Comparison

ARPJAM Studio vs Patchsynth

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

Head to head
About

ARPJAM Studio

This app offers a generative synthesizer experience focused on sound design without requiring keyboard skills. It allows users to shape waveforms, filters, and effects in real-time as music plays, offering a unique approach to music creation for those who enjoy sound sculpting.

Highlights
  • Generative arpeggios with multiple waveforms
  • Probability-based drum generation
  • Chord progression locking
  • Real-time XY pad parameter control
  • Assignable LFOs for dynamic sound shaping
  • Play pad for layering live input
  • Preset saving and sharing
Features
Read full description

No sequence. No play button needed. An instrument that keeps going without you programming anything. Two generative engines invent phrases endlessly inside the scale and chord you choose. What you shape is not a song — it is a way of sounding. Move a control and the sound changes shape without ever stopping. Density, contour, filter, tape movement. It is built so that nothing you touch can break it. And you can play it. On the key pad or from a MIDI keyboard, right on top of the stream it is generating. What you play can be captured into the looper. Now your own sound can go in too. Record a bar into SAMPLE, the fourth machine, and chopping it up and rearranging it is the app's job. ■ Generate • Two independent arpeggio engines (waveform, filter, envelope, effects) • Eight arpeggio types, chord progressions, ten time signatures • Drum machine and bass • Six LFOs, XY pad, performance FX ■ Slice (SAMPLE) • Record one bar from a mic or line input, with count-in and click • Record the app itself (ARP A / ARP B / drums), and overdub onto it • Load audio files — and the audio from a video file • Up to 32 slices, ordered by the same rules as the arps: direction, reverse, octave, probability, groove • STRETCH (on by default) — change tempo without changing pitch • Its own filter, envelope and delay / reverb sends ■ Play • On-screen key pad — always in scale • MIDI keyboard input (damper pedal, pitch bend, standard control changes) • One-bar looper that records how hard you played ■ Sound • Piano — three velocity layers, stereo, damper release • Electric piano — harmonics shift with how hard you strike • Kalimba, handpan and chime — struck metal, measured from the real instruments and synthesised • Waveforms (sine / triangle / saw / square) plus an acid filter • Delay, reverb, Glitch, Granular, overdrive • DRIFT / FLUTTER — tape movement on the synth voices and the live input alike • Concert pitch A=415–444 Hz ■ Connect • AUv3 plug-in — as an instrument and as an effect • Ableton Link, MIDI Clock, MIDI out • External audio input (line / microphone) • WAV recording and export One-time purchase. No subscription.

About

Patchsynth

Features
Read full description

Patchsynth is a Eurorack-style modular synthesizer for iPhone and iPad — and a place to actually learn how modular synthesis works, one patch cable at a time. Instead of a fixed synth engine with knobs, you build your own instrument by dragging cables between modules: oscillators into filters, envelopes into amplifiers, LFOs wobbling anything you point them at. If you've ever wanted to understand what a Eurorack rig actually does, this is the fastest way in. LEARN BY PATCHING, NOT BY READING 28 hands-on Lessons cover every module, from your first oscillator to full generative patches — some just explain, others build a real patch step-by-step in front of you as you tap "Next." No prior synthesis knowledge required. TRAIN YOUR EAR 15 Challenges hide a patch and play it for you — your job is to rebuild it by ear, with hints if you get stuck. A genuinely fun way to internalize how filters, envelopes, and modulation actually sound. 21 REAL MODULES Oscillator · Filter · VCA · ADSR Envelope · LFO · Noise · Delay · Reverb · Mixer · Sequencer · Arpeggiator · Clock · Attenuverter · Quantizer · Slew Limiter · Sample & Hold · Logic · Ring Modulator · Sampler · Keyboard · Output (with a live oscilloscope) Record your own sounds with the Sampler, or use the built-in factory drum kit. Quantize any CV to a musical scale. Chain multiple clocks for polyrhythms. It's a real modular rig, just without the cables costing $30 each. 70+ FACTORY PATCHES From simple bass and pad sounds to sprawling, 20+ module "flagship" patches — browse them, load them, take them apart to see how they're wired, then make them your own. PLAY IT WITH REAL GEAR Full MIDI support over Bluetooth or USB — plug in any MIDI keyboard or controller and play your patch's Keyboard module directly, no setup beyond pairing. BUILT FOR TOUCH, NOT PORTED FROM DESKTOP Every interaction — dragging cables, turning knobs, panning and zooming a big patch — is designed for a phone screen from the ground up. A dedicated Patch Bay view even gives you a spreadsheet-style matrix of every connection when patches get complex. Undo and redo everything. Save as many patches as you like. No ads, no in-app purchases, no internet connection required — just synthesis.

Screenshots

ARPJAM Studio4 screens
Patchsynth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: ARPJAM Studio at 4 against Patchsynth's 2. ARPJAM Studio also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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

ARPJAM Studio costs $7.99 and Patchsynth $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ARPJAM Studio versus Patchsynth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARPJAM StudioPatchsynth
Price$7.99$7.99
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTakashi TsunodaMartin Adler

In-app purchases

None

ARPJAM Studio

No in-app purchases

None

Patchsynth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ARPJAM Studio free?
ARPJAM Studio costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Patchsynth free?
Patchsynth costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do ARPJAM Studio or Patchsynth have ads?
Neither ARPJAM Studio nor Patchsynth shows ads.

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