Comparison

iVCS3 vs keyboaredo

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

keyboaredo

This app functions as a microtonal MIDI keyboard, supporting various Equal Division of the Octave (EDO) settings. It is a MIDI effect that requires a separate synth for sound production, ideally one that handles pitch-bend per MIDI channel.

Highlights
  • Microtonal MIDI keyboard
  • Supports EDO settings
  • AUv3 MIDI effect
  • Pitch-bend handling support
  • Requires external synth for sound
Features
Read full description

"keyboaredo" is a microtonal MIDI keyboard application and AUv3 MIDI effect that supports various Equal Division of the Octave (EDO) settings. Please note that this is a MIDI keyboard and it doesn't produce any sound on its own. You would require the synth that supports separate pitch-bend handling for each MIDI channel to be used with this application.

Screenshots

iVCS34 screens
keyboaredo3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: iVCS3 at 91% against keyboaredo's 0%. iVCS3 also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (206 vs 3). keyboaredo's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $19.99) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On ads 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 keyboaredo $2.99 up front. iVCS3 sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. keyboaredo asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iVCS3 holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iVCS3 has 206 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of iVCS3's written reviews are positive against 0% of keyboaredo's.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
iVCS3 versus keyboaredo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriVCS3keyboaredo
Price$19.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.9 (206 ratings) — better4.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews90.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings206 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size107 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperapeSoftAlexey Nadzharov

Customer experience

iVCS3

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

keyboaredo

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

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

keyboaredo

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

keyboaredo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iVCS3 free?
iVCS3 costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is keyboaredo free?
keyboaredo costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iVCS3 or keyboaredo?
iVCS3 is rated higher. iVCS3 averages 4.9 out of 5 from 206 ratings, while keyboaredo averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do iVCS3 or keyboaredo have ads?
Neither iVCS3 nor keyboaredo shows ads.

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