Retromulator vs Raw Byte Audio Machine
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. Version 1.6 adds the 88emu core, covering the Roland SC-88, SC-88VL, SC-88Pro, SC-8850 and SC-55mkII GS sound modules with their own Standard MIDI File player. — EMULATED CORES — VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTHS Motorola DSP 56300 recreation (requires M1 iPad or iPhone 15 Pro or newer): • Access Virus A, B and C • Access Virus TI / TI2 / Snow • Clavia Nord Lead 2X • Waldorf microQ • Waldorf Microwave XT 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. 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
Raw Byte Audio Machine
This app generates complex musical patterns using a single sawtooth wave and a powerful expression engine. It supports binary and bitwise operations to create rhythms, harmonies, and melodies. Operates as a standalone app or an AUv3 instrument plugin.
- Sawtooth wave synthesis
- Expression engine for sound design
- Binary and bitwise operations
- Rhythm, harmony, and melody generation
- Standalone app
- AUv3 instrument plugin
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The Raw Byte Audio Machine allows the user to operate on a constant sawtooth wave that is calculated against the assigned sample rate and bit-depth. With each sample, the counter "t" increments by 1. Your expression is evaluated and the lowest bits become a PCM audio sample. Expressions allow for binary arithmetic like addition, subtraction, division, and modulo; and bitwise operations like AND/OR/NOT and bit shifting. With these combinations of tools, a single expression can yield tremendous musical results in complex rhythms, harmonies, and melodies, all while operating on a single sawtooth wave. Operates as a standalone app or AUv3 instrument plugin.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Raw Byte Audio Machine at 100% against Retromulator's 50%. Raw Byte Audio Machine also leads on price ($0.99 vs $9.99). Retromulator's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On update cadence, 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 $9.99 and Raw Byte Audio Machine $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Retromulator ships an update every 3 days, Raw Byte Audio Machine every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Retromulator | Raw Byte Audio Machine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 67 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DiscoDSP LLC | Callback Audio, LLC |
Customer experience
Retromulator
Raw Byte Audio Machine
In-app purchases
Retromulator
No in-app purchases
Raw Byte Audio Machine
No in-app purchases





