Comparison

Apogee Soft Limit vs VAMonoMkII

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

Head to head
About

Apogee Soft Limit

This app emulates analog tape warmth and rounds transients to add harmonic richness without clipping. It provides tools to achieve more headroom in your mixes, offering adjustable controls for threshold, drive, and output.

Highlights
  • Analog tape emulation
  • Rounds transients
  • Adds harmonic warmth
  • Adjustable Soft Limit Threshold
  • Auto Makeup
  • Drive and Output Trim
  • Oversampling
  • Input, Output, and Soft Limit Meter
Read full description

Soft Limit has been an integral feature of Apogee converters since the AD-500, our first standalone A-D converter released in 1991. And now, for the very first time, this simple but highly effective analog tape emulation is available on iOS devices. Soft Limit was created to help round transients and add harmonic warmth, without clipping the signal and thus helping you achieve more headroom in your mixes. Features: • Adjustable Soft Limit Threshold • Auto Makeup • Drive • Output Trim • Oversampling • Input, Output, and Soft Limit Meter

About

VAMonoMkII

This app is a virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer for iOS and macOS. It offers two 8-voice synthesizers with extensive modulation, classic analog filter models, and built-in effects. Create and export music with its sequencer and audio visualization tools.

Highlights
  • Virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer
  • Dual oscillators with variable waveforms
  • Transistor Ladder and Sallen-Key filter models
  • Built-in effects suite (delay, reverb, chorus, etc.)
  • 16-bar sequencer with piano roll and automation
  • Audio Unit Extension (AUv3) support
  • Ableton Link and MIDI 2.0 compatibility
Features
Read full description

VAMonoMkII is a virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It features two 8 voice synthesizer, effects, sequencer and audio visualization tools. It operates as a stand alone or as an AudioUnit Extension (AUv3). Stand Alone supports Ableton Link, MIDI and audio file export. The bitimbral synthesizer consists of two synthesizer, which features two oscillators, two ADSR envelopes, resonant high pass and low pass filter and an amplifier per voice. The oscillators features continuously variable wave shape and wide variety of modulation. The filters are modeled on Transistor Ladder filter circuit and the Sallen-Key filter circuit for classic analog sound. The Effects include delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, eq and compressor. The sequencer features piano roll and parameter automation editor to program 16 bar pattern per clip. Project files can be saved in iCloud Drive, so that the project can be accessed from iPhone, iPad or Mac. - Main Features - Virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer Two type of Lowpass filter, Transistor Ladder model and Sallen-key model. Maximum 8 voice polyphony. it depends on performance of the device it is running. Operate as monophonic or polyphonic. Patch points for modulation. Support MIDI 2.0 User Interface built by SwiftUI for improved performance. Built-in Sequencer. 16 bar patterns per clip. Total 8 clips. Piano Roll and Parameter automation. Support Audio Unit Extension (AUv3) Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Support iCloud Drive to share project files between the platforms. Audio Export. Linear PCM format (AIFF, WAV and CAF) and compressed format (AAC) Support Ableton Link, Bluetooth MIDI, MIDI In / Out. 360 bitimbral presets and more. - System Requirements - A13 Fusion or above is recommended. AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) requires host application which support AudioUnit Extension. AudioUnit Extension is supported by Apple Logic and Apple Garage Band on iOS and macOS. For any other DAW, it depends on the application and some of them don’t support AudioUnit Extension. Sound may be distorted if CPU of the device doesn't have enough power. If it happens reduce number of voices.

Screenshots

VAMonoMkII4 screens

Verdict

The call

Apogee Soft Limit and VAMonoMkII both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Apogee Soft Limit's written reviews are positive against 0% of VAMonoMkII's. Apogee Soft Limit also leads on price ($9.99 vs $14.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.6). VAMonoMkII's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and device support. On rating, 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

Apogee Soft Limit costs $9.99 and VAMonoMkII $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Apogee Soft Limit against 5.0 for VAMonoMkII. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Apogee Soft Limit's written reviews are positive against 0% of VAMonoMkII's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Apogee Soft Limit versus VAMonoMkII: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterApogee Soft LimitVAMonoMkII
Price$9.99 — better$14.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better
Update frequency—Every 11 months
Ads—No
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Devices—iPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApogee Electronics CorpRyo Togawa

Customer experience

Apogee Soft Limit

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

VAMonoMkII

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Apogee Soft Limit

No in-app purchases

None

VAMonoMkII

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Apogee Soft Limit free?
Apogee Soft Limit costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is VAMonoMkII free?
VAMonoMkII costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Apogee Soft Limit or VAMonoMkII?
Apogee Soft Limit and VAMonoMkII are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 4 ratings respectively.

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