Comparison

Retromulator vs Raw Byte Audio Machine

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Cycle-accurate hardware emulation
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Standalone app functionality
  • Full MIDI control
  • ROM firmware loading
  • Background audio support
Features
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • Sawtooth wave synthesis
  • Expression engine for sound design
  • Binary and bitwise operations
  • Rhythm, harmony, and melody generation
  • Standalone app
  • AUv3 instrument plugin
Features
Read full description

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

Retromulator1 screens
Raw Byte Audio Machine4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Retromulator versus Raw Byte Audio Machine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetromulatorRaw Byte Audio Machine
Price$9.99$0.99 — better
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDiscoDSP LLCCallback Audio, LLC

Customer experience

Retromulator

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Raw Byte Audio Machine

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Retromulator

No in-app purchases

None

Raw Byte Audio Machine

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retromulator free?
Retromulator costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Raw Byte Audio Machine free?
Raw Byte Audio Machine costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retromulator or Raw Byte Audio Machine have ads?
Neither Retromulator nor Raw Byte Audio Machine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retromulator or Raw Byte Audio Machine?
Retromulator ships an update every 3 days, and Raw Byte Audio Machine every 6 days. Most recently, Retromulator was updated on September 20, 2026 and Raw Byte Audio Machine on September 23, 2026.

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