AxeModes vs VAMonoMkII
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AxeModes
This app helps guitarists learn various musical modes and scales from any root note. It features a dynamic fretboard, scale degree visualization, and audio playback for each note, along with chord accompaniment.
- Learn major, minor, and other scale modes
- Dynamic fretboard display
- Color-code and show/hide scale degrees
- Hear individual note sounds
- Play chord accompaniment
- Context-sensitive help
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Learn all the associated Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Double Harmonic Major, Hexatonic, Pentatonic, and Diminished Scales. Starting from any Root Note. (Hundreds and hundreds of combinations!) Dynamically generated Fretboard. Show between 2 and 22 Frets at a time. Color code any Scale Degree(s). Show or hide any Scale Degree(s). Click on any Note to hear what it sounds like. Play Chord accompaniment for any Scale/Mode/Root combination. Context sensitive help available on every screen.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: AxeModes at every 4 days against VAMonoMkII's every 11 months. VAMonoMkII's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $4.99). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
AxeModes costs $4.99 and VAMonoMkII $3.99 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 — 5.0 for AxeModes against 5.0 for VAMonoMkII. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.
AxeModes ships an update every 4 days, VAMonoMkII every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AxeModes | VAMonoMkII |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.2 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Svantner | Ryo Togawa |
Customer experience
AxeModes
VAMonoMkII
In-app purchases
AxeModes
No in-app purchases
VAMonoMkII
No in-app purchases









