Therimax vs Thereminator 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Therimax
Create music using hand gestures, the camera, or touch screen. No prior musical knowledge or physical contact is required. Experience the future of gestural music creation.
- Gesture-based music creation
- Camera input
- Touch screen control
- Magnet input
- No prior musical knowledge needed
- Intuitive hand-waving interface
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Therimax is a musical instrument designed for the iOS. Using the camera, a hand-held magnet, or the touch screen, Therimax allows you to create music without physical touch, without frustrating callouses or irritating music lessons, and without knowing a lick of music. All simply by waving your hands in the air. The era of gestural music is at hand!
Thereminator 2
This app brings the iconic theremin sound to your mobile device and computer. It offers touch-controlled virtual instrument capabilities with extensive sound shaping options and MPE support for DAWs.
- Touch-controlled virtual theremin
- AUv3 instrument plugin
- MPE protocol support
- Over 50 factory presets
- Virtual-Analog resonant filter
- Modeled tape delay
- 51 musical scales
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“I’ll be Bach.” Stop the presses! Load up the inkwells! For it's the return of one of the first — if not the first — instruments made for iOS: the infamous “pocket theremin” is back. A lot has changed since those heady days of 2008, and so has Thereminator. Although it is not made of T-1000 grade liquid metal (well...not yet), the all-new Thereminator 2 has evolved into a bona fide touch controlled virtual theremin with ample helpings of tone, expression, versatility, and technology. And it’s now an AUv3 plugin, too! Using a special adaptation of the MPE protocol, Thereminator 2 can inject its eerie sounds directly into your DAW, whether on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Silicon powered computer. Whether you have your plan 9 ready, or just lurking in dark shadows, it is a thrill to bring back the app that started it all for us. Thank Y’all for the support, for it’s been an amazing journey! :: Specifications :: • Touch-controlled Virtual Theremin • AUv3 instrument plugin included • Compatible with DAWs that are MPE friendly, including GarageBand, Logic, and Cubasis • Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Apple Silicon powered computers • Over 50 factory presets Sound engine includes, • 8 waveforms, including the original, unique Thereminator waveform • 8 octave frequency range • Special drive stage for fattening up the sound • Virtual-Analog resonant filter • Dedicated vibrato and tremolo operators with adjustable rate & amount • Portamento • Custom chorus / expander effect for big stereophonic sounds • Modeled tape delay capable of self-oscillation — plenty of vintage mojo • Vertical touch control for volume, filter, vibrato and tremolo Built-in touch controller includes, • Horizontal pitch and vertical expression control • 51 musical scales • Selectable musical key • Note Snap feature that can dial in any amount of glide between adjacent notes • Lock feature to preserve above setting during preset changes • Scrollable control surface with adjustable key size MIDI / MPE and other features include, • MIDI Learn • MPE • Can be used with regular MIDI keyboards on MIDI channel 1 (channels 2-16 are optimized for MPE) • Save & share unlimited banks and presets • Standalone app includes virtual “Tapedeck” for recording & sharing your creations
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Therimax at Free against Thereminator 2's $7.99. Therimax also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). Thereminator 2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.7 vs 4.2). On review sentiment, ratings volume, 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
Therimax is free to download; Thereminator 2 costs $7.99 up front. Therimax sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Thereminator 2 asks for nothing beyond the download.
Thereminator 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 14 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Therimax's written reviews are positive against 88% of Thereminator 2's.
| Parameter | Therimax | Thereminator 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (9 ratings) | 4.7 (14 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #197 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 3rd Street Productions LLC | Yonac Inc. |
Customer experience
Therimax
Thereminator 2
In-app purchases
Therimax
- Banners Off$1.99
- Sound Effects On$1.99
- Enable Therimax as a Midi controller$1.99
Thereminator 2
No in-app purchases









