SampleTank CS vs Sound Museum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SampleTank CS
This professional mobile sound and groove workstation brings desktop-level virtual instrument power to your iPhone and iPad. It offers a vast array of world-class instruments and patterns for live performance and composition, with expandable sound libraries available for purchase.
- 23 free instruments in 16 categories
- 8-part multitimbral sound module
- Expandable sound library with 2300+ instruments
- Over 1,200 melodic and rhythmic patterns
- 8-track MIDI recorder with audio export
- Intuitive interface and new sound engine
- Song and Live environments
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SampleTank 2 for iOS is a professional, fully featured mobile sound and groove workstation that brings the sound, power and features of desktop virtual instruments to your iPad and iPhone — without compromise. It is designed for professional live performance, song composition and puts a comprehensive array of world-class instruments, sounds and patterns right at your fingertips. SampleTank CS provides all the functionality of the full app, with 23 instruments in 16 categories, so you can try out this powerful workstation for free. Additional sounds are available a la cart via in-app purchase. SampleTank gives you 8 multitimbral instrument slots that you can easily layer or split. Choose from a comprehensive, expandable sound collection that covers virtually every acoustic and electronic sound imaginable. Plus, each instrument category includes instrument riffs and grooves so you can start composing and playing in no time. The included instruments and the new sound engine are derived from the desktop version of SampleTank, IK's flagship workstation, offering you unmatched realism, variety of sound and audio performance. For the first time on iOS, thousands of professional sample-based sounds and patterns can be easily accessed, layered and used for playing live or in the studio. What’s more, SampleTank offers an ever-growing library of sounds and are available via in-app purchase: • Elektronika - a series of electronica and EDM-oriented groove libraries and sound collections that make it easy to create hits in today’s most popular styles • Miroslav Philharmonik — the legendary orchestral libraries, now available on your mobile device! Stunningly realistic and expressive samples of a wide range of orchestra and percussion instruments. • SampleTank PRO - the latest and most high-end sounds and grooves available, letting you create professional-grade compositions on your mobile device • Plus additional libraries covering cinematic sounds, the finest pianos, drum libraries from iconic drummers and much more! SampleTank for iOS offers over 2,300 instruments and over 1,200 MIDI patterns — the largest collection of sounds available for any virtual instrument for iOS. Features: • 23 sounds in 16 categories included free • 8-part multitimbral professional quality sound and groove module • Expandable sound library with 2300+ instrument • Over 1,200 melodic and rhythmic patterns • 8-track MIDI recorder with audio export • Totally redesigned intuitive interface • New sound engine derived from SampleTank 3 for Mac/PC • Zones feature lets you easily create splits & layers on your controller • Song and Live environments for composing and playing • Built-in insert effects and master reverb • MIDI learn feature makes programming external controllers easy • Plug-and-play compatibility with iRig interfaces and controllers • Polyphony: up to 64 voices on new Apple devices
Sound Museum
Explore the diverse instrument sounds of your Kawai digital piano. Listen to demo songs, select Dual and Split modes, and save favorite sounds through an intuitive touch interface. Compatible with a wide range of Kawai models and supports wireless MIDI connections.
- Explore Kawai digital piano instrument sounds
- Listen to demonstration songs
- Select Dual and Split playing modes
- Store favorite sounds
- Wireless MIDI connectivity
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Learn about the various instrument sounds included with your Kawai digital piano, listen to inspirational song demos, select Dual and Split playing modes, and store favourite sounds - all from a beautiful touch interface. Sound Museum is musical instrument learning app developed especially for Kawai digital pianos, providing an opportunity for players of all levels to explore the various instrument voices available in their piano. Using the attractive touch interface, players can easily select sounds, read about each instrument's tonal characteristics and suitable musical genre, and listen to professionally recorded demonstration pieces. It's also possible to use Sound Museum to select sound combinations for Dual and Split playing modes, adjusting the volume balance and split point as desired. Popular sounds or sound combinations can even be stored to one of eight Favourite memories for convenient recall at a later date. Sound Museum is compatible with a broad range of Kawai digital pianos, and fully supports the Quicco Sound mi.1 Bluetooth MIDI interface for cable-free wireless connectivity. Feature Summary =============== - Learn about the musical instrument sounds available in Kawai digital pianos. - Listen to built-in demonstration songs and new musical performances. - Select Dual and Split playing modes and adjust relevant settings. - Store popular sounds to Favourite memories for convenient recall. - Connect wirelessly using the Quicco Sound mi.1 Bluetooth MIDI interface. Compatible models: Kawai CN39/CN29/CN37/CN27/CN17/CN35/CN25/CN14/KDP110/KDP90/KDP70, CS11/CS8, ES8/ES100/ES110, CA58/CA48/CA28/CA97/CA67/CA17/CA33 \* The 'Lightning to USB Camera Adapter', 'Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter', or 'Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit' accessory is required in order to connect an iOS device to the Kawai digital piano using a USB cable. It is also possible to connect the iOS device wirelessly using the Quicco Sound 'mi.1' Bluetooth MIDI interface. \* When connecting via Bluetooth MIDI using an iPhone 7/iPhone 7 Plus, the CN37, CN27, ES110, and QuiccoSound mi.1 may need to be updated to the latest BLE MIDI firmware in order to function correctly.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sound Museum at none against SampleTank CS's 10. Sound Museum also leads on rating (3.5 vs 3.1) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.0). SampleTank CS's advantage is ratings volume (143 vs 6) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ads 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
Both are free to download. SampleTank CS sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Sound Museum asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sound Museum holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SampleTank CS has 143 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 29% of SampleTank CS's written reviews are positive against 25% of Sound Museum's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SampleTank CS ships an update every 2 months, Sound Museum every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SampleTank CS | Sound Museum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (143 ratings) | 3.5 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.9% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 143 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.5 GB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | IK Multimedia US, LLC | Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
SampleTank CS
Sound Museum
Bugs and requests
SampleTank CS
Reported bugs
3 issues- Incompatible with latest iOS versions
- MIDI issues and lack of device detection
- Purchased content not properly restored
Requested features
4 requests- Add AU/AUv3 support for better DAW integration
- Improve MIDI functionality and mapping
- Allow importing custom samples
- Enhance performance controls (e.g., pitch bend, modulation)
Sound Museum
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SampleTank CS
- Organ$4.99
- Strings$4.99
- Brass$4.99
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- Synth Pads$4.99
- The Grid$14.99
- Upgrade to SampleTank$24.99
- Miroslav Philharmonik - Mobile Edition$24.99
- Sonik Synth - Mobile Edition$24.99
- All Sounds$64.99
- SampleTank PRO - All Sounds Pack$64.99
Sound Museum
No in-app purchases









