Retromulator vs Colorful Chords
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retromulator
This app recreates legendary vintage synthesizers, samplers, and keyboards through accurate emulation. It functions as a standalone application or an AUv3 plugin, offering classic electronic music hardware sounds on iOS devices.
- Cycle-accurate hardware emulation
- AUv3 plugin support
- Standalone app functionality
- Full MIDI control
- ROM firmware loading
- Background audio support
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Retromulator is a multi-core retro hardware emulation app and AUv3 plug-in that brings legendary synthesizer, sampler, and keyboard cores back to life through authentic low-level emulation. Each core runs its actual firmware, physical model, or sample data — delivering the unmistakable character of the hardware that defined electronic music from the early 80s through the 2000s. — EMULATED CORES — VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTHS Firmware-level chip emulation, enabled with the 56k cores option (requires M1 iPad or iPhone 15 Pro or newer): • Access Virus A, B and C — Motorola DSP 56300 recreation • Access Virus TI / TI2 / Snow — Motorola DSP 56300 recreation • Clavia Nord Lead 2X — Motorola DSP 56300 recreation • Waldorf microQ — Motorola DSP 56300 recreation • Waldorf Microwave XT — Motorola DSP 56300 recreation • Roland JP-8000 and JP-8080 — JE-8086 core by Giulio Zausa ANALOG SYNTHS • Oberheim Matrix-1000 — original firmware on an emulated Motorola 6809 board driving six CEM3396 voice models, with ROM banks 2 to 9 from the patch EPROM, a MIDI CC for each of the 96 patch parameters and LFO sync to the host tempo or MIDI clock • Moog Minimoog Model D — CA-72 circuit model by Idle Foundry, with the original front panel, a Double voice section with Detune, Width and Entropy, three quality modes, 46 factory presets and .fxp / .fxb preset and bank support FM SYNTHESIS • Yamaha DX7 — original chip set emulation, based on VDX7 by Charles Chiaccona • Yamaha OPL3 — Nuked OPL3 cycle-accurate FM by Nuke.YKT GM / GS SOUND MODULES • 88emu — Roland SC-88, SC-88VL, SC-88Pro, SC-8850 and SC-55mkII boards, emulation by Giulio Zausa, with GS variation, map and rhythm handling, program and drum kit names read straight from the board ROM, 16-part multitimbral operation, and a Standard MIDI File player with offline rendering to WAV or AAC. CHIPTUNE • Commodore 64 SID 6581/8580 — based on reSID. 3-voice polyphony, 8580 chip model with high-quality RESAMPLE, GoatTracker .sng / .ins bank loading (GTS3/4/5, GTI3/4/5) and .sid file import (PSID/RSID), full macro playback engine (wavetable, pulsetable, filtertable, speedtable) and live MIDI control of cutoff (CC 74), resonance (CC 71), pulse width (CC 75), vibrato (CC 1) and pitch bend. • Ayumi (AY-3-8910 / YM2149) — the PSG behind the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and MSX. Ayumi emulation by Peter Sovietov with the Ym2149Synth voice engine, 3-voice polyphony, switchable AY / YM engine, .ay patch loading, Factory and User banks, and 11 live CC controls. ORGAN • Hammond B3 with Leslie speaker — OpenB3, based on the setBfree engine by Michele Perrone. Upper, lower and pedal drawbars, percussion, vibrato and chorus, overdrive, reverb, three Leslie cabinets, keyboard split and .fxp presets ELECTRIC PIANO AND SAMPLER • Wurlitzer 200A — OpenWurli physical modelling by hal0zer0 (Rust ported to C++ by discoDSP) • Akai S1000 — SFZero sample engine by Steve Folta, with Bliss Sampler support and resampling engine by discoDSP (SF2 / SFZ / ZBP / ZBB) — KEY FEATURES — • Native AUv3 plug-in for AUM, Cubasis, GarageBand, Logic Pro and more • Standalone app for iPhone and iPad • Full MIDI control: CC, mod wheel, expression, pitch bend • 8-point sinc interpolation for sample playback • Auto-slice drum mapping and global retuning via MIDI • ROM firmware loading from original hardware • Background audio, iCloud and Files app integration • Optimised interpreter compatible with the iOS App Store sandbox • Boards: hardware-style control panels for 15 cores, with host parameter linking and NRPN input • MIDI out to the host or to a MIDI device, and an Editor Only mode that runs a board without the sound engine or firmware, to edit the original hardware
Colorful Chords
Discover 192 unique guitar chord voicings not found in standard charts. Explore major and minor chords with extensions, listen to audio playback, watch video demos, and find compatible keys. Includes a daily chord and a built-in tuner for 7 different tunings.
- 192 unique chord voicings
- 7 different guitar tunings
- Audio playback of chords
- Video demonstrations
- Built-in chromatic tuner
- Chord of the Day feature
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The Book of Colorful Chords brings 192 hand-discovered guitar chord voicings to your fingertips — sounds you won't find in standard chord charts. WHAT'S INSIDE 192 unique chord voicings across 7 tunings: Standard Drop D Double Drop D Open G Open E Open A DADGAD Includes major and minor voicings with colorful extensions — 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and suspended tones throughout. FEATURES Audio Playback — Hear every chord played on a real guitar Video Demo — Watch each chord being played Works Well In — Each chord shows the keys it fits naturally Variation Notes — Ideas for embellishment and alternate fingerings Chord of the Day — A new chord delivered daily with optional reminder notification Built-In Guitar Tuner — Chromatic tuner supporting all 7 tunings in the app, with acoustic and electric reference tones CREATED THROUGH DISCOVERY None of these chords were copied from a book or website. Every shape emerged organically from years of exploring the fretboard — experimenting, listening, and following curiosity. Whether you're a songwriter looking for fresh textures, a session player expanding your vocabulary, or a curious guitarist ready to explore, these chords are waiting for you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Retromulator at 50% against Colorful Chords's 0%. Retromulator also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0) and device support (3 vs 1). Colorful Chords's advantage is price ($5.99 vs $19.99). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Retromulator costs $19.99 and Colorful Chords $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Retromulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Retromulator's written reviews are positive against 0% of Colorful Chords's.
| Parameter | Retromulator | Colorful Chords |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $5.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DiscoDSP LLC | Michael Schmidt |
Customer experience
Retromulator
Colorful Chords
In-app purchases
Retromulator
No in-app purchases
Colorful Chords
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Retromulator free?
Is Colorful Chords free?
Which has better reviews, Retromulator or Colorful Chords?
Do Retromulator or Colorful Chords have ads?
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