Comparison

Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer vs Maxy MIDI

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

Head to head
About

Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer

This app is a powerful polyphonic synthesizer for iPhone and iPad, featuring 39 diverse sound engines and a generative step sequencer. It offers extensive sound-shaping capabilities with dual layers, morphing filters, and flexible LFOs and envelopes. It functions as a standalone app or an AUv3 plugin.

Highlights
  • 39 diverse sound engines
  • Dual-layer synthesis
  • Morphing SEM-style filter
  • Generative step sequencer
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Extensive modulation options
  • Preset sharing via QR codes
Read full description

TRESSE is a polyphonic synthesizer that merges 39 sound engines into one instrument for iPhone and iPad. It runs standalone and as an AUv3 plugin inside AUM, AudioBus, and GarageBand. Twenty-four engines come from Classic MI Plaits: subtractive, FM, wavetable, additive, granular, speech and formant, chords, resonators, and analog-modelled drums. Fifteen more are custom, ported and extended: Karplus-Strong strings, vowel formants, modal and sympathetic-string resonators, a seven-saw supersaw, Hammond-style drawbars, bytebeat, and a multi-waveform wavefolder. TWO LAYERS, ONE VOICE Run two engines at once and crossfade them with the balance knob - each layer has its own filter, envelopes and voice mode. A self-stable SEM-style filter morphs continuously from lowpass to bandpass to highpass to notch and stays stable at full resonance. Two ADSR envelopes per layer shape amplitude and filter independently. Three six-shape LFOs and two step-sequenced MOD lanes route to almost anything - timbre, filters, the layer balance, even the sequencer's own knobs. A master chain adds chorus, tape, ping-pong and lo-fi delays, hall, room, plate and shimmer reverbs, and a wavefolder. GENERATIVE SEQUENCER, POWERED BY VEKTE A generative step sequencer drives the synth with seven algorithms - wave interference, Euclidean, random walk, logistic map, cellular automata, Kaprekar and Fibonacci. Shape the pattern with DENSE, probability, swing or humanize, tie and strum over a full scale and chord system. The arpeggiator can play the main sequence itself - with or without its intervals - or walk your held notes in seven modes. Two synth-macro knobs put any synth parameter on the sequencer page. Presets save, load and rename instantly - and share as compact text keys or QR codes anyone on TRESSE can load. FORMAT AND COMPATIBILITY TRESSE is an iOS standalone app and an AUv3 instrument. Load it in any AUv3 host, including AUM, AudioBus, and GarageBand. Its state saves with your host project. It responds to MIDI note input from any connected keyboard or controller, with MIDI learn on every knob. FREE, ADVANCED, PRO FREE plays all factory presets and offers one editable oscillator layer using EastCoast or RingsInh, the Euclidean algorithm, up to 16 steps, three divisions, three scales and three chord options. LFO editing, Shimmer, MIDI Learn and split sequencing require an upgrade. Manual MIDI CC assignment remains available. ADV unlocks the 24-engine instrument, two editable layers, split sequencers, 32 steps, LFO 1, every algorithm, the arpeggiator, divisions up to 2 bars, Ping Pong, all scales and chords, Shimmer, MIDI Learn, MOD 1 and preset saving. PRO upgrades ADV with 15 additional Våld engines, 64 steps, LFOs 2 and 3, MOD 2, timing options up to 16 bars, Random Walk direction and oscillator/sequence copy-paste. FULL includes ADV and PRO in one purchase. All are one-time purchases covering the standalone app and AUv3 extension. UPDATING FROM AN EARLIER VERSION Version 1.3.0 changes the FREE editing limits. Features previously editable for free, including LFO 1, the second oscillator layer, Shimmer and MIDI Learn, now require ADV or FULL. FREE sequences are editable up to 16 steps. Existing preset and host-project settings are retained: locked features continue to play, but editing them requires the relevant pack. Already available also on desktop as VST3 and AU, for macOS and Windows.

About

Maxy MIDI

Features
Read full description

Maxy MIDI turns an iPhone or iPad into a MIDI controller you design yourself. Drop knobs, faders, pads, keyboards, launch grids, mixer strips and DJ controls onto a page, set what each one sends, and play. Boards and pages Every board is a set of pages, each on its own MIDI channel, laid out on a grid. Tap a tab to change page while you play. Boards are saved on the device, exported as files and shared by AirDrop, so a layout built on an iPad can be opened on a phone. Controls Rotary knobs and endless encoders, vertical and horizontal faders, motorised faders that follow the DAW, XY pads, ribbons, pitch and modulation wheels, buttons and toggles, velocity pads and drum racks, a piano keyboard, Launchpad-style clip grids, transport buttons, mixer strips, crossfaders, three-band DJ EQ with kills, and a deck with a jog wheel. Velocity is measured by where your finger lands, by how much glass it covers, or fixed. Getting to your computer Wi-Fi network session for a Mac or for rtpMIDI on Windows, Bluetooth LE, USB cable, and virtual ports for other apps on the same device. MIDI 2.0 is used where the port supports it. There is a MIDI monitor for when something is not arriving. Speaking your DAW's language Mackie Control for mixers and transport, HUI for Pro Tools, and OSC over UDP for Reaper, Bitwig, Resolume, TouchDesigner and VCV Rack. An Ableton Live remote script is bundled and can be sent to your Mac. Controller scripts for Bitwig and Reaper can be generated from a board. Generators A clock that sends MIDI clock or follows one, an arpeggiator, chord pads, a step sequencer with conditional trigs and probability, a Euclidean sequencer, an LFO to any CC, note repeat, a note echo, a Turing machine melody, and a beat generator with hand-written patterns for two dozen genres. Ableton Link is supported when the LinkKit framework is added. Made to be simple Every control works the moment it is dropped on a page, with a sensible default. The inspector shows the common settings first and hides the rest. MIDI Learn wires a control to whatever you move in the DAW. More than sixty templates give you a layout to start from, from Serum and Diva to Logic Pro, a drum rack and a DJ board. What you need to know MIDI does not tell software what to do by itself. It sends numbers on channels, and the software at the other end decides what those numbers mean. A template is a layout whose numbers never clash. Hardware boards are wired from the maker's MIDI chart; the Logic, Bitwig, Cubase, Studio One and Pro Tools boards speak Mackie Control or HUI, which those DAWs take once you add the surface; Ableton Live has a bundled script. For everything else you map the controls in your DAW, usually by moving a control in Maxy MIDI while the DAW is listening. Each template says which it is, and the app has a walkthrough that sends each control in turn to make learning quick. Free and Pro The free app gives you one board of three pages, one of each kind of control on a page and one generator at a time, and lets you open and play every template within those limits. Maxy MIDI Pro is a one-time purchase that removes the limits, keeps templates as boards of your own, turns on board export and sharing, OSC sending and the rest of the beat genres.

Screenshots

Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer4 screens
Maxy MIDI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer at none against Maxy MIDI's 1. Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Maxy MIDI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer versus Maxy MIDI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTresse Polyphonic SynthesizerMaxy MIDI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJaime Filipe Candido Paiva VieiraPDS Technology LTD

In-app purchases

None

Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Maxy MIDI

One-time1
  • Maxy MIDI Pro$9.99

Questions

Is Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer free?
Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Maxy MIDI free?
Maxy MIDI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer or Maxy MIDI have ads?
Neither Tresse Polyphonic Synthesizer nor Maxy MIDI shows ads.

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