Chiptunes Pro vs MicroLag
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chiptunes Pro
Create retro-style music by wiring together virtual electronic components. No prior electronics knowledge is required to build drum beats, basslines, and melodies. Enjoy a unique blend of circuit design and music creation.
- Create retro music with chips
- Wire together circuits
- Lay down drum beats, basslines, and tunes
- No electronics knowledge needed
- Audiobus support for live streaming
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Winner of the "Most technically impressive" award in the Ray Wenderlich Readers' App Awards 2014! “I never knew how Chiptunes actually worked before playing around with this app. Very cool and definitely got me in a retro vibe!” – Ray Wenderlich “A crazy mashup of circuit design and music making: Wire together circuits to lay down some cool jams.” – Nick Lockwood “SPICE meets garage band.” – Erik Kerber Chiptunes Pro lets you make retro music the way it should be made - with chips! Build your circuit to lay down drum beats, basslines, and tunes. No knowledge of electronics needed! Chiptunes Pro includes all the components that are available in the free Chiptunes app, including those that are only available as in-app purchases. Chiptunes Pro also includes Audiobus support: stream live audio directly to other Audiobus-compatible apps. See http://audiob.us for more information.
MicroLag
This audio processor allows precise delay time adjustments in exact sample counts. It offers long delay times and smooth toggling between dry and delayed signals, displaying the delay in milliseconds.
- Set delay time in exact samples
- Long delay times (up to 1 second at 48KHz)
- Smoothly toggle between dry and delayed signal
- Displays actual delay time in milliseconds
- AUv3 effects plugin
- Standalone or host compatible
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MicroLag is a delay audio processor that allows you to set the delay time in an exact number of samples. While there are already quite a few sample delay plugins available, I couldn’t find one that quite fit my needs, so I made one. MicroLag allows you to set relatively long delay times, e.g. up to around 1 second at 48KHz sampling rate. You can also smoothly toggle between the delayed and bypassed / dry signal. Finally, the actual delay time in milliseconds (depending on the host sample rate) is displayed. That’s basically it! MicroLag is an AUv3 effects plugin that can run standalone, or in any AUv3 compatible host such as Logic Pro, GarageBand or AUM. MicroLag currently runs on iPadOS / iOS (iPad & iPhone) and macOS (Intel & Silicon) and is available as a Universal Purchase from the Apple App Store. If you’re planning on using MicroLag on Mac / desktop, please ensure that your favourite DAW / host supports AUv3 (not just AU).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Chiptunes Pro at Free against MicroLag's $1.99. Chiptunes Pro also leads on ratings volume (7 vs 1) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 13.0). MicroLag's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and device support (4 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases 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
Chiptunes Pro is free to download; MicroLag costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MicroLag holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chiptunes Pro has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | Chiptunes Pro | MicroLag |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (7 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Simon Booth | Rob Jackson |
Customer experience
Chiptunes Pro
MicroLag
In-app purchases
Chiptunes Pro
No in-app purchases
MicroLag
No in-app purchases









