎 Best drum machine app
- 🎨 Great variety of drum sounds and kits
- 🎚️ Intuitive and easy to use interface
- 🔊 High-quality sound
- 💰 Excellent value for money
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 📱 Compatibility problems on newer devices
- 🔋 Battery drain
- 🔇 Lack of individual track export
- 🕰️ Inaccurate tempo and timing
Bugs and requests
FunkBox Drum Machine
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on iOS 7 for iPhone 5s
- Presets disappearing after update, unable to load saved banks
Requested features
11 requests- Please refresh and update the app a bit
- Add ability to customize drum sounds beyond just volume and panning
- Implement copy/paste functionality for sequences
- Allow programming in 3/4 time signature
- Add ability to adjust the pitch and tuning of drum sounds
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Implement song mode to chain patterns together
- Add ability to export each instrument as a separate WAV file
- Implement Ableton Link support
- Add ability to adjust the speed of the roll button
- Implement more effects and sound manipulation options
- Add a drop-down list for recalling presets instead of individual buttons
DM1 for iPhone
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on launch
- Audio distortion and glitches
- Sync and timing issues when exporting to other apps
- Unresponsive controls and UI elements
Requested features
7 requests- Add support for more time signatures (3/4, 5/4, etc.)
- Implement Ableton Link for better sync with other apps
- Allow importing and using custom samples
- Add more effects and per-channel processing
- Implement a save/revert function to avoid losing progress
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Improve tempo controls with finer adjustment and tap tempo
- Provide individual track export options
In-app purchases
FunkBox Drum Machine
No in-app purchases
DM1 for iPhone
- All Packs$3.99
Questions
Is FunkBox Drum Machine free?
Is DM1 for iPhone free?
Which has better reviews, FunkBox Drum Machine or DM1 for iPhone?
Do FunkBox Drum Machine or DM1 for iPhone have ads?
Which is updated more often, FunkBox Drum Machine or DM1 for iPhone?
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