DrumKick vs DirectionalEQ
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DrumKick
This app allows users to play a high-quality drum kit on their mobile device, offering low latency and interactive 3D graphics. It uniquely enables kick drum playing with your foot using a second iOS device and Bluetooth connection.
- Foot-controlled kick drum via second iOS device
- High-quality stereo drum sounds
- Low-latency performance
- Interactive 3D animated drums
- MIDI over Bluetooth support
- Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support
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DrumKick is the ultimate live performance drum app on-the-go! It gives you the freedom to play a great-sounding, intuitively laid-out drum kit anywhere—without the hassle of lugging your entire acoustic set to the show. Simply plug into a P.A. system, headphones, a boombox, or an amplifier, and you're ready to rock! – Connect to your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or device with MIDI over Bluetooth. – Core and Virtual MIDI support. – Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support. – Featured in Apple's Music-Making Apps for "The Song." – Featured in Apple's Band In Your Hand showcase. Reviews: http://www.musicappblog.com/drumkick-music-app-review/ DrumKick is the only stereo drum app that allows you to play the kick drum with your foot! With DrumKick installed on two iOS devices, such as an iPad and an iPhone, you can use the iPhone as a Bluetooth remote to play the kick drum with your foot! It also works with two iPhones or iPod touches. Or, you can mix and match. How does it work? Playing the virtual kick drum pedal is achieved by inserting the iPhone (upside down) into a snug fitness band that's wrapped around your ankle, or the front tube of your relatively clean crew sock. Tap your toes with your heel down, and the iPhone's accelerometer will trigger the kick drum sound on the iPad via Bluetooth. Feature Highlights: • Play the kick drum sound with your foot, using a second iOS device via standard Bluetooth connection. • High-quality drum stereo sounds with independent control of their volume, pitch and pan levels. • Low-latency with drum taps and sounds. • Retina-enhanced, interactive, 3-D animated drums and cymbals. • Multiple tap regions for triggering different drum and cymbal sounds. • Ability to switch the drum kit's audio output from stereo to mono when connected to stereo speakers, such as a P.A. system. • Touch-hold on the crash cymbal for a choked cymbal* muting effect. • Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support (iOS7+) for adding effects apps to DrumKick's output and recording into to GarageBand, Loopy, or AudioShare. https://audiob.us • Audiobus Remote triggers for playing DrumKick's sounds via a secondary iOS Device with the Audiobus Remote app installed. Requires the Audiobus app, iOS 8.3 +, and a Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. https://audiob.us/remote. • Core MIDI IN & OUT support, thanks to Nic Grant of Audeonic Apps for his robust MidiBus Library (http://midib.us) and generous help. • MIDI over Bluetooth support. • Compatible with the iRig BlueBoard MIDI foot controller. Requires Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. The iRig BlueBoard does not work with iPad 2. • Jam along with music apps that run in the background, such as GarageBand, Pandora, or your iPod music library. • Minimum requirements: iPad 2, iPhone 4S and newer devices are recommended. * No cymbals were harmed during the making of this app. If you have an issue or find a bug within DrumKick, please do not inform me about it in an App Review, since that method doesn't provide your contact information. For help and support, please send an email to: feedback@drumkickapp.com Known issues: • Missing UI panel for controlling the playback and recording from an Inter-App Audio connected app.
DirectionalEQ
This audio plugin allows independent equalization of different directions within the stereo field. It offers five bands with advanced filter types, enabling precise adjustments to specific audio directions for a more nuanced sound. Designed for use within compatible music production host apps.
- Independent equalization of stereo field directions
- Five bands with state-of-the-art filter types
- 64-bit processing and 2x oversampling
- Specify direction for each band's operation
- Works as an Audio Unit or Inter App Audio plugin
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Traditional EQs influence the spectrum of the whole stereo field simultaneously. L/R or Mid-Side-EQs allow you to treat the two channels or the mid and the side signal simultaneously. DirectionalEQ takes this concept one big step further: now you can equalize all directions in the stereo field independently! With five bands, each of them providing state-of-the-art filter types (including 64 bit processing and 2x oversampling) plus the unique ability to specify the direction in which the channel is operational. So you need more bass at 2 o’clock, less midrange at 11 o’clock and a bit more treble from the left? No problem at all, that’s exactly what this EQ has been made for! This app is intended to work as an Audio Unit or Inter App Audio plugin within a compatible host app like Garageband, Cubasis or Auria.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: DrumKick at 80% against DirectionalEQ's 33%. DrumKick also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.6) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 19 months). 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
DrumKick costs $3.99 and DirectionalEQ $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DrumKick holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 40 and 14 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of DrumKick's written reviews are positive against 33% of DirectionalEQ's.
DrumKick ships an update every 6 weeks, DirectionalEQ every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DrumKick | DirectionalEQ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (40 ratings) — better | 3.6 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 79.8% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 40 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 19 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 9.3 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mark Jeschke | Christian Siedschlag |
Customer experience
DrumKick
DirectionalEQ
Bugs and requests
DrumKick
Reported bugs
8 issues- Kick drum feature doesn't sync or has high latency
- App crashes on startup
- App drains battery in background
- Kick drum activates unexpectedly
- Rarely loads, long loading screen
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- Connection issues with remote kick between devices
- Overall volume not loud enough
- Sound of cymbals sometimes cuts out
Requested features
17 requests- Add left and right-handed orientation setting
- Allow changing kit layout and adding more drums/percussive instruments
- Ability to switch kits around
- Add more drums or different percussive instruments
- Add recording functionality
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- Add background track playback (drumless tracks)
- Option to add own kit sounds
- Full Chinese localization
- Support for iPhone 6/6+
- Simple mode for easier hitting
- More kit variations
- Option to change each sound and build/save custom kits
- Edit drum position button
- Make rolls continuous
- More drum kits
- More variation in samples and velocity changes
- Improve overall volume
DirectionalEQ
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DrumKick
No in-app purchases
DirectionalEQ
No in-app purchases









