Anima Synthesizer vs HeadStack

Anima is a physical modeling instrument. Sound happens the way it happens in the physical world: a breath excites an object, and the object rings out into a room. That is the whole interface, left to right: ENERGY, OBJECT, ROOM. The object is a modal resonator: twenty-four coupled resonances per voice whose frequencies, loudness, and decay follow physical laws you bend with the controls. Make it wood, glass, or metal. Stretch its partials from strings through piano wire into bells. Touch it at the edge, or hollow it out at the center. Blow at it, press it, strike it with a mallet that hits harder the higher you raise it. Push Inertia far enough and the note ignites and sings on its own breath. The controls are bold glyphs, shapes whose form is the value. No numbers at rest: the panel is a picture of the current sound, and it glides into a new shape when you load a preset. On an iPad the three sections share the screen; on an iPhone they sit side by side, a swipe apart, with the ribbon always under your fingers. Every control is easy to grasp and none of them stop at what the label says; finding what else a knob can do is part of the instrument. The ROOM is a morphable space: Size sets the echo's time, Regen goes all the way into self-oscillation, and Blur melts the repeats into a wash. Delay at one end, reverb at the other, one knob between them. Because every mode frequency is computed from the note, nothing ties Anima to the usual twelve pitches: it plays any tuning an MPE controller can send. Anima is the companion instrument to Hexatone; route Hexatone's MPE into it and per-note microtuning just works, with no configuration. - Standalone app and AUv3 instrument (AUM, Logic, GarageBand, Cubasis, Loopy Pro), on iPhone and iPad; your sound saves with the session - MPE with zero setup: per-note pressure is breath (press into a note and it can ignite), and the slide axis goes wherever you route it, any mix of the ENERGY and OBJECT controls, per note - Every control answers a fixed MIDI CC, so any hardware controller reaches the whole instrument with no mapping; pick a MIDI channel in the app, or play on all of them - Sustain pedal (CC64), MIDI Program Change, Glide, and 1 to 64 voices (at 1 it is a true mono synth) - A ribbon keyboard for true microtonal play (multitouch, per-finger glide, Hold to build chords, Snap or Loose), and a piano with properly wide black keys when you want the familiar - 55 factory presets in banks, including packs by Red Sky Lullaby and Hoavi; save your own, or copy any sound as text and send it to a friend - Undo and redo for every gesture, and the full manual lives inside the app - Collects no data; nothing leaves your device One purchase, iPhone and iPad. Headphones or a real speaker recommended: the low end of the breath is real.

HeadStack is a multi-head tape delay inspired by the character, movement and musicality of classic magnetic echo machines, reimagined for modern production. At its heart is a virtual tape loop with 8 independently configurable playback heads. Each head can be positioned, levelled and panned to create everything from vintage slap-back echoes and rhythmic repeats to vast stereo soundscapes and evolving ambient textures. While HeadStack captures the warmth and unpredictability of classic tape systems, it is not limited by their mechanical constraints. Individual heads can be modulated, filtered, diffused, pitch-shifted and transformed into granular playback engines, opening up a palette that ranges from authentic analogue echoes to shimmering harmonies and cinematic atmospheres. The tape itself becomes an instrument. Rotate the head wheel to continuously reposition playback points, stretch the spacing between heads, introduce head loss, or create cascading feedback networks that evolve with every repeat. Independent filtering, stereo placement and modulation allow each head to develop its own character within the delay line. You can even play sequences Into HeadStack and freeze it using your hold pedal and continue to play over the top. Whether you’re searching for vintage tape ambience, rhythmic multi-tap delays, lush granular harmonies or experimental feedback textures, HeadStack combines the soul of a classic tape echo with the flexibility of a modern creative effects processor. Welcome to a new generation of tape delay. HeadStack Features: Multi-Head Tape Engine - Create complex rhythmic delays using multiple independently controllable playback heads running on a shared virtual tape loop. Vintage Character - Capture the warmth, movement and musical imperfections of classic tape echo machines with adjustable tape loss, filtering and feedback behavior. Independent Head Control - Each playback head features its own level, pan, timing offset and tonal shaping, allowing intricate delay patterns and evolving stereo textures. Rotating Head Wheel- Continuously reposition or stretch the virtual head arrangement to create shifting rhythms, moving echoes and dynamic performance effects. Granular Harmony Engine - Transform individual heads into pitch-shifted granular voices, generating harmonies, octave layers and shimmering textures directly from the tape loop. Per-Head Modulation - Add movement and expression with independent modulation of playback position, spacing, tremolo and stereo placement. Creative Feedback Routing - Choose between traditional multi-head feedback or route feedback from a specific playback head for unique echo patterns and evolving repeats. Diffusion & Smearing - Blend between precise rhythmic echoes and spacious, atmospheric washes using integrated diffusion processing. Deep Stereo Imaging - Create anything from focused mono echoes to wide immersive soundscapes with per-head panning, Haas delay and stereo enhancement controls. Performance Ready - Designed for real-time interaction, encouraging hands-on manipulation of head positions, modulation and feedback while performing. Precision & Experimentation - Dial in authentic tape echoes, lush ambient delays or push the engine into unpredictable granular and feedback-driven territories. Modern Workflow - Combines the immediacy of classic hardware with the flexibility, recall and precision expected from a contemporary audio plugin. Interactive Head Wheel - Grab and rotate the virtual head wheel to reposition playback heads, create evolving delay patterns and perform dramatic tape-style scrubbing effects. Dynamic Tape Warping- Enable Rotate and Stretch modes to continuously morph the spacing and timing between playback heads, transforming static echoes into living, breathing rhythmic textures. Freeze Buffer - Freeze the contents of the audio buffer using a foot pedal, capture ideas and play over the top.