Comparison

Cyclop for iPad vs AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

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

Head to head
About

Cyclop for iPad

This app is a monophonic synthesizer designed to create powerful, deep bass sounds. It offers extensive sound design possibilities with a versatile modulation system, integrated effects, and real-time control. Ideal for electronic music production, it delivers unique and thick low-end frequencies.

Highlights
  • Monophonic bass synthesizer
  • Advanced sound design capabilities
  • Integrated effects sequencer
  • Versatile modulation system
  • Real-time control knobs
  • Preset browser with iCloud sync
  • Full MIDI support
Read full description

Cyclop is a monophonic synthesizer. It does one thing very well: delivering cutting-edge digital madness at the low end of the frequency spectrum to unleash monstrous bass sounds to the mobile world. Cyclop is the master of subs, beautifully controlling even the lowest notes, always sounding stomach-rumblingly thick. It uses mid/side processing to introduce stereo imaging between 250Hz and 4kHz. This ensures wide, interesting sounds that retain their punch and bass. There are no phasing issues, which means Cyclop cuts through the mix very nicely. Enjoy an incredible depth of sound design possibilities, great real-time control with the Wobble Knob and FX knob. Integrated effects sequencer, vast modulation system and the preset browser will take your inspiration to new levels. FEATURES AT A GLANCE: • Audio Unit v3 & Standalone • Monophonic Bass Synthesizer • 6x2 Synthesiser Engines, 10x2 Filter Engines • Analog Sync, FM, Sample Transformer, Spectromat, Saw Regiment, Phase Stressor • Vowel Filter Mode • Free Signal Flow for 2 Oscillators, Filters and Distortions. • Incredibly versatile modulation system • Multi FX Knob/Sequencer • Powerful Preset Browser with tagging and rating • Preset iCloud Sync • Full MIDI Support (Virtual, Network, External) • Transformer import: Audiocopy, Audioshare, Music Library • Ableton Link DJ Mag: “It is decidedly digital-sounding, but not in a bad way, and as the growing list of fans proves, it can be turned to good use in just about any electronic genre, past, present and (probably) future.” Rating: 9.5/10 Producer Spot: “Very good for his complexity, very versatile and easy to use if you need sub bass sound for your productions. Sugar Bytes offers High quality and good prices with all their products.” Rating: 9.5/10 Computer Music: “Anyone will find it powerful and unique-sounding, adding spice to existing tracks and inspiring new ones.” Rating: 4.5/5.0

About

AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

This app is a virtual analog and PCM synthesizer for iPad, inspired by the digital synthesizers of the 80s and 90s. It offers a vast library of presets, advanced synthesis features, and built-in effects for creating rich, retro-inspired sounds.

Highlights
  • 64-voice hybrid digital poly synthesis
  • 1GB+ of original samples
  • Stand-alone, IAA, and AUv3 support
  • Vintage-style arp/step sequencer
  • 3 LFOs with fun routings
  • Dual independent per-layer filters
  • Built-in FX suite
Read full description

Epic 64-voice Virtual Analog / PCM iPad Synth Inspired by the Digital Synths of the 80s and 90s - ** TOP 3 iOS MUSIC APPS OF 2018 *** - Music Radar Awards (Computer Music & Future Music Magazine) - * Featured By Apple in "New Apps We Love!" ** "Fans of the D-50, JD-990, 01/W, Wavestation... Rejoice!" - Music Radar FULLY LOADED w/ 500+ presets by Brice Beasley, Matthew Fecher, Red Sky Lullaby, Jakob Haq, Dean Daughters (Electronisounds), Sound of Izrael, Brian Funk, and more DIGITAL D1 is AWESOME: - 64-voice Hybrid Digital Poly Synthesis. - Full 1+ Gigabyte of original samples recorded from analog & fm synths over 30+ years old - Stand-alone iPad Synth, plus IAA & Audiobus - Basic AUv3 Plugin support. Works best with AUM. We're working on upgrading Audio Unit support. - Space-saving Compression - The whole app is under 200mb! - Dual layers per voice. Keyboard splits. Velocity Scaling. - Vintage-style Arp/Step Sequencer that can be routed to specific layers. - 3 LFOs. Fun Routings. LFOs can modify other LFOs. - Dual Independent per-Layer filters - Plus, per-voice Harmonic key-tracked Envelope filters. "Digital D1 Sounds and plays AMAZING!" - The Sound Test Room "Rad retro synth sounds" - Cult of Mac, App of the Week "AudioKit Digital D1 is a beautiful Synthesizer app that recreates the spirit of legendary synths" - Synth Anatomy ADDITIONAL FEATURES: - FX: Glorious Reverb, Phaser, Digital Delay, Distortion, Flanger, Chorus, Crush, and more. - Perfect with a MIDI Keyboard - Ableton Link - All kinds of awesome stuff - The Sound. Oh, the sound. You won't believe it. "Digital D1 synth is pure ‘80s and ‘90s digital lushness" - Computer Music/Music Radar "Beautiful. Lush. Modern and Amazing… An Instant Classic." REQUIREMENTS: Requires newer iPads for best performance. May be slow on iPad 4. IAA is being deprecated by Apple in iOS 13. We're moving to AUv3 as well. Please replace IAA with AUv3 in your projects. GarageBand Audio Unit (AUv3): You can run one instance of D1 as an AUv3 in GarageBand. With a host like AUM, you can run 3 or more instances at once. TROUBLESHOOTING: For iPad 4 - Open the "Settings" button (to the upper left above the keyboard). Turn the buffer to 512 or above. And turn the "CPU Efficient" toggle to on. If still having trouble, try closing other music apps and/or rebooting your iPad. Thanks! - * NOMINATED: Best iOS Music Apps of 2018 ** by Computer Music & Future Music magazine. Subscribe to access to premium app features; subscription details are the following: - Length: weekly or yearly - Free trial: only on selected subscriptions - Your payment will be charged to your iTunes Account as soon as you confirm your purchase - You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal from your Account Settings after the purchase - Your subscription will renew automatically, unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - The cost of renewal will be charged to your account in the 24 hours prior to the end of the current period - When canceling a subscription, your subscription will stay active until the end of the period. Auto-renewal will be disabled, but the current subscription will not be refunded - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when purchasing a subscription Terms & Conditions: [https://magic-cake-e95.notion.site/AudioKit-Digital-D1-Synth-Terms-Conditions-14dcf6557a0880beb991f20561329664?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/AudioKit-Digital-D1-Synth-Terms-Conditions-14dcf6557a0880beb991f20561329664?pvs=21) Privacy Policy: [https://magic-cake-e95.notion.site/AudioKit-Digital-D1-Synth-Privacy-Policy-14dcf6557a088042b2beee2382f5d62f?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/AudioKit-Digital-D1-Synth-Privacy-Policy-14dcf6557a088042b2beee2382f5d62f?pvs=21) - * NOTE: This app has no official affiliation with AudioKit Pro, LLC. It was built using the free AudioKit source code.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Cyclop for iPad at free with in-app purchases against AudioKit Digital D1 Synth's subscription. Cyclop for iPad also leads on ads (none vs shown). AudioKit Digital D1 Synth's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (2.1K vs 85). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cyclop for iPad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and AudioKit Digital D1 Synth sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Cyclop for iPad against 4.8 for AudioKit Digital D1 Synth. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AudioKit Digital D1 Synth has 2.1K ratings behind it against 85, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Cyclop for iPad's written reviews are positive against 76% of AudioKit Digital D1 Synth's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cyclop for iPad ships an update every 2 months, AudioKit Digital D1 Synth every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Cyclop for iPad versus AudioKit Digital D1 Synth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCyclop for iPadAudioKit Digital D1 Synth
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (85 ratings)4.8 (2.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.0% of reviews76.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings852.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size303 MB636 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSugar Bytes GmbHAudiobus Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Cyclop for iPad

All ratings85 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.2%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive74.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative18.0%

AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

All ratings2,007 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews243 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral7.4%
Negative16.5%

User reviews

Cyclop for iPad

From 85 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful and futuristic UI
  • 🎵 Amazing and unique sound possibilities
  • 💡 Powerful modulation options
  • 🎛️ Versatile and complex synth
  • 🎹 Great for electronic music producers

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Difficult to learn/use
  • 💸 Expensive for some users
  • 💻 High CPU usage
  • 🐢 Slow patch switching
  • 📱 UI elements too small on iPad Air

AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Excellent sound quality
  • 🎹 Versatile and inspiring presets
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 💰 Great value for the price
  • 🔥 Cutting-edge digital synthesis

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🔒 Lack of Audio Unit (AUv3) support
  • 🤔 Some presets not easily usable
  • 🕰️ Slow loading times in certain DAWs

Bugs and requests

Cyclop for iPad

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Sticky keys
  • App crashes
  • Unstable with Audiobus and Ableton Link
  • Patches don't change when selected
  • Notes get stuck
Show 2 more
  • User presets not recalling
  • Lags and freezes on older iPads

Requested features

8 requests
  • Tutorials for recording own sounds
  • More downloadable presets for simple users
  • Bigger search window for iPad Pro
  • Hotkeys
  • Sequencer
Show 3 more
  • Ability to limit keyboard to specific key
  • More presets for various genres
  • Update graphics for higher resolution

AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Presets not loading correctly
  • MIDI note dropouts and latency
  • Crashes when used with certain DAWs
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Audio Unit (AUv3) support
  • Improve MIDI integration and responsiveness
  • Implement a built-in recording/sampling feature
  • Expand preset library with more genres and styles
  • Add more sound design controls and modulation options

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cyclop for iPad

One-time1
  • Cyclop Full Version$24.99
6 purchases

AudioKit Digital D1 Synth

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly premium$4.997 Days
  • Weekly premium7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Yearly premium7 Days trial$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly premium$9.991 Year
One-time2
  • D1 PCM Expansion-01Free
  • Platinum Expansion PCM EXP-01Free

Questions

Is Cyclop for iPad free?
Cyclop for iPad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AudioKit Digital D1 Synth free?
AudioKit Digital D1 Synth is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cyclop for iPad or AudioKit Digital D1 Synth?
AudioKit Digital D1 Synth is rated higher. Cyclop for iPad averages 4.7 out of 5 from 85 ratings, while AudioKit Digital D1 Synth averages 4.8 from 2.1K ratings.
Do Cyclop for iPad or AudioKit Digital D1 Synth have ads?
AudioKit Digital D1 Synth shows ads; Cyclop for iPad does not.
Which is updated more often, Cyclop for iPad or AudioKit Digital D1 Synth?
Cyclop for iPad ships an update every 2 months, and AudioKit Digital D1 Synth every 3 weeks. Most recently, Cyclop for iPad was updated on November 6, 2026 and AudioKit Digital D1 Synth on November 11, 2026.

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