PedalEditor vs Pixelsynth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PedalEditor
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A Brain for Brainless Pedals. PedalEditor is a curated MIDI editor and preset library for the guitar pedals and synths you already own. It runs on iPhone and iPad, connects over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or USB, and puts the full parameter map of every supported pedal on the screen — no laptop in the signal path, no proprietary editor for each brand. The pedal is the render target. Presets live in the app. —— SPEAKS FLUENT STRYMON BigSky, BigSky MX, blueSky V2, Brig, Cloudburst, Compadre, Deco V2, DIG V2, EC-1, El Capistan V2, Flint V2, Iridium, Lex V2, Mobius, NightSky, Riverside, Sunset, TimeLine, UltraViolet, Volante, Zelzah. 21 profiles. SPEAKS FLUENT WALRUS AUDIO ACS1, ACS1 MkII, D1, D1 MkII, M1, M1 MkII, R1, R1 MkII, Meraki, Qi. 10 profiles. SPEAKS FLUENT UAFX ANTI 1992, Dream '65, Enigmatic '82, Knuckles '92 Rev F, Lion '68, Ruby '63, Woodrow '55. 7 amp modelers. SPEAKS FLUENT CHASE BLISS Generation Loss MkII, Habit, Mood MkII. 3 profiles. ALSO: Hologram Microcosm. Meris LVX. Line 6 DL4 MkII. About 200 more profiles are built and releasing — 10 to 15 a week, brand by brand. —— THE EDITOR Every parameter on the pedal's faceplate is a control in the app — named the way the pedal prints it, laid out in the order the manual describes it. Knobs, toggle switches, algorithm selectors, multi-position physical switches, and dip banks all render as their hardware equivalents. Switching effect categories (BigSky's 12 reverb machines, TimeLine's 12 delay machines) updates the parameter layout to match. Three save actions, deliberately distinct: • Save — writes to the app library. Nothing goes to the pedal. • Send — pushes the current state to the pedal without writing hardware memory. • Save on Pedal — arms the pedal via Program Change, then writes the slot. On supported Strymon hardware, Read from Pedal pulls the current parameter state back into the app. Capture All Presets sweeps the hardware preset bank and imports it as a named Collection — useful for backing up a pedal before a firmware update. The MIDI Monitor shows every message in and out for the connected destination, with raw hex and human-readable descriptions. —— HOW YOU ORGANIZE Rig → Project → Pedal → Collection → Preset. A Rig is a physical board: specific pedals, specific MIDI channels. Multiple Rigs coexist — a studio rig, a fly rig, a rehearsal rig. A Project is a purpose within a Rig ("Worship Band," "Studio Sessions"). A Collection is a named, colored bank of presets for one pedal in one Project — multiple Collections per pedal, each with up to three independent A/B/C state slots. Presets have freeform names, notes, tags, and lineage tracking; they are not bound by hardware display character limits. Songs hold ordered sections, each with the presets that section needs. Setlists hold ordered songs. Build the setlist before the gig. —— LIVE Open the Live tab, tap a setlist, and step through it. Each advance sends the Program Change and CC values for that section to every pedal on the board. The screen stays awake. No tap-dancing through hardware menus in the dark. —— Custom MIDI (128 Knobs) is always free. It sends CCs 0–127 on any MIDI channel, so it drives any MIDI device you own, no profile required. No account. No cloud. No tracking. Restore Purchases lives in Settings, and it works. Presets, rigs, songs, and setlists sync automatically across your iPhone and iPad via iCloud — no setup, no logins, same Apple ID. —— PedalEditor runs on iPhone and iPad. Bluetooth LE MIDI, USB MIDI, and Network MIDI (RTP-MIDI) over Wi-Fi — same app, same presets, whichever cable you prefer. The pedal still doesn't know your name. The app remembers everything.
Pixelsynth
This app transforms musical input into a vibrant visual experience, allowing users to see and shape their sound in real-time. It offers a playful and immediate way to create music, with all controls and feedback displayed on a single screen. Designed by a Deaf musician, it prioritizes visual feedback as an integral part of the instrument.
- Real-time visual sound shaping
- Interactive 16-pad grid
- Adjustable waveforms, filters, and envelopes
- LFO, delay, and reverb effects
- AUv3 instrument compatibility
- Offline functionality
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Make a sound in seconds—and shape it while it plays. Pixelsynth turns taps, drags, melodies, and chords into a colorful instrument you can understand by watching it. Everything you play lives on one screen. Touch a note and start exploring. FROM THE DEVELOPER OF PIXELBOOP Pixelsynth is a new visual instrument from the maker of Pixelboop. Both apps share a love of playful grids, immediate feedback, and musical ideas that begin with one touch. PLAY FIRST. LEARN BY WATCHING. Sixteen pads invite you to find a melody, hold a chord, or strum across the screen. Notes light up as you play, and every sound control moves in front of you. You can see what each gesture is doing while you hear the result. SHAPE THE SOUND LIVE • Switch waveforms to change the character of your sound. • Sweep the filter from bright and open to soft and focused. • Shape attack, decay, sustain, and release for crisp plucks, swelling notes, and long tails. • Add motion with LFO, repeating echoes with delay, and depth with reverb. Each control is a colorful tank. Touch higher or lower inside it to set the value directly. Values in the upper half stay where you leave them; notes in the lower half drain away after you lift. It feels immediate because the picture and the sound follow the same gesture. MADE TO BE SEEN Created by a Deaf musician, Pixelsynth treats visual feedback as part of the instrument. The entire musical surface is drawn on a 40 by 24 pixel grid—just 960 pixels—so every control stays visible and every change has a visual response. PLAY IT YOUR WAY Open Pixelsynth as a standalone instrument on iPhone or iPad, or load the included AUv3 instrument in a compatible iOS music host. Your host can send MIDI notes and save the instrument state with your project. A compatible host is available separately. FREE TO EXPLORE No account. No in-app purchases. No third-party ads. The instrument works offline. The standalone app may occasionally show developer news or an introduction to Pixelboop, which you can close immediately. Pixelsynth does not track you or collect the music you play. Open it. Touch a note. See where it takes you.
Screenshots
Verdict
PedalEditor and Pixelsynth are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PedalEditor ships an update every 2 weeks, Pixelsynth every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PedalEditor | Pixelsynth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Corey Cowan | de Bastion, Inc |
In-app purchases
PedalEditor
No in-app purchases
Pixelsynth
No in-app purchases









