Comparison

Drum vs spectwhirl

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drum

This app recreates the distinctive sound of early 1980s electronic drum modules combined with sampled real cymbal sounds. It offers a virtual analog engine for drum synthesis and a separate engine for realistic cymbal playback, providing a unique sonic palette for music production.

Highlights
  • Virtual analog engine for 80s drum sounds
  • Sampled real cymbal sounds
  • Dual sound engines for drums and cymbals
  • Multiple output options
  • Built-in effects (limiter, delay, reverb)
  • Unlimited program storage
Features
Read full description

Please note: 1) This App comes with an AUv3 plugin extension. 2) To play the cymbal samples, a separate download (free, in-app) of ~180 MB is required. The App also works without the cymbal samples. INSTRUMENT BACKGROUND We all know and use electronic drums today, but at the beginning of the 80's the first electronic drums were a real novelty that revolutionized not only the sound of music of those years, but also the workflow in the recording studio. Many producers preferred to record the sound of electronic drums rather than acoustic drums because it saved time and money, avoiding having to mount microphones, find the right positions, spend hours equalizing and correcting the recorded material. With an electronic drum set it was quicker: it was enough to connect the cables and maybe find the right sound for the song, which was a perfect scenario especially for many low-cost productions, for example those of pop music. The first electronic drums were completely analog, they generated the sounds of the drums using only a few elements such as an oscillator and a white noise generator, plus a couple of envelopes and a filter. The sound wasn't exactly realistic but it was peculiar, and perfect for creating certain sounds never heard before. The downside was that electronic drums could only generate the sound of drums but not cymbals. For this reason, the sound of real cymbals was recorded alongside the sound of electronic drums. This kind of setup was also used live quite often. It was common to see a drummer on stage playing the typical hexagonal pads but combined with a set of real cymbals. GSi Drum-80 reproduces that exact scenario. It contains two separate sound engines that can play at the same time. One engine recreates the sounds of the famous electronic drum module known as the Simmons SDS-V (very similar to the later SDS-8 model); at the same time, the exclusive GSi WLF Engine plays a multi-sample of real cymbals recorded exclusively for Drum-80. Main features - Virtual Analog Engine based on the famous SDS-V drum module - Optional VCO phase reset - Supports multiple outputs (one stereo mix, six individual drum synth channels, one stereo channel for Cymbals) - Sampled Cymbal sounds (Hi-Hat, Ride, 4 Crashes, 3 Splashes) provided by the exclusive GSi WLF Engine - Full Polyphony - Separate section with adjustments for Cymbal sounds (tuning, leveling and EQ) - Stereo 1176-Style Limiter - Stereo Delay effect - Stereo Reverb effect - Built-in programmer with unlimited Programs - Embedded user's manual - Available as Stand-alone application and audio plugin (AUv3 for iPad) - Very low CPU and RAM usage Visit home page for audio and video demos.

About

spectwhirl

This audio effect app transforms input sound into new textures and bell-like tones by extracting and manipulating sinewave components. It offers advanced control over delay lines, frequency shifting, and filtering, with gesture recording for parameter automation.

Highlights
  • Sinewave component extraction and grouping
  • Delay lines with feedback
  • Frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects
  • Configurable filtering
  • Gesture recording for automation
  • Scene saving and management
Features
Read full description

"bells and whistles, literally" spectwhirl is a hybrid spectral audio effect. It can extract and rearrange sinewave components from input signal to make new sound textures and bell-like sounds. * input sound is converted to sinewave components that are divided into 4 groups: harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and other * each component is fed into a delay line with feedback * there is a group of frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects before and after delay lines * each set of sinewave components can be filtered * all the parameters can be instantly automated with gesture recording !!! Please note that this effect consumes much CPU and requires a modern device. ====================== Quick Start: Top row of controls enables different parts of user interface: scenes editor ("scene"), controls switch ("edit") and "zoom" controls When "edit" is switch on, you can show or hide various controls (marked as "ctrl") and switch gesture recording automation for some of them (marked with ">") Main control surface displays sonogram with tracked elements. Colors are set accordingly to the group they are assigned (red-orange-green-blue are for harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and others). Each "lane" contains delay time controls. * Triangle facing left is for the start locator, it determines initial delay time * Square moves both start and end locators together * When left locator is first moved you can see the right locator with the same triangle. It shows the end of the selected region, the secondary delay time is determined by the difference between left and right locators * if you drag over the area of the region in a lane, the four-dotted/one circle indicator will change its appearance; this changes the arpeggio mode of the region. If set to leftmost position (one circle) the components go in-sync; if set to maximum value (shown as diagonal line with circles) - components are played sequentially * all settings can be stored as "scene" and multiple scenes can be switched sequentially; there is a set of button to move, add and delete scenes. All scenes will be stored as machine state; it can be exported / imported as a single file or as separate file with current scene in the "setup" view The standalone version always starts with output level set to -70 dB to avoid feedback

Screenshots

Drum3 screens
spectwhirl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drum at 80% against spectwhirl's 33%. Drum also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0). spectwhirl's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $14.99) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 7 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Drum costs $14.99 and spectwhirl $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drum holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Drum's written reviews are positive against 33% of spectwhirl's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum ships an update every 7 months, spectwhirl every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Drum versus spectwhirl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrumspectwhirl
Price$14.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings55
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGenuine SoundwareAlexey Nadzharov

Customer experience

Drum

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

spectwhirl

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

Drum

No in-app purchases

None

spectwhirl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drum free?
Drum costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is spectwhirl free?
spectwhirl costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drum or spectwhirl?
Drum is rated higher. Drum averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while spectwhirl averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Drum or spectwhirl have ads?
Neither Drum nor spectwhirl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drum or spectwhirl?
Drum ships an update every 7 months, and spectwhirl every 5 weeks. Most recently, Drum was updated on October 24, 2026 and spectwhirl on October 14, 2026.

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