Comparison

Sampledex Effect Shift vs PadBrain

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

Head to head
About

Sampledex Effect Shift

This app offers a versatile audio effects suite with 50 distinct effects, seven macro controls, and a seven-band EQ. Shape sounds with various parameters, explore factory presets, and integrate into your music workflow via AUv3 extension or live input processing.

Highlights
  • 50 effect choices
  • Seven hands-on macro controls
  • Seven-band Bender EQ
  • 51 factory presets
  • AUv3 audio effect extension
  • Live input processing
  • EQ A/B comparison
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.

About

PadBrain

Features
Read full description

PadBrain is built for drumming live: backing tracks to the house, the click to your in-ears and pad sounds on cue, from one iPhone, iPad or Mac. For small gigs, college shows, worship teams, rehearsals and lessons, without a laptop rig. PREP THE GIG ON YOUR MAC — ONE CLICK • Drop the gig folder and get a draft set: tracks or stems, MIDI markers, chord charts and the song list are read for each song's tempo, meter, sections and beat one, and each stem goes to your ears (click, guide), the house, or muted (drums). • With a click track it also reads tempo changes (a tempo map) and odd meters with their grouping. • Tap a section on the review to hear two bars, then MAKE A SET. Only a mixed file? The Mac can take the drums out (for practice and backup). • The set goes to your phone or iPad in one backup file. Everything runs on your Mac — no account, no internet. WHEN THE BAND DRIFTS • SYNC: the band lands a beat off the click? Tap on the band's one and the click and bar count move to it at once. Undo for ten seconds. • With a backing track, the same button takes the click out: you lead the band to the bar line, and the click comes back exactly on it. ON STAGE • Backing tracks and click run on one clock. One splitter cable: left to the house (tracks + pads), right to your in-ears (click + cues). • One line under the song says where the sound goes — and warns when a single output puts the click in with the band. • Section chips and HOLD: tap the chorus when the leader calls it, or HOLD for "once more". Moves land on the next bar line. • "Next ▸ Chorus · 3 bars" beside the section, then the beats of the last bar. • Voices only fades the band and keeps your click. An ambient pad in the song's key fills the space between songs. • Stopped, tap the tempo to hear one bar of the next song's click in your ears before you count it in. • PANIC (hold), LIVE LOCK (tap to lock, hold to unlock), foot switches and page-turner pedals. PADS • A kit per song, nine pads: a recorded acoustic kit with four dynamics and up to four takes per sound, a worship kit with ride, ride bell and floor tom, 808, percussion and FX. • Plug in a USB MIDI pad, drum module or trigger and play. Around 10 ms. • Record one drum soft to loud and it becomes a pad with up to eight dynamics. • Pads that fire on a section's first beat, a crash on the chorus. Soft hits ignored and screen pads locked after a stop, if you want. PREP • Paste the song list from the chat: titles, keys, tempos, meters and song forms become a set. Backing tracks are optional. • Share tracks from mail, a chat or AirDrop; the app listens for the tempo and sections. • Rehearsal tempo 50–150%, pitch unchanged. Several sets, a linked iCloud Drive folder per set, a whole show in one file. • Rig drawings, down to the plugs, and a pre-show check that warns when the click would reach the room. LANGUAGES • English, 한국어, 日本語, Español, Português (Brasil), Deutsch, Français, 简体中文 and Italiano. Spoken cues in English, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese and French; other languages hear English. • Song lists, chord charts and stem names written in your language are understood: section names, keys and tempos. Every feature free. No ads, no account, no data collected. Works offline.

Screenshots

Sampledex Effect Shift4 screens
PadBrain4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Sampledex Effect Shift at 15.0 against PadBrain's 18.0. On price, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Sampledex Effect Shift versus PadBrain: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSampledex Effect ShiftPadBrain
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequency—Every 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert Clemonsjaeryong lee

In-app purchases

None

Sampledex Effect Shift

No in-app purchases

None

PadBrain

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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