The Oscillator vs Drambo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Oscillator
Generate tones and noise with adjustable lowpass filters and panning. Choose from sine, triangle, sawtooth, and square waveforms. Precisely tune frequencies in Hz or MIDI notes.
- Two oscillators
- One noise generator
- Individual lowpass filters
- Panning control
- Four waveforms (sine, triangle, sawtooth, square)
- Precise frequency tuning (Hz/MIDI)
- Audiobus and Inter-App Audio support
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Simple and elegant tone generator with two Oscillators and one Noise generator, each with individual lowpass filters. The oscillators also has panning, and can produce one of four waveforms: sine, triangle, sawtooth and square. The oscillator frequencies can be tuned precisely in Hz or fractional MIDI note pitch. Use it for testing purposes or to make old-school electronic drone music. Supports Audiobus and Inter-App Audio: Stream the audio output in real time into other compatible apps!
Drambo
This app offers a flexible sound design experience, allowing users to build beats, create synthesizers, and process audio with effects. Its innovative modular system simplifies connections and organization, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced musicians. It functions as a standalone application or a plugin within a DAW.
- Modular sound design
- Intuitive cable-less connections
- Advanced sequencer
- Standalone and AUv3 plugin
- Over 140 modules
- Polyphonic stereo processing
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"Drambo changes the face of iOS music apps." Cult of Mac Drambo is your all-in-one sound laboratory that adapts to your workflow: build beats as a groovebox, design synths, or transform audio with effects, standalone or inside your favorite DAW. At the core of Drambo is a fresh approach to modular design that makes creating with modules easy, fun, and accessible. Connections happen automatically as you add or move modules, so there are no messy cables to slow you down. The interface adapts to your workflow, generating modulation controls when you need them, and even lets modules contain other modules for perfect organization. You’re always free to override the automatic connections, but most of the time, you can just dive in, experiment, and shape sounds without getting tangled in wires. Use a deep and innovative sequencer to compose patterns and whole tracks, for production or live performance. Go beyond simple looping sequences with parameter locking, conditional step components, parameters automation and powerful scene morphing. Drambo works equally well as a self-contained standalone app or audio unit plugin with audio and MIDI connectivity as an AUV3 instrument, audio effect and MIDI effect. You can use Drambo as • A Complete Studio: Produce entire tracks and perform live in a self-contained, multitrack environment. • An Endless modular playground, that allows you to build, modify and store custom instruments and effects. For instance: build a custom synth, sample and resample, build a Theremin using a gyroscope module, or turn your table into a playable surface, by processing microphone input with physical modelling modules. • An Advanced MIDI Sequencer: Control hardware or AUv3 instruments. Generate custom MIDI CC messages or send modulation signals to physical modular synths via DC-coupled interfaces. • The Ultimate AUv3 Plugin: Load Drambo inside other DAWs as an instrument, audio effect, or MIDI processor. Replace dozens of standard plugins by building your own complex modular delays, reverbs, decimators, or modulators in seconds. • A Unified Audio-Visual Studio (Drambo Visual IAP): Arts united. Step into another realm of modular visual synthesis to build complex generative video art, or seamlessly patch your audio and visual engines together for deeply integrated performances. Features: • Polyphonic, stereo processing and audio-rate modulation. All signals are equal. Up to 16 voices per modular instrument rack. • Unique modular concept: cable-less, drag'n'drop, color coding dynamic interface, automatic connections, and customizable compact, rack views. • Directional flow makes Drambo routing and patching straightforward. Signal flows only left to right, so there are no instant feedback routings in Drambo. Delayed feedback is possible using certain modules. • Simple and clean interface, that scales to every size and device orientation • Over 140 modules available, such as: oscillators, samplers, physical modelling modules, LFOs, envelope generators, filters, audio effects, mixers, MIDI processors, sequencers and math functions. (Includes a macro oscillator based on the famous Eurorack Plaits module, with 24 synth engines) • Custom modular racks that can be nested, with presets at the track, rack, and module level. • Clip launcher / song arrager. • 16-tracks, polyphonic sequencer with parameter locks, automation and step components. 8 dedicated step sequence editor types, piano-roll, powerful automation designer with drawing modes and cubic Bezier curves. • Audio Units hosting ( standalone app only ) • Morph groups: you can morph many parameters using a single slider. • Available as a standalone app, AUv3 instrument, effect and MIDI effect. • MIDI and Ableton Link support Drambo is all about control. Control things that other apps don’t even give you access to. Visit the BeepStreet page for help and tutorials, and Patchstorage for community content.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: The Oscillator at Free against Drambo's $24.99. The Oscillator also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). Drambo's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months). On review sentiment, 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
The Oscillator is free to download; Drambo costs $24.99 up front. Drambo sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. The Oscillator asks for nothing beyond the download.
Drambo holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drambo has 330 ratings behind it against 58, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of The Oscillator's written reviews are positive against 87% of Drambo's.
The Oscillator ships an update every 5 months, Drambo every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Oscillator | Drambo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $24.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (58 ratings) | 4.8 (330 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.8% of reviews | 86.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 58 | 330 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 149 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kymatica AB | BeepStreet |
Customer experience
The Oscillator
Drambo
User reviews
The Oscillator
From 58 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 💡 Useful for various purposes (sleep, tinnitus, testing)
- 🎵 Good for sound experimentation
- 🔊 Precise frequency and gain control
- 🎚️ Multiple oscillators and noise generator
Room to improve
- 🐛 Stopped working properly
- 🐛 Only noise comes out
- 🐛 Output levels wildly different
- 🐛 Not working in new version
- ❌ Basic and incomplete
Drambo
From 330 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Incredibly powerful and flexible
- 🎨 Endless creative possibilities
- 👍 Intuitive and well-designed interface
- 🔧 Modular synth capabilities
- 🎛️ Excellent sequencing and groove box features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Limited undo/redo functionality
- 🔊 Audio export issues (pitch/tempo problems)
- 🔀 Lack of dedicated audio track support
Bugs and requests
The Oscillator
Reported bugs
7 issues- Stopped working properly
- Only noise comes out
- Output levels wildly different
- New version is not working
- Can't play one osc without the other
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- Doesn't support Bluetooth
- Button labels are confusing (ON/OFF)
Requested features
18 requests- More functions (e.g., shorten waves, good bass)
- Multiple layers for simultaneous playback
- AUV3 support
- Run in background and mix with audio
- Four oscillators simultaneously
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- Sweep function
- LFO section for modulation
- Pulse width control
- Keyboard interface for chords
- Filter
- Third oscillator
- Way to save setups
- Other color noises (pink noise)
- Higher frequencies
- Direct frequency input via keyboard
- Panning controls on tone generators
- Presets for setups
- JACK support
Drambo
Reported bugs
3 issues- Audio cutting out after 5 minutes of use
- Presets and patches not loading properly
- Incompatibility with certain iOS devices
Requested features
5 requests- Stem/track export functionality
- MIDI CC learn and external control
- Ableton Link support
- More parameter control and modulation options
- Improved piano roll and sequencing tools
In-app purchases
The Oscillator
No in-app purchases
Drambo
- Granular extension$4.99
- Waves extension$4.99
- Formants extension$4.99
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- DSP extensions 1$4.99
- Visual extension$14.99









