SampleTank CS vs ZZZ FretHarmony
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
ZZZ FretHarmony
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A guitar practice app that draws the relationship between chords and scales on the neck itself. ■ The whole neck, drawn Chord tones, scale tones, extensions and avoid notes, muted and open strings — each told apart by colour and shape. Switch to degrees and a shape becomes the same shape in every key. ■ Every fingering a chord has From the chord book anyone learns first to every position on every run of adjacent strings. Choose by which string the root is on, and narrow it down by arrangement: close, drop 2, drop 3, shell, power chord. ■ Progressions written in degrees Diatonic or not, a progression is built from degrees. Change the key and the whole thing transposes; change key part way through and it modulates. Start from a preset or from nothing at all. ■ Arpeggios with a rhythm of their own Not only up and down: three-finger and Travis-style patterns that have a rhythm in them, and a different pattern for each bar if you want one. ■ Eight recorded instruments Electric, acoustic and nylon-string guitar, piano, organ, harp, cello and flute — each note pitch-corrected one at a time. A synthesised string is there too. ■ More than thirty scales Every mode of the major and minor scales, pentatonics, both blues scales, bebop, whole tone, diminished, altered, Hungarian minor, and the Japanese scales: hirajoshi, in sen, yo and ryukyu. ■ It all stays on your device No account, no sign-in. Settings and saved progressions live on the device only, and nothing about what you play is sent anywhere. On a tablet the neck stays visible while you work; on a phone it stays pinned while the controls scroll under it. ―――――――――― ZZZ FretHarmony Pro (auto-renewing subscription) - Length and price: 1 year / ¥360 - What it does: hides every advert and removes the limit on saved progressions - Renews every year unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends - Cancel any time in your App Store account settings; cancelling takes effect at the end of the period already paid for Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://smolt-stage.com/home/privacy/zzz-fretharmony-privacy-policy-ios-en.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: SampleTank CS at none against ZZZ FretHarmony's shown. SampleTank CS also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.3). On price, 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
Both are free to download. SampleTank CS sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and ZZZ FretHarmony sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | SampleTank CS | ZZZ FretHarmony |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (143 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 28.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 143 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.3 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.5 GB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | IK Multimedia US, LLC | SMOLT STAGE, K.K. |
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)
ZZZ FretHarmony
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
ZZZ FretHarmony
- ZZZ FretHarmony Pro$1.991 Year
Questions
Is SampleTank CS free?
Is ZZZ FretHarmony free?
Do SampleTank CS or ZZZ FretHarmony have ads?
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