SynthStation vs Tape Death
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SynthStation
Transform your mobile device into a portable music studio. Create melodies, bass lines, and drum beats with virtual synthesizers, drum kits, and a built-in sequencer. Offers real-time recording and extensive effects for unlimited sonic creativity.
- Three virtual-analog synthesizers
- Over 50 drum kits
- Built-in sequencer
- Arpeggiator with preset patterns
- Core MIDI-compatible
- Real-time recording
- Effects and filters
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Low $1.99 price extended! Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 to iOS 6.1.3 Features • Three virtual-analog synthesizers, each with three oscillators • More than 50 drum kits, plus a built-in sequencer • Create melodic and accompaniment parts using arpeggiator with preset patterns • Core MIDI-compatible: works with any Core MIDI device as a synth module on your iOS device • Real-time recording • Unlimited creativity with effects and filters • Compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch • Requires iOS 4.3 or later Transform your iPhone into a music production studio. SynthStation transforms your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into a portable music production studio for mobile music creation. SynthStation gives you three powerful synthesizers for creating and modifying sonic textures used for melodies, chords, and bass lines. Built around Akai Professional’s history in synthesis and drawing on the newest MINIAK synth, SynthStation sounds great and offers wide-ranging sonic flexibility with its virtual analog synthesis. From the moment you start SynthStation, you'll know your way around. It is jam-packed with tools to help you create music with the convenience of your touch screen and each section works the way you work. With SynthStation, you can create and save sequences and complete songs. The app contains three different three-oscillator synths and a range of drum kits you can sequence and mix right in the SynthStation. For creating melodic and accompaniment parts, the SynthStation contains an arpeggiator with preset patterns, built-in effects and filters, and an XY touch control interface for expressive control of key parameters. PERFORM Play with keys, XY and arpeggiator controls. This is perfect place to make magic happen because it gives you access to all the common controls you’ll need in a performance or creation setting. SYNTH Complete synthesis controls from oscillators to LFOs, envelopes, and more. You can control a wide range of filters to dial in exactly the sound you need. Choose from Sine, Triangle, Square or Sawtooth on your VCO and start creating your own signature sounds from scratch. Filter Cutoff and Resonance are just two taps away. DRUMS In addition to SynthStation's three synthesizers, we've included drum kits and a visual representation of the most iconic beat making tool in the world - MPC pads. Just pick your kit and start tapping beats anywhere, anytime. Includes: Drum Kit – select the drum kit and play it with onscreen pads. Drum Edit – tune, mix, and customize your drums. SEQUENCER Keyboard grid – see your keyboard sequencing and edit notes easily. Drum grid – build and modify drum tracks with a visible sequencer grid. SONG/SEQUENCE Select and save your Song/Sequence projects. You can recall your Songs and work on them later, and even export them for further editing in your desktop audio applications. CONTROL XY – two axes of control for hands-on, real-time control. Just like a joystick, the XY controller can snap back to the zero point. Tempo – control tempo and even tap in the tempo you want. MIXER The Mixer in SynthStation includes touch-controlled faders for each of the three synthesizers and the drum section as well as FX send for each. Mixer – mix all the levels of the parts and effects. Just like a hardware mixer, there are faders, mutes, and effect routing. Effects – select and control FX type and parameters. SynthStation Studio enables you to create and produce music anywhere on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
Tape Death
This app is a unique four-tape looping instrument that degrades over time, creating evolving, decaying sounds. Record audio, manipulate tape characteristics like warmth and wobble, and share your sonic creations.
- Four decaying tape loops
- Record from microphone
- Overdubbing
- Forward, reverse, and ping-pong playback
- Adjustable tape wear
- Character-based sound shaping
- Global reverb and echo effects
- Export audio and save sessions
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Tape Death is a four-tape looping instrument that falls apart while you play it. Record a loop onto a cassette and it plays forever — but it never holds still. Every second it runs, the tape wears: the highs fray, dropouts bloom, the pitch begins to sag. Nothing you make will ever sound new again. That's the point. This isn't a clean, non-destructive studio — it's a machine for sounds that rot beautifully. Four tapes, each aging on its own. Layer them, warp them, drown them in space, and bottle the decaying mix to share. FOUR TAPES • Record straight from your mic — a voice, an instrument, the whole room. • Overdub to build layers onto a single loop. • Play each tape forward, in reverse, or ping-ponging back and forth. • Every tape keeps its own character and its own state of decay. DECAY IS THE INSTRUMENT • Tapes wear permanently as they play — the heart of the whole app. • Dial each tape from "eternal" to "dying," or age them all together. • Begin the disintegration again whenever you like — your settings stay. CHARACTER, NO NUMBERS Shape each tape by feel, not by figures. Every control is a drag between two words: • WARMTH — clean to melted tape saturation • DUST — quiet to snowy hiss and grit • WOBBLE — steady to seasick wow & flutter • TONE — dark to bright • SPACE — each tape's own echo and reverb (spring, hall, cathedral, shimmer, void; standard, ping-pong, and granular delays) THE ROOM A shared space every tape plays into — one reverb, one echo, one bus compressor to glue the whole mix, and a global decay to age everything at once. BOTTLE IT Capture the living, decaying mix to an audio file and share it anywhere. Save whole setups as sessions and return to them. Tape Death records everything on device. No account, no sign-in, nothing collected, and it works fully offline. It keeps playing in the background, too. Make something. Let it die.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tape Death at Free against SynthStation's $1.99. Tape Death also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.3). SynthStation's advantage is ratings volume (178 vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). On 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
Tape Death is free to download; SynthStation costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Tape Death holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SynthStation has 178 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | SynthStation | Tape Death |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.3 (178 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 30.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 178 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 4.3 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Akai Professional | Colton Harker |
Bugs and requests
SynthStation
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes on startup
- No sound output
- Midi connectivity problems
- Incompatible with latest iOS versions
- Saved projects not loading properly
Requested features
5 requests- Audiobus/Inter-App Audio support
- More synth/drum samples
- Ability to save custom sounds
- Improved sequencing capabilities
- Easier audio export options
Tape Death
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SynthStation
No in-app purchases
Tape Death
No in-app purchases









