Comparison

MasterBusListen vs Rubberband

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

Head to head
About

MasterBusListen

Features
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Listen to your DAW session on any device with the VST AU AAX and Standalone plugin ! ***CLIENT ONLY-NEEDS MASTERBUSLISTEN*** Activate Demo Mode by entering the IP 5.1.5.0

About

Rubberband

Features
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RUBBERBAND is not a keyboard. It's an elastic surface where every line is a magnet: you glide, and GRAVITY pulls notes toward the scale. All the way up, you can't play out of tune. At zero, it's free glissando. In between, your ear decides. A microtonal synth built to be both an instant toy and a serious instrument β€” played like a theremin or a ribbon controller, tuned like the world. THE WORLD'S TUNINGS RUBBERBAND truly speaks microtonality β€” not an effect, the heart of the instrument. Arabic maqam, Turkish makam, Persian dastgah, just intonation, just blues and barbershop, klezmer modes, Southeast-Asian equiheptatonic, xenharmonic temperaments (19- and 31-TET, the harmonic series), Western scales β€” with region-adjustable neutral tuning. The engine thinks in cents: any tuning on Earth is within reach. 36 VOICES Plucked strings, basses, bowed instruments (violin, cello, kamancheh, sarangi), bells and bars, synth voices, the RUBBER↔STRING morph, the instruments of the East (oud, qanun, santur, ney, zurna, duduk), and granular clouds. Every voice is physically modelled and rendered in real time β€” no samples. EXPRESSIVE UNDER THE FINGER (MPE) Pressure is dynamics; gliding along a string changes the colour, from sul tasto to ponticello; vertical is pitch. Tilt the phone and it becomes an axis of expression. MPE MIDI out drives your other synths with the same gestures. LISTEN TO THE ROOM RUBBERBAND hears the music around you, detects the key, and tunes to it. Play along with anyone, in tune. ALSO A DRONE holding the tonic under your playing, a sympathetic halo that rings the neighbouring strings, a LOOPER to stack loops, and recording your takes straight to your device. IN YOUR LANGUAGE Full interface in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Turkish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean and Arabic β€” with real musician vocabulary in each, not machine translation. Haptics, Metal rendering, fully native. No account, no ads, no data collected β€” the microphone is analysed locally and never recorded or sent. FREE, THEN PRO Start free: the full elastic surface, starter voices, and a taste of the world's tunings. The RUBBERBAND PRO unlock (one-time purchase) opens all 36 voices, the full catalogue of world tunings, recording and sharing, MPE MIDI output, MOTION and LISTEN. One-time purchase. No subscription.

Screenshots

MasterBusListen4 screens
Rubberband4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MasterBusListen at none against Rubberband's 2. MasterBusListen also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Rubberband sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. MasterBusListen asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MasterBusListen ships an update every 2 days, Rubberband monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
MasterBusListen versus Rubberband: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMasterBusListenRubberband
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 days β€” betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size27 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMusique&Arcades Inc.Thinkspark

In-app purchases

None

MasterBusListen

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Rubberband

One-time2
  • RUBBERBAND PRO$12.99
  • RUBBERBAND STUDIO$12.99

Questions

Is MasterBusListen free?
MasterBusListen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rubberband free?
Rubberband is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MasterBusListen or Rubberband have ads?
Neither MasterBusListen nor Rubberband shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MasterBusListen or Rubberband?
MasterBusListen ships an update every 2 days, and Rubberband monthly. Most recently, MasterBusListen was updated on November 5, 2026 and Rubberband on October 25, 2026.

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