ARPJAM vs LuSID Synthesizer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ARPJAM
This app generates evolving ambient music using two independent arpeggio engines. It features a generative drum machine, sound design tools, and external instrument synchronization. Save and recall your favorite musical setups.
- Dual arpeggio engines
- Generative drum machine
- Sound design controls
- External instrument sync (Ableton Link, MIDI Clock)
- Save and recall presets
- Built-in timer
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ARPJAM is an arpeggio synthesizer that generates ever-evolving ambient music. Layer two independent arpeggio engines, each with its own waveform, scale, and pattern, and let the app weave an endless soundscape that shifts and breathes on its own. ■ Two Arpeggio Engines ARP A and ARP B run simultaneously, each with its own mode, scale, range, waveform, filter, and envelope. Five pattern modes: Random & Chord, Repeat, Random Single, Skank, and Drone. ■ Generative Drums A probability-based drum machine. Tune the firing density, double-hit chance, and open/closed hi-hat ratio for kick, snare, and hihat to create rhythms that evolve naturally alongside the arpeggio. ■ Sound Design Four waveforms — sine, triangle, sawtooth, square. Adjust the low-pass filter, attack, and overdrive per engine. Add depth with ping-pong delay and reverb. ■ Sync with External Instruments [NEW in v1.4] Ableton Link support — wirelessly sync tempo and bar phase with Ableton Move, Live, Koala, and other Link-enabled instruments on the same Wi-Fi network. USB-C MIDI Clock reception is also supported. Sample-accurate timing alignment, with a fine-tune Offset slider for each setup. ■ Redesigned Settings Panel [v1.4] Settings are now organized into five colored sections — Oscillator, Filter, Envelope, Algorithm, and Effects. Each section collapses individually or in bulk, and the state persists between launches. Jump directly to any section via the side rail (iPad) or sticky bar (iPhone). Clear square ON/OFF switches and vivid theme colors — orange for ARP A, lime for ARP B, cyan for Drums — make the whole panel far easier to navigate. ■ Save & Recall Four start presets (Default + SAVE 1/2/3) let you recall your favorite setups with a single tap from the start screen. Presets can be exported and imported as .arpjam files to share with other ARPJAM users. ■ Built-in Timer Choose countdown or infinite mode. The timer fades out with a gentle resolving chord — perfect as a sleep timer or as a companion to meditation. • 8 scales including pentatonic modes • 12 keys (Just Intonation / Equal Temperament switchable) • Groove control for swing feel • BPM 30–200 • English / Japanese language support • Ableton Link / MIDI Clock sync
LuSID Synthesizer
Create synthwave music with a powerful, intuitive synthesizer. Features a multi-voice engine, versatile filter, built-in sequencer, and a range of effects. Record and share your creations easily.
- Eight-voice polyphony with unison
- Audio-rate filter envelope
- Built-in 4-64 step sequencer
- Tape-style delay, chorus, distortion, reverb
- Neon Liquid-Glass interface
- Record and share WAV files
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LuSID Synthesizer — a SID-inspired SwiftUI synth with a synthwave heart. Eight-voice polyphony with detune-and-spread unison, audio-rate filter envelope, classic SID-flavoured ring modulation and pulse-width modulation, plus a built-in 4 to 64-step sequencer and tape-style delay, chorus, distortion, and lush reverb. Wrapped in a neon Liquid-Glass interface that matches what's playing — magenta sequencer steps that bloom lime when active, a gradient cyan oscilloscope that traces your output in real time, and a synthwave horizon that rolls under the step grid. FOUR TABS SYNTH — oscillator (triangle, sawtooth, square, noise) with PolyBLEP anti-aliasing. Custom Cytomic state-variable filter (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, notch) with drive and self-oscillating resonance. Audio-rate filter envelope. LFO with pitch, cutoff, PWM, and pan destinations. Ring modulation. Distortion (lo-fi, broken, cubed, bitcrush, mangled). Chorus. Delay. Reverb (plate, room, hall, cathedral). Big rotary knobs, all the modulation routing visible. SEQUENCER — 4 to 64 steps. Tap-to-place notes with the chromatic note picker. Per-step ratchets (1x, 2x, 3x) and held-legato notes for gate-length variation. Tempo from 60 to 440 BPM, gate length 5 to 150 percent of step. KEYBOARD — two-octave touch piano with multi-touch chords and slide-to-play, velocity slider, octave switcher (C2 to C6). RECORD — capture everything you hear (filter, drive, delay, reverb, the full chain) to a WAV file in the app's Documents folder, then share via the iOS share sheet. 5 to 60 seconds per take. LuSID is built for the moments when you want to make sound, not learn software. No menus, no preset hunting, no tutorials. Tap a step, sweep a knob, hold a key. The app treats every parameter as performance. NO ACCOUNTS. NO ANALYTICS. NO TRACKING. NO ADS. LuSID does not collect any data, make any network requests, or contain any third-party SDKs. Recordings stay on your device until you choose to share them.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LuSID Synthesizer at none against ARPJAM's 1. ARPJAM's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.4). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. ARPJAM sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LuSID Synthesizer asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ARPJAM against 5.0 for LuSID Synthesizer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
ARPJAM ships an update daily, LuSID Synthesizer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ARPJAM | LuSID Synthesizer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Takashi Tsunoda | Lukasz Pomianek |
Customer experience
ARPJAM
LuSID Synthesizer
In-app purchases
ARPJAM
- Remove Ads$0.99
LuSID Synthesizer
No in-app purchases









