Tabletop vs Core Synth HD
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tabletop
Create music with a modular studio environment. Mix and match over 40 virtual instruments, effects, and sequencers to compose songs, beats, and mashups. Expand your sound palette by purchasing additional devices.
- Modular music creation environment
- Over 40 virtual instruments and effects
- Mix and match devices
- Create beats, songs, and mashups
- Piano roll timeline editor
- MIDI support
- Share music to SoundCloud
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Tabletop is an expandable studio with over a dozen included musical devices. Tabletop is a modular environment where you can mix and match different devices. Select from over 40 devices including samplers, mixers, effects, sequencers and more. Buy only the gear you need from an expanding catalog. Need help? Email support@retronyms.com and we’ll answer your questions. Retronyms has partnered with industry giants like Akai Professional and Arturia to create some of the Tabletop-Ready Apps, like iMPC, iMini, and iProphet! Using the Tabletop features of time stretching and pitch shifting, you can slice loops and time stretch them to different tempos and pitches in iMPC Pro. You can also use sliced loops from purchased AudioCopy sound packs inside Gridlock and iMPC Pro. Loops from these sound packs will automatically match the tempo of your sessions. Tabletop is an audio playground where you can create beats, compose songs, mix live, make mashups with samples from your iPod library, and more... the possibilities are endless. Plug the output of a keyboard into a delay to add an echo, or wire it up to a mixer and adjust the pan. Chain up multiple effects to create new and evolving sounds. FEATURES: • 43 devices including effects, sequencers, drum machines, and synths • 14 devices are included for free • 64 bit audio support • Access powerful Tabletop-Ready Apps • Piano Roll style timeline editor • Cut, copy, paste, duplicate, and create notes • Control Tabletop’s keyboards, drum pads, knobs, faders, and other parameters • Correct note timing with Fix to Grid • Edit note length and velocity • Undo changes and edits with Tabletop’s History Menu • Features Core MIDI Support • Works with any MIDI-compatible hardware • Customize control mapping with Midi Learn mode • Connect multiple devices • Share your music to SoundCloud and interact with other Tabletop users
Core Synth HD
Create music with a powerful monophonic synthesizer for iPad. Explore dual oscillators, customizable filters, and an arpeggiator. Save your custom sounds and enhance your live performances with intuitive controls.
- Dual overlapping oscillators
- Four wave patterns
- Low Pass Filter with ADSR
- Volume Envelope Shaper (ADSR)
- Arpeggiator with multiple modes
- Save unlimited patches
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Top free iPad music app in 5 countries, top 10 in more than 50! Get your groove on with Core Synth HD, the definitive monophonic synthesizer for the iPad. With tons of features packed into a small package, Core Synth is great for live performing. A Pitch Wheel replicates perfectly the real thing! This free app has the following features: - Pitch Wheel - 2 Octave keyboard - Keys light up in different colors when pressed Oscillator Module - Dual overlapping oscillators - Four wave patterns: Square, Triangle, Sawtooth and Reverse Sawtooth * Select from 5 octaves * Adjust glide between notes * Fine tune Oscillator 2 with option to sync with Oscillator 1 Volume Envelope Shaper - Edit ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) Low Pass Filter Module - Adjust Cutoff and Resonance - Edit ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) Upgrade to the full version within the app for the following additional features: - 7 Octave Keyboard - Octave control to move along entire range - Modulation Wheel Patches Module - Save an unlimited number of individually named patches - Browse through your collection before applying patch - Delete unwanted patches Modulation Module - Four wave patterns: Square, Triangle, Sawtooth and Reverse Sawtooth - Modulate Filter, Pitch or Wave - Adjust LFO Rate and amount Arpeggiator Module - Arpeggio moves up to 5 octaves - Four step modes: Up, Down, Up/Down, Random - Adjust rate Many more exciting enhancements to follow! Core Synth HD includes open source code from MobileSynth developed by Allen Porter.
Verdict
Tabletop and Core Synth HD both sit at 3.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 54% of Tabletop's written reviews are positive against 31% of Core Synth HD's. Tabletop also leads on ratings volume (85 vs 5). Core Synth HD's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 11.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Tabletop sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Core Synth HD sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.3 for Tabletop against 3.4 for Core Synth HD. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tabletop has 85 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of Tabletop's written reviews are positive against 31% of Core Synth HD's.
Tabletop ships an update every 3 months, Core Synth HD every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tabletop | Core Synth HD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (85 ratings) | 3.4 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.9% of reviews — better | 30.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 85 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.4 GB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Retronyms Inc | Core Engine Apps |
Customer experience
Tabletop
Core Synth HD
User reviews
Tabletop
From 85 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 💡 Innovative modular design
- 🎨 Versatile music creation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🔋 High CPU usage
- 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
- 🔇 Poor sound quality
Core Synth HD
From 5 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good for learning basics
- 🎶 Nice retro sound emulation
- 💰 Great value for free/low cost
- 🎹 All controls visible
- 💡 Simple and clear interface
Room to improve
- 🔇 No sound issues
- 🔇 Sound stopped working
- 🔇 No sound after purchase
- 🔇 No sound on specific iOS versions
- 🐛 Glitching/microclicks
Bugs and requests
Tabletop
Reported bugs
3 issues- Synth parameters not saving properly
- Incompatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Unreliable audio export
Requested features
4 requests- MIDI support
- Improved sequencing capabilities
- More free sound modules
- Waveform editing and sample management
Core Synth HD
Reported bugs
21 issues- No sound on iPad Pro
- No sound on iOS 12
- No sound since last update
- Program doesn't start after update
- Ad blocks view
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- App crashes on load
- App crashed frequently
- Rarely produced sound
- Annoying clicking noise when playing a note
- Stopped playing notes after a while
- App reset to free module after purchase
- Lost saved presets after update
- CS doesn't work after iOS6 update
- Sound quit working suddenly
- No sound after purchase
- No audio on iPad 2
- Keyboard stops making noise after playing
- Crashes on every load
- Clipping pops and clicks
- Audible clicks between notes
- Constant click with the sounds
Requested features
17 requests- Add MIDI support
- Add Audiobus support
- Add recording with copy/paste
- Add sine wave for sub basses
- Add polyphony option
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Add tempo sync delay, flange, chorus
- Add bit reduction
- Fix modulation clipping
- Fix clicking/popping sounds
- Add manual
- Add more presets
- Add noise generator
- Add detuning on both oscillators
- Add ability to map LFO to mod wheel
- Add switch to turn arpeggiator on/off
- Add Core Midi and MIDI over wifi support
- Fix Osc Octave Text numbering
In-app purchases
Tabletop
- EKKO$1.99
- WHIRL$2.99
- Verve$2.99
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- XFADE$2.99
- TT-303$2.99
- Cueboard$2.99
- GLITCHBOARD$3.99
- Deadbeat$3.99
- X0X Drum Deranger$7.99
- RS4000$9.99
- Bundle E$24.99
Core Synth HD
- Full Version Upgrade$1.99








