Comparison

Tonic Synth vs Melodai

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

Head to head
About

Tonic Synth

Create complex sounds with multiple synthesis engines, including analog, wavetable, and FM. Share and discover sounds with a built-in community. Play standalone or as a plugin on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Highlights
  • Eight sound engines (physical modeling, virtual analog, wavetable, FM, SoundFont)
  • Stack up to three engines per sound
  • Community sound sharing and publishing
  • Arpeggiator and sequencer with advanced features
  • Effects rack with chorus, delay, reverb, EQ, compressor, and flanger/phaser
  • Live scene switching for stage performance
  • Standalone and AUv3 plugin support
Features
Read full description

Eight sound engines in one instrument — and a whole preset community living inside it. Physical modeling, virtual analog, 3D wavetable, 6-operator FM and a full SoundFont player: stack up to three engines per sound, each with its own filter, envelope and modulation. Play it standalone on iPhone, iPad and Mac, or load it as an AUv3 plug-in — instrument and effect — in your favorite host. One purchase. No subscription, no ads, nothing locked behind a paywall. • TONICA — THE SOUND COMMUNITY Your next signature sound might come from a player on the other side of the world. Browse what the community publishes without ever leaving the app: one tap auditions it under your fingers, two taps keep it. Love an author? Take their whole collection at once, into a bank named after them. And publish yours with a single tap — no account, no sign-up, no cost. • THREE OSCILLATORS Up to three independent layers — each with its own source, filter, envelope and modulation, plus mute/solo and keyboard split. From a simple patch to a fat, detuned stack on one spread knob. The Vector pad morphs across all three layers in real time: draw a path and the sound travels it on its own. • SOUND ENGINES Per layer: physical modeling (string, modal, wind, bowed), virtual analog (sine, saw, square, triangle, pulse and super-saw, with sub-oscillator and noise), wavetables up to 128 frames, SoundFont (.sf2 and compressed .sf3) and 6-operator FM that opens .syx cartridges. Record anything through the mic and turn it into a wavetable — or draw the waveform with your finger and hear it instantly, on a 3D landscape you can drag, rotate and resize. • FILTERS Ten analog-modeled voicings — LP/HP/BP/Notch, 12 or 24 dB per octave, resonance into self-oscillation, drive and 4× oversampling. From warm ladder to creamy SVF, from acid squelch to screaming resonance. • ARPEGGIATOR & SEQUENCER A step editor with a live playhead: ties, ratchets, accents and per-step probability, polymetric rhythm masks, capture of what you just played, swing, gate mode, key range and per-layer arping. Imports .mid patterns, follows MIDI Clock, and with Hold the pattern runs by itself. • EFFECTS RACK Chorus, tempo-synced ping-pong delay, 6-type FDN reverb, 5-band EQ, compressor and a Flanger/Phaser module — each one switchable and routable per layer. • BUILT FOR THE STAGE Six scenes (A–F) swap the entire patch live without cutting the sound: the note ringing out finishes naturally while the next one already speaks with the new tone. Switched apps mid-set? A sustain pedal left down or a mod wheel parked halfway no longer hijacks your sound — every control starts working again the moment you move it. The MIDI filter decides what each pedal, wheel or controller is allowed to do, and can target one specific device when there's more than one keyboard in the rack. Program Change and Bank Select switch sounds from your controller. MIDI Learn on any control, over USB or Bluetooth. • YOUR LIBRARY 280+ factory sounds in banks, and your own collection beside them: favorites, renaming, saving, tagging and search by name, tag or bank. Two file formats of its own — one to share sounds (.tpr) and one for a full library backup (.tbk). Double-click a file, or receive one by AirDrop, and it merges straight in without duplicating anything. • WHERE IT RUNS iPhone, iPad and Mac, from a single purchase. As an AUv3 it runs in the major recording apps on iOS and macOS. Using software that doesn't load AUv3 yet? See rsjb.com.br/support for the route other users have already proven. Thank you for playing with RSJB - made by musicians for musicians! Follow the news at www.rsjb.com.br/en

About

Melodai

Features
Read full description

Melodai is a desktop-class DAW for iPhone, iPad, and Mac: multi-track editing, instruments you can play, a full FX rack, and on-device AI for jam, stems, and sheet scan. The mix stays on your device. RECORD AND ARRANGE Build a song on a real timeline. Audio, voice, loops, and MIDI tracks live in one project. Move, split, duplicate, and snap clips. Record from the mic or into the instrument you have open, with count-in and overdub. Undo walks a change back. PLAY THE INSTRUMENTS Select a track and the dock becomes the instrument: keys, drums, guitar, bass, 808, synth, violin, saxophone, or Guzheng. Tap, play, and record MIDI, then edit notes in the piano roll. MIX AND SHAPE A studio FX rack on every track and on the master: parametric EQ, 10-band EQ, compressor, limiter, reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, distortion, and pitch. Drop in loops from a bundled library filed by drums, bass, keys, guitar, synth, strings, vocals, and genre. Clean a take with on-device noise reduction. ON-DEVICE AI Jam: hold notes, pick a style — Lo-Fi, Dark Jazz, Trap, Orchestral, and more — and generate a take on Apple silicon. Prompt Mixer: blend style terms on faders and generate into the mix you dialled in. Stems: split a song into bass, drums, other, and vocal, then open it as a four-track session. Sheet scan: photograph a piano score and open MIDI you can play and edit. MIDI import: drop a .mid file and it becomes tracks and notes, not a dead bounce. Jam, stems, sheet scan, and noise reduction run with Core ML on your device. Your recordings are not uploaded to finish an edit. Optional text-to-arrangement compose sends only a prompt, never your audio. EXPORT Share MP3 or AAC. Bounce lossless WAV, AIFF, or 32-bit float CAF when the file has to leave as audio. iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No ads, no tracking, no account. MELODAI PRO You can build a song for free. Pro unlocks the full instrument set, piano roll, Pro loops, Jam, Prompt Mixer, stem split, EQ, noise reduction, and lossless export. If a session uses those tools, Pro is required to export. Prices are shown in the app in your local currency. Auto-renewable subscription Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://melodai.youthpe.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://melodai.youthpe.com/terms.html

Screenshots

Tonic Synth4 screens
Melodai4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Melodai at Free against Tonic Synth's $19.99. Tonic Synth's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Melodai is free to download; Tonic Synth costs $19.99 up front. Melodai sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Tonic Synth asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Tonic Synth versus Melodai: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTonic SynthMelodai
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB636 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRubens Felicio巧霞 詹

In-app purchases

None

Tonic Synth

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Melodai

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro$2.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Tonic Synth free?
Tonic Synth costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Melodai free?
Melodai is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tonic Synth or Melodai have ads?
Neither Tonic Synth nor Melodai shows ads.

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