BrainBud vs S
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BrainBud
This app acts as a central controller for other music creation applications, allowing you to manage keys and scales simultaneously. It integrates with a variety of Bud apps via MIDI, enabling synchronized changes and broadcasting of musical parameters. Experiment with randomization and automate settings through its AUv3 plugin.
- Centralized key and scale control
- MIDI out to multiple Bud apps
- Budcast for parameter broadcasting
- Randomize musical parameters
- AUv3 plugin for automation
- Requires other Bud apps to function
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BrainBud controls the keys and scales of the Bud apps all at once. Connect BrainBud’s MIDI out to MIDI inputs of: - SnakeBud - PolyBud - MelodyBud - ShiftBud - ScaleBud 2 - In Theory - Textquencer - Binarhythmic - Auto Bass - BounceBud - MuseBud - Kebarp - FuncBud - Note to Be You can also broadcast the current key/scale to the newly connected apps with Budcast button. If you’d like to experiment, you can try the randomise button. With the AUv3 plugin, you can change the BrainBud's parameters or even automate them with AU parameters. For using the AUv3 plugin make sure you have an AUv3 host app such as AUM, Cubasis, Nanostudio, apeMatrix. BrainBud is a MIDI based app and requires other Bud apps present in order to work right. If you don't have any other Bud apps mentioned above, you can't make a use of BrainBud. BrainBud doesn't produce any kind of sound on its own.
S
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The whole Roland S-1 panel on your iPhone or iPad, over USB-C. The S-1 hides half its brain behind the Shift key. This editor puts all of it in front of you: all 54 parameters, laid out like the SH-101 panel — the synth the S-1 rebuilds — so the signal chain reads at a glance. WHAT IT DOES • All 54 control changes, with faders where the SH-101 had them and knobs where it did not. • Follows the hardware: move a knob on the S-1 and the screen follows in real time. • 60 factory presets in six categories. Versions of the patch charts from the original SH-101 manual, the club sounds the 101 became known for, and a bank built by ear against the unit. • Four sequencers: step piano roll, three-layer euclidean, scale-based generative and arpeggio. • Motion recording: move any control while it plays and it gets automated step by step. • A randomizer that blows up the whole engine and still leaves something audible. • Your own sound library, with export and import. • Light and dark. Spanish, English and Portuguese. WORTH KNOWING You need a Roland S-1 connected over USB-C. The editor makes no sound of its own: it sends MIDI to the unit, and the unit is what you hear. The S-1 does not answer SysEx. There is no way to read a sound out of it or store one over MIDI, so the library lives in the app and WRITE is pressed on the unit. The app selects the target pattern and dumps the sound so all you do is confirm. The whole parameter map comes from the official v1.02 manual. PRIVACY Nothing is collected. No accounts, no network, no analytics. Your sounds stay on your device. Made by fantasmogenesis.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: BrainBud at 12.0 against S's 15.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
BrainBud costs $2.99 and S $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | BrainBud | S |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $2.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cem Olcay | Cristopher Alejandro Yescas Arreola |
In-app purchases
BrainBud
No in-app purchases
S
No in-app purchases









