Comparison

88 Synthwave vs Sampledex Effect Shift

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

Head to head
About

88 Synthwave

Features
Read full description

88 Synthwave writes complete synthwave tracks and plays them on its own synths. Press write and you get the whole track: an intro, verses, builds with a riser and a snare roll, choruses with the hook lifted over a pumping mix, a breakdown, solo or bridge in the middle, a final chorus an octave up, and an ending. That can be the arp left running, a fade, or one hit and silence. Everything is synthesized, so there is nothing to download. An analog-style polysynth with up to five detuned oscillators per voice, where no two notes are quite in tune, plays the pads, saw leads, arps and basses. A four-operator FM engine plays the bells, electric piano, brass and sax. Four classic drum machines sit behind a gated-room reverb and a sidechain pump. The tracks come from chaos maths. A Lorenz attractor draws the melody and the hook's rhythm, and a logistic map picks which steps the arpeggiator plays and where the ghost notes fall. Chaos on its own is noise, so a small model filters it: it is rewarded for consonant intervals and learns as it writes. The CHAOS / TASTE slider decides how much say each one gets. There are eleven styles, and each one sets its own scale, drum machine, rack and effects: Outrun, Night Drive, Darksynth, Dreamwave, Disco, Synthpop, Cyberpunk, Horror Synth, Space Disco, Miami Nights and Vaporwave. Tick STYLE LOADS RACK and each style brings its own sound. The sound is half the record. There are four channels (bass, pads and stabs, arp and keys, lead), each with a preamp or amp, a tone stack and a speaker: a studio monitor, a guitar cabinet, a bass cabinet or a car door. Eight one-click racks set a whole sound at once. The effects are the production: sidechain pump, gated room, chorus, tape, bit crush, phaser, width and tape hiss, with a plate, a hall, a spring and a tempo-synced delay on the master. Every track is built from its seed. Write the seed down and you can have that exact track again, note for note. A seed from the browser version rebuilds the same track here. You can play over it, too. The pads are the notes of the track's key rather than a piano keyboard, so nothing you touch is wrong. The sixteen-step lane stays in key when the writer picks a new track, and it follows your host. Both play any of 22 voices through that voice's own channel and out on its MIDI channel. Turn on RADIO and it keeps playing, picking a new style, key, scale and tempo for every track. You also get: • 11 styles, 21 scales, 12 keys, tempo and density • 22 voices: pads, leads, brass, FM bells and keys, arps and basses • 4 drum machines, 14 channel voicings, 6 speakers, 8 racks and 8 effects • Seven-part mixer with a meter on every part • MIDI in, so your keyboard plays whichever voice you have selected • Export a MIDI file, a WAV mix, or stems, one WAV per part (in the app; in a host you record the audio there) • A note and a MIDI channel for every drum and every riser and impact • UI scale, so the panel is not tiny on a big iPad • Live spectrum and waveform, and the chaos engine drawn as it runs There are two Audio Units, an instrument and a MIDI processor. Each part sends on its own MIDI channel and every drum has its own note and channel, so one instance can drive a whole rack of synths. The MIDI version passes your keyboard through. Both follow your host's tempo and transport, and one install registers both. The app is free and nothing in it is held back. Using the Audio Units inside other apps is a one-time purchase, and each AUv3 session plays for two minutes first so you can try them properly. No account, no ads, no subscription. Works offline.

About

Sampledex Effect Shift

Features
Read full description

Give your sound a new direction. Sampledex Effect Shift brings 50 effect choices, seven hands-on macro controls and the seven-band Bender EQ to iPhone and iPad. Add drive to a drum loop, movement to a synth or space around a melody, then shape the result to fit your track. FIND A STARTING POINT Choose from 51 factory presets: Default plus a starting sound for each of the 50 effects. A factory preset recalls a complete sound. Use the separate effect menu when you want to change the algorithm while keeping your other settings. CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER Explore drive, digital textures, filters, chorus, flanging, phasing, tremolo, ring modulation, delay and reverb. Start with an effect, then turn Amount, Tone, Time, Mix, Dimension, Sparkle and Output to make it your own. SHAPE IT WITH BENDER EQ Follow seven colored band curves and their numbered handles. Select a band to adjust frequency, gain and Q directly. Use Fine for smaller graph movements, or lock dragging to frequency or gain. High-pass, low-pass and Prism controls give you more ways to shape the response. COMPARE AND KEEP YOUR IDEAS Use EQ A/B to compare two settings and copy a favorite into the other slot. Save the full sound as a preset and import or export preset documents when moving between your workflows. Each instance keeps its own sound in your host's project state. BUILT FOR TOUCH Move between Effects, Bender EQ and Advanced pages. Scroll to reach every control, enter a precise value or turn a textured macro knob. Switch Light or Dark directly from the touch header, or use the theme menu in Advanced. Your theme and settings return when the instance is restored. BRING IT INTO YOUR MUSIC WORKFLOW The included AUv3 audio effect extension loads in compatible hosts. The containing app also offers live input processing: connect headphones or an audio interface, then enable live input. Microphone permission is requested when you enable input. Your host manages audio when you use the extension. GO FURTHER Explore HoloRune character, spatial modes, EQ routing, parallel mix and Mid/Side levels in Advanced. Sidechain ducking requires a compatible host and a routed sidechain source.

Screenshots

88 Synthwave4 screens
Sampledex Effect Shift4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sampledex Effect Shift at none against 88 Synthwave's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. 88 Synthwave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sampledex Effect Shift asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 4 level
88 Synthwave versus Sampledex Effect Shift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter88 SynthwaveSampledex Effect Shift
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoft Brew MobileRobert Clemons

In-app purchases

1 purchases

88 Synthwave

One-time1
  • AUv3 Unlock$2.99
None

Sampledex Effect Shift

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 88 Synthwave free?
88 Synthwave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sampledex Effect Shift free?
Sampledex Effect Shift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do 88 Synthwave or Sampledex Effect Shift have ads?
Neither 88 Synthwave nor Sampledex Effect Shift shows ads.

Other comparisons