miniSynth 2 vs FontStack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
miniSynth 2
This app offers a powerful yet simple virtual analog synthesizer experience, building on the legacy of the first iOS synthesizer. It provides real-time synthesis with professional DSP and production-friendly features for both beginners and experienced musicians.
- Virtual analog synthesis
- Dual analog-modelling oscillators
- Low-Pass Filter with ADSR
- Delay and Reverb effects
- Audiobus Output
- MIDI In support
- 30 Factory Presets
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Back in 2008 when the App Store was very young, Yonac released miniSynth, the very first iOS synthesizer. Compact and user-friendly, it introduced hundreds of thousands of iOS users to synths and paved the way for the great things to come in mobile music making. We have come a long way since, continuing innovation with our flagship synth Magellan. As our apps grow more and more sophisticated, we wanted to also continue the heritage of the original app that started it all. So, here with all its elegant simplicity is miniSynth 2. miniSynth 2 continues the spirit of the original, adding advancements we made in DSP, design and features over the last half decade. Simple and easy to use, miniSynth 2 projects a solid, fat tone from a strategic feature set -- an "abbreviation" of the sophisticated features we offer in our pro-grade synthesizers. Like all our synthesizers, no compromises are made with sound and functionality. There are NO samples used, just real-time virtual analog synthesis. miniSynth 2 also includes production-friendly features, such as Audiobus output, audio copy/paste, and a MIDI In port for playing miniSynth with an external controller or a virtual-MIDI app. For the iOS pro and the novice alike, miniSynth 2 is intended as a back-to-basics synth answering the call when the inspiration strikes. -- 32-bit professional quality DSP -- Extremely low latency -- Dual analog-modelling oscillators -- Virtual-analog Low-Pass Filter with full ADSR and Contour -- Amp ADSR -- Delay -- Reverb -- Audio Backgrounding -- Audiobus Output -- MIDI In -- Built-in tapedeck -- Audio Copy/Paste -- Soundcloud -- 30 Factory Presets -- Ability to save user presets in provided user banks
FontStack
This app allows musicians to load and utilize classic SoundFont (.sf2) files within their digital audio workstation. It offers layering, key splitting, and instrument caching for creative sound design and quick access to a vast library of sounds.
- 4 SoundFont layers
- Keyboard splits
- SoundFont stacking
- Instrument caching
- Remote folder linking
- Reverb, Delay, Chorus effects
- Amp Envelope and Filter control
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FontStack is a 'fontastic' new AUv3 plugin for iOS which can be loaded into your favourite DAW allowing you to utilise all those wonderful and nostalgic SF2 SoundFonts you've collected over the years. The SoundFont standard was created back in the early 90s, and made famous by the SoundBlaster series of sound cards. With the introduction of the Amiga, it spawned a host of musical creation tools called Trackers, which allowed the Amiga to load these SoundFonts and create sophisticated musical scores of 4 or 8 tracks. These days we don't use this standard so much, but there is a wealth of free SF2 files available on the internet just waiting to be loaded into FontStack. A SoundFont comprises a file with an .sf2 file extension. This file contains a set of samples, instruments, and presets. FontStack enables you to load one or more SoundFonts into its 4 layers, and use them in lots of creative ways. You can stack layers to create a rich combination of multiple tones, or assign each layer its own key range on the keyboard to create virtual splits, or a mixture of the two. Each layer can also be assigned its own MIDI channel for true OMNI mode. One great feature of FontStack is its ability to cache all your SoundFonts and the instruments they contain. This allows quick searching for specific instrument types without the need to physically search through SoundFonts to find them. Another great feature is the ability to optionally link to a remote folder containing a global set of SoundFonts, so that they can be shared between apps. Both internal and external SoundFonts and their instruments will be cached and searching is just as easy as it is using internal SoundFonts. FontStack features: ○ 4 SoundFont Layers which can be stacked, layered or played on different channels. ○ 6 Scenes per Layer containing different SoundFont instruments and settings. ○ Keyboard Splits can be created spreading multiple SoundFonts over a single keyboard. ○ SoundFont Stacks can be created, stacking multiple SoundFonts to produce a bigger, thicker sound. ○ Disk Streaming allows you to stream a SoundFont directly from disk saving physical memory. ○ File Manager allowing local and remote file management. ○ Symbolic Link allows you to specify a remote/external folder from which to access your SoundFonts. ○ Instrument Search allows you to search the content of local and remote SoundFonts folders. ○ Drag and Drop your sound fonts directly into the SoundFont Manager. ○ Reverb, Delay & Chorus effects can be applied to each instrument layer. ○ Haas and Stereo Width can be used to simulate virtual STEREO on SoundFonts with MONO samples. ○ Allows direct control of the SoundFonts Amp Envelope and Filter settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: miniSynth 2 at $0.99 against FontStack's $14.99. miniSynth 2 also leads on iOS requirement (7.1 vs 13). FontStack's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 12 months). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
miniSynth 2 costs $0.99 and FontStack $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for miniSynth 2 against 4.5 for FontStack. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22 and 12 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of miniSynth 2's written reviews are positive against 75% of FontStack's.
miniSynth 2 ships an update every 12 months, FontStack every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | miniSynth 2 | FontStack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (22 ratings) — better | 4.5 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.9% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 22 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.1 — better | 13 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 308 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yonac Inc. | 4Pockets.com |
Customer experience
miniSynth 2
FontStack
In-app purchases
miniSynth 2
No in-app purchases
FontStack
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is miniSynth 2 free?
Is FontStack free?
Which has better reviews, miniSynth 2 or FontStack?
Do miniSynth 2 or FontStack have ads?
Which is updated more often, miniSynth 2 or FontStack?
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