Comparison

MPC Sample Academy vs TONAUT

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

Head to head
About

MPC Sample Academy

Learn to master the Akai MPC Sample with step-by-step lessons and an interactive hardware diagram. This app provides a complete guide from basic pad tapping to finished song export, featuring an AI tutor and built-in sample pads for practice.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step lessons for MPC Sample
  • Interactive hardware diagram
  • AI Tutor for instant help
  • Built-in 16-pad sample kit
  • Beat Trainer rhythm game
  • Covers beginner, advanced, and pro workflows
Features
Read full description

Sample Academy is the fastest, most complete way to learn the Akai MPC Sample - the new entry-level standalone MPC sampler, beat maker, and groovebox. Whether you just unboxed your MPC Sample or you are upgrading from a phone beat-making app, this is the step-by-step path from your first pad tap to a finished, exported song. One purchase. No subscriptions. Everything unlocked. Built specifically for the MPC Sample. These are not generic MPC tutorials. Every lesson, every button press, and every screen reference matches the exact hardware in your hands - the 8 pad banks, Instant Sample Chop, KNOB FX, PAD FX, 16 Levels, Note Repeat, and USB-C audio export. ONE-TIME PURCHASE, FULL ACCESS - Pay once and unlock all 13 lessons forever - No monthly fees, no paywalls, no hidden upsells - Every beginner, advanced, and pro lesson included from day one WHY PRODUCERS CHOOSE SAMPLE ACADEMY - 13 structured, step-by-step lessons covering the full MPC Sample workflow - Every term explained in plain English: BPM, swing, quantize, velocity, dB, gain staging, aftertouch, timestretch, and more - An interactive hardware diagram that highlights the exact knob, pad, or button for each step - Per-step tips and pro shortcuts on every screen - No 200-page PDF, no endless YouTube rabbit holes - just clear, ordered lessons LESSON CHAPTERS Beginner: Meet the hardware, record your first sample, trim and assign sounds to pads, and program your first beat. Everything you need to make sound on day one. Advanced: Master Instant Sample Chop, practice chopping inside the app, dial in swing and groove, automate filters and effects with KNOB FX, and learn the difference between timestretch and repitch. Pro: Level up your finger drumming, sculpt sounds with PAD FX and Flex Beat, chain sequences into full song arrangements, and run a clean USB-C mixdown into your DAW. AI TUTOR ON EVERY LESSON Stuck on a step? Tap the Tutor. The built-in AI Tutor knows exactly which lesson and step you are on and answers in plain English, with advice specific to the MPC Sample. It can even read answers aloud so you can keep your hands on the hardware. No generic responses, no hunting through forums - just instant, relevant help. BUILT-IN SAMPLE PADS Practice anywhere with a full 16-pad kit right in the app. Tap to trigger punchy kicks, snares, hi-hats, claps, 808s, percussion, & FX. Record your pad performance, play it back, and save your beats. Four dedicated user pads let you record your own sounds with the microphone or upload your own audio files - sample your voice, your room, anything - and chop it across the pads to build muscle memory before you touch the hardware. BEAT TRAINER - RHYTHM GAME Sharpen your timing with a built-in finger-drumming game. Notes fall down four lanes - kick, snare, hi-hat, open hat - & you tap in time with your kit. Includes: - 11 patterns: Four-on-the-Floor, Boom Bap, Lofi, Trap, Drill, House, Reggaeton, Jersey Club, Funk, Drum & Bass, and more - Speed control from half-time practice up to full-speed challenge - Score, accuracy, and combo tracking - Personal bests saved per pattern and speed - Shareable score cards for Instagram and TikTok - Listen to any pattern before you play it STAY MOTIVATED - Daily streak tracking keeps you coming back - A Today screen shows your next lesson so you always know what is next - Progress tracking across every lesson and chapter WHO IT IS FOR - New MPC Sample owners who want results fast - Beat makers coming from FL Studio, Ableton, GarageBand, Maschine, or phone apps - Producers moving up from an SP-404 or other samplers - Anyone who has owned an MPC for months and never finished a beat GENRES YOU WILL MAKE Hip hop, lofi, boom bap, trap, drill, R&B, house, & more. The skills transfer to any style you want to produce. Sample Academy is an independent learning app & is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Akai Professional. MPC and MPC Sample are trademarks of inMusic Brands, Inc.

About

TONAUT

This app is a powerful music creation tool that combines a synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, and eight-track tape recorder. It's designed for intuitive, hands-on playing rather than complex programming, allowing users to easily create and record music.

Highlights
  • Nine synth engines with deep editing
  • Over 500 sounds including sampled instruments
  • Four drum engines with 43 kits
  • Eight-lane sequencer with 16 patterns per lane
  • Eight-track tape recorder for recording and playback
  • Live performance features with X/Y pad
  • MIDI input/output for external controllers
Features
Read full description

Tonaut is a synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer and eight-track tape recorder in one instrument, made to be played rather than programmed. Pick a sound, tap out a pattern and record it to tape, all on one panel that feels more like hardware than an app. IPHONE DUO • Folded, one octave on the outer screen. Half folded, the screens above the keys. Open, the whole instrument. Folding never stops the music SOUNDS • Nine synth engines: virtual analog, six-operator FM, wavetable, pulse, modeled string, a seven-oscillator swarm, grains, a classic analog poly and a sampler • Every engine has a 3D screen that moves with your playing, or a classic view • Over 500 sounds, from warm pads to glassy bells and growling bass, including 147 sampled instruments • Edit every sound in depth, save your own, and star your favorites • Load DX7-style SysEx banks into the FM engine • Four effects on every sound from sixteen types, from tape echo and huge reverb to distortion, pump, phaser and lo-fi • A master effect, a master EQ and an EQ on every lane DRUMS • 43 kits on three drum engines: kits made from real recorded drums, synthesized kits where every pad is its own drum, and slice kits • Knock and Cinder kits drawn in 3D, moving with every hit • A groove player: hold any pad and the whole kit plays one of sixteen grooves • Make kits from your own recordings or from audio files, one per pad KEYS AND CHORDS • Pick a key and scale and its keys light up; LOCK keeps every note in key, per lane • CHORDS plays a whole chord from one key, and works with the arpeggiator and the sequencer • Chord pad: seven chords from your key and a stick that turns each into a 7th, 9th, sus, dim and more, with strum and bass, also from a MIDI keyboard SEQUENCER • Eight lanes, each with its own sound and sixteen patterns of up to 64 steps • Write step by step or record live, with chords, slides, ratchets and chance • STEP REC: each note or chord you play fills a step, with rest and tie, also from MIDI • Pattern Play: queue the next pattern and every lane moves on together • Copy, swap and transpose patterns, and reorder lanes • An arpeggiator on every synth lane PLAY IT LIVE • A Perform page with TONE and SPACE for every lane, which glide back when you stop • An X/Y pad that bends pitch and moves the sound under one finger • One-tap mutes, tap tempo, click and count-in TAPE • Eight tracks of 20 minutes each, or six tracks of 30 minutes, chosen per project • Record every lane to its own track, or several onto one • Loop, reverse, stutter, brake and catch the last 30 seconds you played • A tape mixer, and pinch to zoom from a few bars to the whole song SAMPLING • Sample with the microphone, a USB interface, or Tonaut itself • Link your sample folders once, tap a file to hear it, and load it onto a pad or into the sampler • Drag audio files in from other apps onto a drum pad or the sampler MIDI • Play Tonaut from USB or Bluetooth MIDI keyboards and controllers, on the selected lane or with each lane on its own channel • Send any lane to your own synths and drum machines, with clock and start/stop SHARE AND EXPORT • Share a loop from the tape as a vertical video or as audio, ready to post • Send a whole song, samples and all, as one file a friend opens in Tonaut • Export a stereo mix, separate stems as WAV files, or MIDI files of every lane • Optional iCloud sync between your iPhone and iPad One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo, each with its own layout, in six looks: Light, Dark, TN-1, TN-1 Dark, TN-XY and TN-SIGNAL. No subscription, no account, and Tonaut collects no data. Your music stays yours. REQUIREMENTS • An iPhone with an edge-to-edge screen: iPhone XS, XR or newer, iOS 17 or later. Not the iPhone SE (its screen is too small) • iPad (6th generation), iPad mini (5th generation), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Pro (2017) or newer, iPadOS 17 or later Questions? Write to hello@coastcreative.studio or visit tonaut.app.

Screenshots

MPC Sample Academy4 screens
TONAUT4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MPC Sample Academy at $3.99 against TONAUT's $14.99. MPC Sample Academy also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). TONAUT's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On rating, 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

MPC Sample Academy costs $3.99 and TONAUT $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MPC Sample Academy against 5.0 for TONAUT. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MPC Sample Academy versus TONAUT: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMPC Sample AcademyTONAUT
Price$3.99 — better$14.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequency—Daily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKristen GranadosRichard Rogers

In-app purchases

None

MPC Sample Academy

No in-app purchases

None

TONAUT

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MPC Sample Academy free?
MPC Sample Academy costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TONAUT free?
TONAUT costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MPC Sample Academy or TONAUT?
MPC Sample Academy and TONAUT are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do MPC Sample Academy or TONAUT have ads?
Neither MPC Sample Academy nor TONAUT shows ads.

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