iVCS3 vs AUFX
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iVCS3
This app is an official emulator of a pioneering analog synthesizer from 1969. It faithfully recreates the original's sound-generating capabilities, including oscillators, filters, and a unique patch board matrix. Explore its vintage interface and powerful sonic potential for music creation and sound design.
- Official EMS VCS3 emulator
- Faithful recreation of original hardware
- Multiple oscillators and LFO
- Voltage-controlled low-pass filter
- Unique patch board matrix
- Includes DK1 keyboard controller emulation
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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)
AUFX
This app offers a versatile stereo delay audio effect with extensive customization options. It can produce a wide range of sounds, from clean digital delays to gritty dub echoes and flangers. The app supports processing external audio and other applications, with features for saving and sharing presets.
- High quality 32-bit DSP engine
- Tape simulation (noise and warble)
- Filters in the delay loop
- Stereo delay, detune, and ping-pong
- Dual LFO for modulation
- Inter-App Audio and Audiobus support
- Save, load, and share presets
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A highly tweakable stereo delay audio effect, suitable for everything from clean digital delays to filthy dub echoes, flangers and broken cassette tapes. This app is part of the AUFX series, a collection of simple and powerful audio effect apps. • High quality 32-bit DSP engine. • A multitude of parameters to tweak to get a wide range of sounds. • Tape simulation (noise and warble). • Filters in the delay loop for typical dub sound. • Stereo delay, stereo detune, ping-pong delay. • Sinewave and random dual LFO for flangers and other modulations. • Process hardware input/output. • Process other apps through Inter-App Audio or Audiobus (input/filter/output slots supported). • Save, load and share user presets. • Supports Audiobus2 state saving • Comes with several bundled presets. • Fully MIDI controllable, including Virtual MIDI. • Background Audio. • Built-in lookahead limiter to prevent clipping. • Record the result directly in app. • Email recordings or export to AudioShare audio document manager app. • Access user presets and recordings through iTunes File Sharing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AUFX at $4.99 against iVCS3's $19.99. AUFX also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). iVCS3's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (208 vs 33). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads 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
iVCS3 costs $19.99 and AUFX $4.99 up front. iVCS3 sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. AUFX asks for nothing beyond the download.
iVCS3 holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iVCS3 has 208 ratings behind it against 33, 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 90% of AUFX's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iVCS3 | AUFX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (208 ratings) — better | 4.6 (33 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.8% of reviews — better | 89.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 208 — better | 33 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 107 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | apeSoft | Kymatica AB |
Customer experience
iVCS3
AUFX
User reviews
iVCS3
From 208 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Faithful recreation of the original
- 👍 Powerful and versatile sound
- 🎨 Gorgeous vintage interface
- 💡 Additional features beyond the original
- 🎛️ Excellent integration with MIDI and other apps
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🤔 Steep learning curve
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate the matrix
AUFX
From 33 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great sound quality
- 👍 High-quality plugins
- 👍 Excellent effects
- 👍 Impressive quality
- 👍 Complete immersion
Room to improve
- 🐛 Not AUv3 compliant
- 🐛 Unusable in current incarnation
- 🐛 Falling behind without AU3
- 🐛 Lacking AU support
- 🐛 Ironically lacks AU support
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
AUFX
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when loading presets
- Loading presets causes crash
- Will NOT launch in AUM
- Workarounds don't work
Requested features
10 requests- AUv3 support
- Add creativity, functions, magic
- AUv3 would solve the only problem
- AUv3 compliance
- Add AU3
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- AUFX 5 release date
- AU3 support needed
- Morphing time function
- Update ASAP
- Fix preset loading crash
In-app purchases
iVCS3
- Red Sky Lullaby - 180 PresetsFree
- Singe Difficile by RUST(i)KFree
- RUMBLEFree
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 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
AUFX
No in-app purchases









