Echo Beach vs Locus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 8-Pad Sampler
- Smart Slice Detection
- Built-In Step Sequencer
- Groove Engine
- Studio FX Suite
- DAW Export (Stems, MIDI)
- Offline Operation
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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.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Echo Beach | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (12 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jeremiah Klein | Joe Topjian |
Customer experience
Echo Beach
Locus
In-app purchases
Echo Beach
- Echo Beach Pro$9.99
Locus
No in-app purchases









