Orphion vs Audulus 4
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Orphion
Create expressive music and melodies with a unique virtual instrument. Explore your creativity through intuitive finger movements on virtual pads, generating sounds between string and percussion. Ideal for both beginners and experienced musicians.
- Unique string and percussion sound
- Expressive polyphonic music
- Intuitive finger pad interaction
- Customizable pad layouts
- MIDI and Audiobus support
- Multiple articulations
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## Featured by Apple as "Band in your Hand" and 'Explore your creativity' ## Orphion is a musical instrument with a unique sound between string instrument and percussion. Everyone can play expressive, wonderful sounds and easy or virtuosic melodies on it just by moving fingers on virtual pads. This video shows you more: https://vimeo.com/35131490 What can I do with it? • Express the sounds you feel • Play polyphonic music very expressively • Crazy drumming • Dream and relax • Create soundscapes and melodies without musical knowledge • Visually explore music and music theory Features: • Different articulations from soft to plucked to hardly slapped • Natural interaction • Extend your ways of expression as a percussionist, guitarist, pianist or other musician • 15 transposable pad layouts with different tonalities from easy to complex • 8 individual voices for 8 fingers • MIDI support: Play your favorite synth with the revolutionary Orphion interface • Audiobus support: Stream live audio from Orphion directly to other Audiobus-compatible apps • Orphion Editor (availible as upgrade): Create and share your own custom pad layouts. Download new pad layouts from Orphion Universe What others say about Orphion: "We love this instrument! So cool. Great for Deep House, IDM, Ambient, and whatever!" - iPadloops "A simple but profoundly beautiful and expressive music app" - Evolutionaryarts.org "Orphion is very customizable and flexible — truly functioning as a full-fledged electronic instrument" - Harrison Weber, The next web Follow on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Orphion or Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrphionApp
Audulus 4
Create and shape sounds with a professional-grade modular synthesizer environment. Explore a vast library of modules for synthesis and sound design, with the option to expand your toolkit with premium instruments and effects. Available across Apple devices for seamless workflow.
- Modular synthesizer environment
- Sound design tools
- Real-time audio shaping
- Extensive module library
- Premium Pro Modules (in-app purchases)
- Cross-device iCloud sync
- AUv3 plugin support
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Build synthesizers. Design sounds. Shape audio in real time. All with professional-grade, low-latency performance ready for live use — and it’s free. Audulus gives you a complete modular environment at no cost. Its clean, fluid interface stays out of the way so you can focus on what matters: exploring sound. A modular playground with room to grow — from first experiments to advanced designs. Looking for more? Discover the Pro Module series: premium instruments and effects that show what’s possible when world-class sound design meets true modular freedom. Each Pro Module is crafted specifically for Audulus, giving you new ways to expand your sonic toolkit. Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac — your modular system travels with you. ▶ What People Are Saying: "gem for Apple platforms – gorgeous, fluid" — Peter Kirn, createdigitalmusic.com "stunning!" — Richard Devine, devinesound.net "Remarkable gesture control" — sequencer.de ▶ Join our forum and Discord community! ▶ What You Get: • Complete modular environment — free to download and explore • Pro Module series — premium modules available as in-app purchases • Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud sync • Standalone app or AUv3 plugin • Deep node library for building from scratch • Extensive module library for synthesis and sound design • Multi-channel signal flow for polyphony and complex routing • Next-gen multi-core audio processing • Smooth, high-performance graphics even with massive patches • MIDI I/O with MIDI learn • GLSL shader node for creating advanced visuals • Lua scripting for custom DSP and vector graphics Terms of Use: https://audulus.com/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Audulus 4 at Free against Orphion's $3.99. Audulus 4 also leads on rating (4.3 vs 4.0) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). Orphion's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 69%) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 18.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Audulus 4 is free to download; Orphion costs $3.99 up front. Orphion sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Audulus 4 sells 27 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Audulus 4 holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 74 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Orphion's written reviews are positive against 69% of Audulus 4's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Orphion ships an update every 2 months, Audulus 4 monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 2, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Orphion | Audulus 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (31 ratings) | 4.3 (74 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.7% of reviews — better | 69.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 31 | 74 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 103 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bastus Trump | Audulus LLC |
Customer experience
Orphion
Audulus 4
User reviews
Orphion
From 31 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Unique and expressive musical instrument design
- 👍 Intuitive touch interface for playing music
- 🎛️ Customizable pad layouts and configurations
- 🔌 Works well as MIDI controller for other apps
- 🎨 Beautiful, simple, and elegant user interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio crackling and distortion issues on recent iPadOS versions
- ❌ App crashes and fails to launch on newer devices
- 📱 UI rendering problems on iPad mini and newer iPad models
- 🔧 Abandoned by developer - no updates or support
- 🚫 Incompatible with latest iPadOS (18+)
Audulus 4
From 74 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Powerful modular environment
- 💡 Deep DSP programming capabilities
- 🎨 Intuitive and beautiful UI
- 🚀 Seamless workflow across devices
- 📚 Great for learning synthesis
Room to improve
- 💸 Expensive in-app purchases/subscriptions
- ⚠️ Steep learning curve for beginners
- 📱 UI issues on mobile (scrolling, view obstruction)
- 📉 High CPU usage
- ❓ Lack of comprehensive documentation
Bugs and requests
Orphion
Reported bugs
14 issues- Audio crackling and distortion on iPadOS 18 and M4 devices
- App crashes on startup with recent iPad OS versions
- UI elements out of place on iPad mini
- MIDI not working in AUM and other DAWs
- Virtual MIDI instruments not detected when loaded as IAA
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- App stops playing audio when iPad is closed
- Bluetooth headphone connectivity issues
- Orientation stuck on iOS 11+
- Pad sensitivity issues after iOS 8 update
- Velocity feature removed after forced Apple update
- App crashes intermittently even after reboot
- Incompatibility with newer iPad models (10.5 inch)
- SoundCloud upload function non-functional
- Forum support page returns errors
Requested features
15 requests- Recording and export functionality
- Additional sound patches and voices
- Custom scale and layout editor
- Pitch bend and modulation wheel controls
- AudioCopy/Paste support
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- AirPlay support for wireless speaker output
- More velocity increment options
- Adjustable timbre per touch type
- Finer sensitivity slider adjustment
- Support for different scales (Dorian, Hijazkiar, etc.)
- Sequencing and arranging features
- iPhone version of the app
- More pad layout options
- CC support for different synths
- Mono output option
Audulus 4
Reported bugs
13 issues- iOS 18 compatibility issues (app not working)
- Save presets but no 'Load' button
- Undo command issues with DAWs
- CMD+Z causing data loss
- Opt+drag not duplicating modules
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- Plugin window not resizable
- Menu filtering not functioning properly on iPhone
- Select and Import buttons not working
- Blank screen on open
- App freezes on iPad Pro
- Black screen on launch after update
- No modules appearing after iOS 18 update
- Patches not appearing after iOS 18 update
Requested features
7 requests- Add 'Load' button for presets
- Improve DAW integration (Undo, duplicate)
- Resizable plugin window
- More modules (FFT/IFFT, granular buffering)
- Add CC in module
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Sync to host as AUv3
- Make upgrade path clearer from Audulus 3
In-app purchases
Orphion
- Orphion Editor$0.99
Audulus 4
- Audulus Pro (1 Month)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Audulus Pro (1 Year)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- 1-shot Sample$1.99
- P-Train$2.99
- CLK RS-1$3.99
Show 22 moreShow fewer
- CG-1 Chord Generator$3.99
- CLK Clock Generator$4.99
- MetaEnvelope$4.99
- Modal Percussion$4.99
- CLK: TimeWarp$4.99
- CPR-1$4.99
- LMT-1$4.99
- MS-FUNC$5.99
- CLK SS-516$7.99
- J-23 Reverb$7.99
- J-23 Effects$7.99
- CLK GS-1$7.99
- Chaos LFO Bundle$7.99
- ARP-1$7.99
- CPR-3$7.99
- SynD-K1$7.99
- TRIKOR VCO$9.99
- CLK Tools Bundle$9.99
- Essential Synth Bundle$9.99
- VCF Bundle 1$9.99
- J-23 Space Console$14.99
- Patch Editing$29.99









