Comparison

iVCS3 vs EG Pulse

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

Head to head
About

iVCS3

This application emulates the iconic EMS VCS3 synthesizer, a pioneering portable synthesizer from 1969. It recreates the original's unique sound generation capabilities, including its oscillators, filters, and patch matrix, allowing users to explore its distinctive sonic palette.

Highlights
  • Official EMS VCS3 emulation
  • Three oscillators (2 VCOs, 1 LFO)
  • Noise generator
  • Voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF)
  • Patch board matrix
  • Joy-stick controller
  • Voltage controlled spring reverb
Features
Read full description

iVCS3 Official EMS VCS3 emulator The VCS3 was created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company. The electronics were largely designed by David Cockerell and the machine's distinctive visual appearance was the work of electronic composer Tristram Cary. The VCS3 was more or less the first portable commercially available synthesizer—portable in the sense that the VCS 3 was housed entirely in a small, wooden case. The VCS3 was quite popular among progressive rock bands and was used on recordings by The Alan Parsons Project, Jean Michel Jarre, Hawkwind, Brian Eno (with Roxy Music), King Crimson, The Who, Gong, and Pink Floyd, among many others. Well-known examples of its use are on The Who track "Won't Get Fooled Again" (as an external sound processor, in this case with Pete Townshend running the signal of a Lowrey Organ through the VCS3's filter and low frequency oscillators) on Who's Next. Pink Floyd's "On the Run" (from The Dark Side of the Moon) made use of its oscillators, filter and noise generator, as well as the sequencer. Their song Welcome to the Machine also used the VCS3. The bassy throb at the beginning of the recording formed the foundation of the song, with the other parts being recorded in response. The VCS3 was also a staple at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, and was a regular (and most frightening) sound generator for the Dr Who TV series. Many fo the monsters and atmoshere;s created for the show came directly from the VCS3. Description The VCS3 has three oscillators (in reality, the first 2 oscillators are normal oscillators and the 3rd an LFO or Low Frequency Oscillator), a noise generator, two input amplifiers, a ring modulator, a 18dB/octave (pre-1974) or 24dB/octave (after 1974) voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF), a trapezoid envelope generator, joy-stick controller, voltage controlled spring reverb unit and 2 stereo output amplifiers. Unlike most modular synthesizer systems which use cables to link components together, the VCS3 uses a distinctive patch board matrix into which pins are inserted in order to connect its components together. Keyboards controller DK1 keyboard controller Although the VCS3 is often used for generating sound effects due to lack of built-in keyboard, there were external keyboard controllers for melodic play. The DK1 in 1969 was an early velocity sensitive monophonic keyboard for VCS3 with an extra VCO and VCA. Later it was extended for duophonic play, as DK2, in 1972. Also in 1972, Synthi AKS was released, and its digital sequencer with a touch-sensitive flat keyboard, KS sequencer, and its mechanical keyboard version, DKS, were also released. (See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCS3)

About

EG Pulse

Create intricate rhythms and beats with a powerful drum machine and sampler. Import your own sounds, edit samples, and apply effects. Use it standalone or as an AudioUnit within other music production apps.

Highlights
  • Standalone and AU3 AudioUnit support
  • Import and edit custom drum samples
  • Individual pad effects (reverb, delay, EQ)
  • Pattern automation and probability mode
  • Over 40 included drumkits and 180 grooves
  • Ableton Link and MIDI support
Features
Read full description

EG Pulse is the ultimate Drum Machine / Sampler for iOS. It can be used both in standalone or hosted as AudioUnit AU3 inside apps like GarageBand, AUM, BeatMaker3, NanoStudio2, n-Track9 and others. The solid ElliottGarage sequencing engine has been updated and expanded, and you can now create ultra precise trap rhythms, hip hop grooves, electronic beats, rock and acoustic drum tracks and more. EG Pulse comes with more than 40 drumkits and more than 180 grooves already included to cover many different genres from EDM, House, Trap, Hip Hop and Electronic Music to Rock, Metal, Reggae or Jazz; moreover, you can create your custom drumkit importing samples with simple drag & drop or combining the builtin kits, and you can modify them inside the app with the sample editor (sample start, attack time, release time and sample length). Each of the 16 pads can be also pitched and panned in the mixer section of the app and also reverb, delay, bitcrusher and eq can be set individually. Each pattern can be automated to obtain dynamic changes and with the probability mode you can create always new grooves adding randomization and human feel to them. EG Pulse contains drumkits and presets created by some of the best iOS Beat Makers and Producers like SoundOfIzrael, Soundtrack Loops, the Beat Community and more. Full feature list: - Standalone & AU3 Audio Unit - Pads View, Grid View, Mixer, Automation View, FX View & Song View - Chromatic Pads - Play melodic line like on a keyboard - 64 step audio engine - 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/32 & 1/64 quantization - Samples Drag & drop from File App (supports multiple files import) - Import of Wave, AIFF, M4a, MP3 audio files or MOV and MP4 video screen recording (audio will be extracted) - Kit sharing (left swipe on a kit to access additional menu) - Fill & Autofill (every 2, 4, 8, 16 bars) - Custom drumkit & user banks save - Song view - Pad Roll (with 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/32 & 1/64 quantization) - Ableton Link - Step recording into grid view - Polyrhythms - Choke groups - Mixer with Solo, Mute, Volume, Gain, Pan, Pitch - Automation of Pitch, Volume and Pan for each pad and pattern dependant - Probability to create unpredictable and random patterns - Samples editor (Start offset, attack time, release time, length) - AU Fx - put EG Pulse in the FX slot of your daw and record any incoming audio - Time stretching - Loop bpm detection and automatic sync to tempo (works with 4 bar loops) - Transient detection and audio slice - Pitch detection and pitch shifting - Bank import/export - Midi In with MIDI learn to control pads - MIDI out to host (AU3 version) - Midi Program Change to switch patterns - FX (Reverb, Delay, Bitcrusher and EQ) for each pad - Tap tempo & Swing - More than 40 drumkits and 180 grooves created by iOS Producers and Beat Makers - Bank presets covering several genres - Ableton Live Set Export support for patterns - Multi stems export of patterns - AU3 Multi output - Route up to 16 separate stems to any daw supporting multi-output AU EG Pulse will give you a free Ableton Live Lite license - follow the instructions inside the app to get it

Screenshots

iVCS34 screens
EG Pulse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iVCS3 at 4.9 against EG Pulse's 4.4. iVCS3 also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 67%). EG Pulse's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). On ratings volume, ads 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

iVCS3 costs $19.99 and EG Pulse $14.99 up front. iVCS3 sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. EG Pulse asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iVCS3 holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 206 and 147 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of iVCS3's written reviews are positive against 67% of EG Pulse's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iVCS3 ships an update every 2 months, EG Pulse every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
iVCS3 versus EG Pulse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriVCS3EG Pulse
Price$19.99$14.99 — better
Rating4.9 (206 ratings) — better4.4 (147 ratings)
Positive reviews90.7% of reviews — better67.0% of reviews
Number of ratings206 — better147
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size107 MB268 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperapeSoftElliott Garage

Customer experience

iVCS3

All ratings206 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews194 reviews
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.7%

EG Pulse

All ratings147 ratings
Positive87.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive67.0%
Neutral11.4%
Negative21.6%

Bugs and requests

iVCS3

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Presets not loading
  • Crashes on iOS 15.04
  • Sampler not functioning properly

Requested features

3 requests
  • Mac compatibility
  • Improved preset management
  • Expanded sampling capabilities

EG Pulse

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

iVCS3

One-time10
  • Red Sky Lullaby - 180 PresetsFree
  • Singe Difficile by RUST(i)KFree
  • RUMBLEFree
Show 7 more
  • OLD GRIT - COLLECTIONFree
  • JEC 2018 Iconic PinkFloydFree
  • JEC EMS-50Free
  • SINAPSYA - Under The Dust$2.99
  • LALA - Sonic Pleasures$3.99
  • JEC Mega Bank$4.99
  • Essential EMS Modifications$6.99
None

EG Pulse

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iVCS3 free?
iVCS3 costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is EG Pulse free?
EG Pulse costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iVCS3 or EG Pulse?
iVCS3 is rated higher. iVCS3 averages 4.9 out of 5 from 206 ratings, while EG Pulse averages 4.4 from 147 ratings.
Do iVCS3 or EG Pulse have ads?
Neither iVCS3 nor EG Pulse shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iVCS3 or EG Pulse?
iVCS3 ships an update every 2 months, and EG Pulse every 4 days. Most recently, iVCS3 was updated on October 14, 2026 and EG Pulse on October 16, 2026.

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