DM1 vs DrumComputer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DM1
Create electronic music with a powerful drum machine app. Features a step sequencer, drum pads, mixer, FX trackpads, and song composer. Offers a vast library of drum kits and instruments, with options to import your own samples.
- Step Sequencer
- Drum Pads
- Mixer
- FX Trackpads
- Song Composer
- Instrument Mode
- Sample Import
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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 duo of FX trackpads to distort, modulate and transform your beats. The effects include: Overdrive, Delay, Reverb, Envelope follower, Phaser, Dub Delay, Formant, Texturizer, Robotizer, Filter, Dalek filter, Compressor 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 • Samples Import from AudioShare, iPod Library, microphone, DropBox, AudioCopy and iTunes shared folder • Step Sequencer with multi-touch matrix • Time signature • 16 or 32 Steps per patterns • Mixer page with pitch, length and level rotary controls, pan controls, choke and custom drum kit per channel • Automation Panel for a precise and intuitive control of any Mixer parameter over time • Duo FX Trackpads for real-time sonic destruction and multi-FX • Live Waveform display for FX pads • FX per track • FX automation (FX parameters and FX per pattern) • 9 Big Drum pads, quantized recording and pitch-bend ribbon • Pitch-bend ribbon automation • Mode song with intuitive editing • High-quality export to SoundCloud, DropBox, AudioShare, Facebook, email, iTunes shared folder or AudioCopy • Separated tracks and AAC encoding export options • The Randomizer tool • Extra fast drum kit loading • Playable pattern selection for extra creativity • Audio background mode • Audiobus support • Import & Export your song project (DropBox, Mail, iTunes folder) • Full Midi implementation • Midi export • 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
DrumComputer
This app is a powerful tool for creating synthetic drum sounds using a variety of synthesis methods and sequencers. It offers intelligent randomization, flexible modulation, and pattern editing to generate unique beats and explore new sonic possibilities.
- 8 multi-layer sound engines
- Flexible modulation matrix
- Intelligent randomizers for sound generation
- 16-step sequencer with pattern generation
- AUv3 plugin and standalone support
- MIDI file export and multiple outputs
- Preset iCloud sync and sharing
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DrumComputer is the new specialist for synthetic drums, combining classic and modern synthesis with flexible modulations and luxurious sequencing. Intelligent randomizers, elegant pattern editing and import of your own samples are just a few of the mind blowing possibilities. Enjoy new drums everyday and get inspired by all the creativity that DrumComputer sets free. Just because, there still is all the unheard of... More than 400 global presets and 450 engine presets are shipping with DrumComputer. Add the Sound Randomizer and you have an unlimited source of cool sounds. ::FEATURES:: • 8 Sound Engines, each one layering a Resonator, Wavetable/Analogue, Resynth and Sampler • Filter, Compressor, Overdrive and 2 kinds of Send Reverbs: Room and Hall • 2x Env/LFO, plus Synth-Engine-Modulators, Sequencer-Modulators, ModMatrix • Intelligent Randomizers for endless Drum Sounds • 16 Step Sequencer and Pattern Generator, Probability, Rolls, +/- Step Delay, Swing, Humanize • Auto- und Manual Remixing/Fills • Easy Keyboard Mapping for Patterns, Mutes and Engine Triggers • Keyzones for Rolls, Pitch and Modulation • AUv3 plug-in with MIDI FX support & Standalone • Audio Bounce • MIDI File Export • Multiple Audio/MIDI Outputs • Virtual, Network, External & Bluetooth MIDI • Ableton Link • MIDI Learn & Host Automation • Preset iCloud Sync • Preset Share ••• Sound Engines ••• 8 individual 3-layer synth engines to design, shape and sculpt powerful drum hits. Depth modulation area with envelopes, LFOs, and a complex modulation matrix to change most parameters using a wide array of sources. Finest noise table conversion technology, followed by a filter, distortion and side chain compressor. ••• Sequencer ••• Enjoy smart randomization to create patterns that feel natural and organic and add some feeling to the pattern with swing and 'humanization'. Move various parameters along to match the notes, such as velocity, pitch, decay, probability, roll and offset. ••• Kit Page ••• Bring all the individual sounds together in one place, select new sound presets or even randomly generate new sounds based on various sound type profiles and give your kit some character, punch and an analogue feel! ••• Mix ••• With Volume, Mute, Solo, Pan as well as two reverb return channels you can send any of your sounds to at any time and also assign the mixer parameters as modulation destinations. The Room reverb gives you a nice familiar space, letting you glue together multiple drum sounds, while the Hall reverb gives a massive space you can use either as a utility, or as way to fire your sounds off into the cosmos! ••• Mapping ••• Create up to 16 individual patterns (from scratch, or using the easy copy/paste function), and chain these together into a sequence, up to 16 patterns long. Use your MIDI keyboard or controller to send values that quickly and seamlessly switch between patterns on the fly. Quickly remove and add the individual hits, trigger rolls of different speeds, or even have them as pitch modifiers. ••• Auto- and Manual Remixing/Fills ••• Mash up your patterns with one simple parameter and produce all sorts of automatic and random edits to your sound. Add creative fills and variations to your loop to keep it constantly moving with fresh ideas - great for jamming or to prevent audio stagnation. ••• Wavetable/Resynth Import & Sampler ••• Import your own audiofiles to create Wavetables. Resynthesize Hihats, Snares, even Chords with the Resynth import feature or switch to Sampler mode to play back samples the ordinary way.
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DrumComputer at Free against DM1's $9.99. DrumComputer also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). DM1's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
DrumComputer is free to download; DM1 costs $9.99 up front. DM1 sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and DrumComputer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
DrumComputer holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 138 and 621 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of DM1's written reviews are positive against 81% of DrumComputer's.
DM1 ships an update every 2 months, DrumComputer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DM1 | DrumComputer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (138 ratings) | 4.8 (621 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.3% of reviews | 81.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 138 | 621 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 310 MB | 1.6 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fingerlab | Sugar Bytes GmbH |
Customer experience
DM1
DrumComputer
User reviews
DM1
From 138 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful and feature-rich
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💯 Excellent sound quality
- 🎨 Versatile with many drum kits
- 🎢 Fun and engaging to play with
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔊 Distortion and audio quality problems
- 🕰️ Inaccurate tempo and sync issues
- 🔀 Difficulty with pattern and song management
- 🔒 Limited import/export and sharing options
DrumComputer
From 621 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best iOS drum machine
- 👍 Wicked easy to use interface
- 👍 Great sound and workflow
- 👍 Powerful and flexible sequencer
- 👍 Tons of customization options
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🔋 High CPU usage and battery drain
- 👎 Confusing and complex interface
- 👎 Lack of MIDI mapping for live use
- 👎 Inability to record beats from pads
Bugs and requests
DM1
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes on startup or during use
- Audio distortion and quality degradation
- Inaccurate tempo and timing issues
- Inability to save or load custom patterns
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Custom sample import and kit creation
- Expanded time signature and subdivision options
- Independent pattern tempo and effects control
- Improved MIDI and inter-app connectivity
- Ability to rearrange and loop song sections
DrumComputer
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on startup with iOS 14.2
- Inability to import samples in some cases
- MIDI out only supports single channel
Requested features
7 requests- Add real-time beat recording
- Improve MIDI mapping capabilities
- Add randomization options for tempo, sequence length, and mixing
- Improve preset management (ability to delete presets)
- Optimize for better performance and battery life
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- Add a dedicated envelope for mixer level control
- Improve signal flow visualization and clarity
In-app purchases
DM1
- More Vintage Pack 1$0.99
- More Acoustic Pack 1$0.99
- More DM1 Pack 1$0.99
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- More Styles Pack 1$0.99
- More Instrument Pack 1$0.99
- All Packs$3.99
DrumComputer
- DrumComputer Full Version$29.99









