Comparison

EchoSketch vs STEM

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

Head to head
About

EchoSketch

Shape delay and reverb effects in real-time with a playable X/Y performance surface. Explore four distinct delay types and multiple reverb options, with extensive parameter control for unique sound morphing. Works as a standalone app or an Audio Unit plugin.

Highlights
  • X/Y performance surface for real-time sound shaping
  • Four distinct delay types: digital, analog, reverse, ping-pong
  • Spring, plate, and hall convolution reverb
  • Modulation and tone control for echoes
  • HOLD, LIFT, FREEZE, and MOTION performance gestures
  • Standalone app and AUv3 plugin compatibility
Features
Read full description

EchoSketch turns delay and reverb into a live, playable instrument. Shape your sound in real time using a responsive X/Y performance surface designed for intuitive touch expression. At its core are four great-sounding delays: digital, analog, ping-pong, and reverse. The range for each parameter and the XY axes direction can be set independently, allowing you to easily morph between sounds. It works as an Audio Unit plugin or standalone — iOS or Mac. Comprehensive Delays • Digital (patterned after a legendary '80s rack delay), Analog (warm, with tape-style pitch glide), Reverse, and Left/Right Ping-Pong • Delay times can sync to tempo or be set in milliseconds • Feedback features delay-dependent tone shaping — bright for short delays and darker for long ones Convolution Reverb • Stereo or mono Spring, Plate, and Hall • Reverb path is separate from the delay (same as vintage tape echo units), so repeats don’t get washed out Modulation and Filter • Analog-style modulation for chorused, warbly pitch echoes • Tone control — darken or brighten delays, with a center detent for flat Designed for Hands-On Performance • HOLD / LIFT — leave the XY cursor in place, or touch the pad for momentary delay sounds • FREEZE — set the current feedback into an infinite loop and play over it • MOTION — record a gesture on the XY pad and loop it Presets and More • Presets are transferable between hosts • Two looks — light "Trail" and dark "Glow" • Works standalone with live audio or as an AUv3 plugin • Universal — iPad/iPhone also gets you the Mac version — one purchase • Mac: after installing, open EchoSketch once to use it as a plugin in your DAW • Works in AUM, AudioBus, GarageBand, Logic, and other AUv3 hosts

About

STEM

Features
Read full description

Plug in your audio interface, start the record, and the vocal is on its own fader. STEM splits what is playing — or what is coming in from your mixer — into vocals, drums, bass and everything else, live, on your iPad or iPhone. Each stem lands on its own pair of hardware outputs, so your desk does the mixing. No upload. No render queue. No waiting for a track to be analysed before you can play it. LIVE IN, STEMS OUT Feed STEM from your interface — a turntable through your mixer, a booth output, an instrument — and it separates what is coming in, with the engine aimed at a live source instead of a file. The mix you did not make, taken apart. EVERY STEM ITS OWN OUTPUTS Each stem takes its own pair of hardware channels — vocals to 3-4, drums to 5-6 — up to 16 channels, assigned in a routing matrix that remembers each interface. Outputs start muted until you confirm the routing, because a misrouted stem into a PA is the mistake worth preventing. On a device alone the four stems fold down to stereo, and the console says so. TWO DECKS, ONE CROSSFADER One setting runs a second deck: its own separation engine, its own four stems, its own routing. A crossfader between them, constant-power or cut. HANDS ON THE HARDWARE Map any MIDI CC by tapping a control and moving the knob. Soft takeover means a hardware fader never makes the mix jump, and positions are sent back, so motorised faders and LED rings follow the console. A CONSOLE, NOT A DIALOG Long-throw faders with a 0 dB detent, mute and solo per stem, LED metering, a master strip with BS.1770 loudness. Per-stem three-band EQ and a resonant filter — ladder or state-variable, your choice. Cue any stem to a headphone pair before you bring it up. Save the whole desk as a scene and recall it. SENDS, INSIDE OR OUT Up to four stereo sends, each per stem and post-fader. Send one to a hardware pair for your outboard, or to the built-in tempo-synced delay or plate reverb. STEMS WHILE IT PLAYS Load a track and it comes apart as it plays. Seek anywhere and the stems follow, because the separation is happening now rather than being read from a file somebody prepared earlier. TAKE THE STEMS WITH YOU Write a loaded track back out as four 24-bit WAV files, latency-compensated so they sit at zero in a DAW, rendered by the larger offline model. MEASURED, NOT QUOTED Latency, load and real-time margin are read from the running session and shown while you work. The app never displays a number it has not measured. iPad, iPhone AND Mac Use the console in portrait or landscape on iPad and iPhone. The same app also runs on Apple-silicon Macs. Real-time performance depends on your device and session settings. PRIVACY No accounts, no analytics, no network. Your music never leaves the device. AUV3 PLUG-IN — Load STEM as an effect in AUM: audio in, the remix on the first bus and each stem on its own bus. In a host with one output, such as GarageBand, the first bus plays the remix. PREVIEW AUDIO “Rooted In Peace” by Admiral Bob (ccMixter), with “In Peace” by snowflake. CC BY 3.0. Excerpted and processed by STEM. ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/33646 · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Screenshots

EchoSketch4 screens
STEM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: EchoSketch at $7.99 against STEM's $14.99. EchoSketch also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (17 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

EchoSketch costs $7.99 and STEM $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EchoSketch ships an update every 2 days, STEM monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
EchoSketch versus STEM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEchoSketchSTEM
Price$7.99 — better$14.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB283 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAvi BortnickMichael Ivertowski

In-app purchases

None

EchoSketch

No in-app purchases

None

STEM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is EchoSketch free?
EchoSketch costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is STEM free?
STEM costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do EchoSketch or STEM have ads?
Neither EchoSketch nor STEM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EchoSketch or STEM?
EchoSketch ships an update every 2 days, and STEM monthly. Most recently, EchoSketch was updated on October 24, 2026 and STEM on October 29, 2026.

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