Comparison

Choppa vs Locus

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

Head to head
About

Choppa

Record audio, chop it into playable pads, and manipulate it like an instrument. This app offers advanced features like vinyl scratching, chord progressions, and wireless DAW integration for musicians and producers.

Highlights
  • Record and chop audio to pads
  • Vinyl scratching and pitch bending
  • Chord progressions and layered harmonies
  • Auto-chop by transient or pitch
  • Wireless DAW integration (Ableton Link)
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Multiple input sources
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Record into your mic. Chop it to pads. Play it like an instrument. Now scratch them like vinyl and play in chord progressions. Choppa is a lightning-fast audio sampler and slicing tool built for songwriters, beatmakers, and live performers. Record through your mic and instantly map audio across playable trigger pads. Auto-chop on transient or pitch detection — switch between 4 / 8 / 16 pad layouts without losing any of their per-chop settings. PERFORMANCE GESTURES Tap to trigger. Hold to sustain. Drag a single finger up and down on a pad to slide pitch in real time — ±2 octaves without lifting. Drop a second finger anywhere on the screen and any held chop slows like a record being touched. Move the second finger and you scratch in either direction. Lift to release the platter — a force-based exponential inertia model (modeled on real turntable physics, not a linear fade) ramps back to nominal speed. Spread your fingers wider and the scratch responds more gently — a "grip pressure" metaphor borrowed from real decks. The chop view and minimap both work as scrub surfaces. The minimap ignores chop boundaries entirely — drag freely across the whole loop as one continuous tape. CHORD PLAY PERF mode has two flavours: SCRATCH for turntable gestures and CNFG for chord play. CNFG's MONO/POLY toggle controls whether each pad press chokes the previous (one voice at a time) or lets multiple voices stack while held — piano-key hold-to-play for chord progressions, sustained harmonies, and layered counter-melodies. CHOPPING Auto-chop detects transients or pitch boundaries automatically when you record or import a sample, with sensitivity knobs for each. Drag chop edges manually, set per-section pitch and gain, enable reverse, and pick between off / forward loop / ping-pong on any chop. Three pad-count layers (4 / 8 / 16) are fully independent — switch between them and all per-chop settings stay intact. INPUT SOURCES Pick what feeds Choppa: any mic capsule (front / back / bottom / USB / AirPods), the two royalty-free streams that ship with the app, or any HTTPS audio URL you paste in. Record from any of them. RECORD MODE A dedicated REC mode for capture work, with an ARM safety pin — destructive full re-record requires a deliberate ARM tap so a stray REC press can't write over a take. Punch-in records into a single chop's region only, with single-level undo — perfect for fixing a flubbed beat without losing the rest. WIRELESS TO YOUR DAW Ableton Link Audio — Choppa's master mix appears as a track-input source in Live, Loopy Pro, AUM, GarageBand iOS, and any Link 4 peer on the same Wi-Fi. Tempo syncs at the same time. No USB cable, no virtual audio device. PLUGIN INSIDE YOUR DAW Full AUv3 plugin support — load Choppa inside GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, AUM, Loopy Pro, or any Audio Unit host as either an Instrument (play chops via host MIDI) or an FX (capture the host's audio for chopping). MIDI mappings persist per host. LIBRARY + SHARE Every recording auto-saves into an App Group library shared between Choppa standalone and the AUv3 plugin — record a sample on your phone, load it in your DAW the next time you open it. Share to Choppa from any other app and pick which bank receives the sample, plus the chop count, before it lands. EXPORT Export source WAV, individual chops, .choppa single-bank presets, or full .choppap multi-bank projects. Import from other Choppa users or any audio file. Built by WaveLoop. Get off the grid.

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

Choppa4 screens
Locus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Locus at 5.0 against Choppa's 4.3. Choppa's advantage is chart position (#77 vs unranked) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Choppa costs $4.99 and Locus $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Locus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Choppa has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Choppa versus Locus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChoppaLocus
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating4.3 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#77 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperElijah LucianJoe Topjian

Customer experience

Choppa

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Locus

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

In-app purchases

None

Choppa

No in-app purchases

None

Locus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Choppa free?
Choppa costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Locus free?
Locus costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Choppa or Locus?
Locus is rated higher. Choppa averages 4.3 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Locus averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Choppa or Locus have ads?
Neither Choppa nor Locus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Choppa or Locus?
Choppa ships an update every 2 weeks, and Locus every 2 weeks. Most recently, Choppa was updated on September 25, 2026 and Locus on September 20, 2026.

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