Comparison

BeatBlocks Studio vs King Key

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

Head to head
About

BeatBlocks Studio

Read full description

BeatBlocks Studio is a fun music-making app that lets you build your own beats using Lego bricks and other real-life construction blocks. Instantly rewarding, with just a handful of bricks you can create drum loops, melodies and bass-lines straight away: no prior music making experience necessary! BeatBlocks Studio lets you make music in real-time, responding to your placement of real-world Lego bricks. It brings digital creativity out of the screen and onto your desktop, letting you get hands-on with music making. And we mean that literally. 

 How does it work? BeatBlocks Studio uses the camera on your iPhone or iPad to detect blocks of different type and colour. To make music, simply lay out different patterns of blocks in front of the camera. The app detects where your bricks are, then in left to right order plays a repeating loop, with a different type of sound for each colour of brick it sees. When the app sees a brick, it plays a sound: so as you build, you make music. 
 To change your loop, just move or scatter the blocks around, try out different colours, and wait for the loop to come around again. The left-to-right position sets the timing of each musical note, the top to bottom position selects which note/pitch to play, and the colour sets the instrument. You can also adjust the tempo, swing, key and scale for your loops.

 BeatBlocks Studio is a fully-loaded upgrade of our standard BeatBlocks app, with all sound packs and pro features unlocked and ready to go. To extend the creative possibilities even further, BeatBlocks Studio features multi-channel MIDI output to let you send your drum, bass and lead parts to different instruments in Logic or GarageBand (or any other MIDI enabled music apps out there...) for live performance or for recording. Ableton Link support means you can synchronise your beats, tempo and playback transport with other Link enabled apps. Don't forget to share your beats! When you are ready to show-off your compositions to the world, hit the record button to screen grab a video of your performance. When you are finished, simply choose to share or save.

 BeatBlocks was launched at SXSW 2023 representing the UK Immersive Futures Lab, and is winner of the silver medal for use of AI at the 2023 BIMA Awards. Playable Technology’s AI-powered music-sequencing technology has already been star of the show at the “Turn it up” interactive music exhibitions at the London Science Museum and with “BeatBlocks Live” at the National Museum of Scotland during the 2024 Science Festival in Edinburgh.   Download BeatBlocks Studio today and let the loops begin!

About

King Key

This app provides high-quality one-shot keyboard samples, including vintage typewriters and modern synthesizers. It offers 9 instruments and 11 presets, usable as a standalone instrument or an AUv3 plugin within music production hosts.

Highlights
  • High-quality one-shot keyboard samples
  • Vintage typewriter and MIDI keyboard sounds
  • 9 instruments and 11 presets
  • AUv3 plugin compatibility
  • Standalone instrument mode
  • Proprietary high-detailed sampling techniques
Read full description

In grand celebration of International Joke Day 2024, we at Caelum used our incredibly intelligent minds to bring you our first sampler; King Key. Gone are the days when you were left begging for high quality one-shot keyboard samples, now you can get King Key. Anywhere in the world you can now play the sounds of a keyboard, on your keyboard. We also blessed you with the sounds of a MIDI keyboard, a typewriter and 4 produced kits as our generosity knows no limits. Click, Clack, Svvvvt, B-ding, cha-cuh, fshhhh. With 9 instruments and 11 presets at your finger tips you can finally be the person your parents wanted you to be, a King Key one. Using proprietary high-detailed sampling techniques, which are sadly too complex for you to understand without demonstrative play-dough, we have captured the essence and spirit of a vintage Imperial typewriter, a Modal Cobalt8X and a Generic USB keyboard. We then took these beautiful, inspirational samples and produced them into some juicy, expressive kits for your pleasure. King Key is designed as an AUv3 plugin, meaning it works within iOS and iPadOS hosts such as Logic Pro, GarageBand, Cubasis 3, AUM and Beatmaker 3. King Key also works as a standalone instrument.

Screenshots

BeatBlocks Studio4 screens
King Key2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: King Key at $1.99 against BeatBlocks Studio's $9.99. King Key also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

BeatBlocks Studio costs $9.99 and King Key $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
BeatBlocks Studio versus King Key: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeatBlocks StudioKing Key
Price$9.99$1.99 — better
Rating—4.9 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—15 — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size305 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlayable Tech ltd.Caelum Audio

In-app purchases

None

BeatBlocks Studio

No in-app purchases

None

King Key

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BeatBlocks Studio free?
BeatBlocks Studio costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is King Key free?
King Key costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do BeatBlocks Studio or King Key have ads?
Neither BeatBlocks Studio nor King Key shows ads.

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