Comparison

Echo Beach vs Locus

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

Head to head
About

Echo Beach

This app transforms your iPhone into a powerful sampler and sequencer, allowing you to capture, chop, and arrange audio with a modern workflow. Easily export your creations as stems, MIDI, or a full mix to any Digital Audio Workstation.

Highlights
  • 8-Pad Sampler
  • Smart Slice Detection
  • Built-In Step Sequencer
  • Groove Engine
  • Studio FX Suite
  • DAW Export (Stems, MIDI)
  • Offline Operation
Read full description

Sample anything. Sequence anything. Play anywhere. Echo Beach turns your iPhone into a professional-grade sampler and AUv3 Instrument plugin. Inspired by the tactile workflow of classic hardware like the SP-1200 and MPC, Echo Beach lets you capture, chop, and sequence ideas in seconds as a standalone or directly inside your favorite DAW. AUV3 PLUGIN POWER Echo Beach is now a full AUv3 Instrument. Host it inside Logic Pro, Ableton, Cubasis, or GarageBand. - Seamless Integration: Follows host transport, BPM, and timeline. - Deep Automation: Every knob, fader, and effect is exposed as an AUParameter for smooth DAW automation. - Shared Library: Samples recorded in standalone are instantly available in the plugin via a shared App Group. CORE FEATURES - 8-Pad Sampler: Load, trim, loop, and play with high-fidelity, low-latency performance. - Smart Slice Detection: Auto-chop audio based on transients or edit markers manually. - Built-In Step Sequencer: Program complex rhythms instantly with per-step velocity. - Custom Effects Engine: - Inserts: Reverse, 5-Band EQ, Oberheim inspired Tone filter, Transient Shaper, 2 pitch modes, 5 Distortion models, Stutter, Grain, Room reverb, and Duck. - Sends: Juno-106 inspired Chorus, Stereo Widener, 4 Custom Delay, Plate Reverb, and Lo-Fi. - Master: 5 Distortion models, 2 compressor models (Fet and Opto), Limiter, Master Out fader. - Groove Engine: Interpolate between 8 groove templates, from perfect quantization to human, Dilla-esque swing. - Professional Factory Bank: High-quality sample library included to start making beats immediately. - DAW Export: Send stems, full mix, and MIDI with embedded BPM and time-signature metadata. - MIDI Learn: Full MIDI controller support with a dedicated Map mode to customize your hardware setup. WORKFLOW Record → Slice → Sequence → Automate - Import audio from your library, Files, or even Video files with the new synchronized preview. - Tap the waveform to slice audio or drag slices to any pad. - Sequence your pattern and use P-Locks (Parameter Locking) to automate effects per-step. - Host the plugin in your DAW to add the Echo Beach sound to your full production. WHY ECHO BEACH? Most samplers make you choose: simple or powerful. Echo Beach is both. It breaks the trade-off with features that work like you think: - Musical Timing: Slices become MIDI notes and grooves apply musically, not mechanically. - Real-Time Safety: Hardened for live performance and high-pressure studio sessions. - No Friction: Slices and sequences move with you from standalone sketching to final DAW mixing. TECH SPECS - Supports WAV, AIFF, MP3, M4A, CAF. - Export stems, full mix, and MIDI. - Professional-grade DSP with near-zero latency. - Fully offline operation. Stop scrolling YouTube for 'how to make beats.' Start making them with Echo Beach.

About

Locus

This app generates evolving melodic MIDI sequences for electronic music production. It offers thirteen generative archetypes and extensive editing capabilities, allowing users to create unique musical ideas and arrange them into full compositions. It functions as a standalone application or an AUv3 MIDI effect within compatible hosts.

Highlights
  • Generative MIDI sequencing
  • 13 unique generative archetypes
  • Seed-derived, reproducible patterns
  • Evolve, Feel, and Edit controls
  • Per-note slides with 303-style legato
  • 25 scales and snap-to-scale pitch
  • Standalone and AUv3 MIDI effect
Features
Read full description

Locus is a generative MIDI sequencer that creates evolving melodic motifs and sends them to your favorite synths. Designed for techno, ambient, IDM, and experimental electronic music, it turns a single seed into fresh musical ideas across thirteen generative archetypes, from acid-style grooves and cascading arpeggios to sparse fractals and interlocking pulses. Use Locus as a standalone app or as an AUv3 MIDI effect inside hosts like AUM, Logic, Cubasis, and Drambo. Every generated pattern plays in sync with your host and routes over MIDI to any instrument you choose. GENERATION Press CREATE and Locus composes a new motif from the current archetype, rooted in your chosen key and scale. Each archetype has its own rhythmic and melodic character: Groove, Cascade, Arc, Wander, Call & Answer, Chaos, Pulse, Even Pulse, Sparse Fractal, Interlock, Cluster, Puncture, and Thump. Generation is seed-derived, so the same settings always reproduce the same pattern. EVOLVE Push EVOLVE to generate controlled variations of the current motif. Keep what works, mutate what doesn't. Rhythm and pitch shift in musically coherent ways without losing the pattern's identity. FEEL Shape the musical foundation with Root, Scale, Timing, Steps, Octave range, Swing, Dynamics, and Density. 25 scales keep everything in key. Raise density to fill the grid or thin it out for space. EDIT & SLIDE Engage Pattern Lock to edit the authored pattern directly: rotate, move, and transpose notes, or undo and redo. The SLIDE knob adds per-note slides with 303-style legato, gliding between pitches for classic acid phrasing. Slides even carry across density-thinned notes. SCENES Capture complete musical setups in sixteen scene slots and chain them into full arrangements. Each scene remembers its pattern, archetype, feel settings, and slide amount. STANDALONE & AUV3 Use Locus as a standalone app or as an AUv3 MIDI effect. It runs in AUv3 hosts such as AUM, Logic, Cubasis, and Drambo, following host transport and clock. KEY FEATURES • Generative MIDI sequencer for melodic ideas • 13 archetypes: Groove, Cascade, Arc, Wander, Call & Answer, Chaos, Pulse, Even Pulse, Sparse Fractal, Interlock, Cluster, Puncture, Thump • Seed-derived generation, reproducible from your settings • Evolve, Feel, and Edit scopes for total musical control • Per-note slides with 303-style legato • 25 scales with snap-to-scale pitch • Swing, dynamics, and density shaping • Pattern Lock with rotate, move, transpose, undo/redo • 16 scenes with chain editor for full arrangements • AUv3 MIDI effect + standalone app • Host sync and MIDI routing to any instrument MANUAL & TUTORIALS • See the "Help" page in the app for the full manual and tutorials • Alternatively, visit https://terrarum.net/locus.html to read them online

Screenshots

Echo Beach4 screens
Locus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Locus at 5.0 against Echo Beach's 3.8. Locus also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). Echo Beach's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks) and ratings volume (12 vs 1). On ads, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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

Echo Beach costs $9.99 and Locus $4.99 up front. Echo Beach sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Locus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Locus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Echo Beach has 12 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Echo Beach ships an update every 5 days, Locus every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Echo Beach versus Locus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEcho BeachLocus
Price$9.99$4.99 — better
Rating3.8 (12 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJeremiah KleinJoe Topjian

Customer experience

Echo Beach

All ratings12 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative36.4%

Locus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Echo Beach

One-time1
  • Echo Beach Pro$9.99
None

Locus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Echo Beach free?
Echo Beach costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Locus free?
Locus costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Echo Beach or Locus?
Locus is rated higher. Echo Beach averages 3.8 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Locus averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Echo Beach or Locus have ads?
Neither Echo Beach nor Locus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Echo Beach or Locus?
Echo Beach ships an update every 5 days, and Locus every 2 weeks. Most recently, Echo Beach was updated on September 19, 2026 and Locus on September 20, 2026.

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