Comparison

DM10 vs iOptigan

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

Head to head
About

DM10

This app is a powerful drum and synthesizer machine for electronic musicians. It offers a modern audio engine with a wide array of drum kits, instruments, and synth presets, alongside advanced sequencing and effects for creative music production.

Highlights
  • 228 drum kits
  • Bass & Lead synths
  • AudioUnit support
  • Polyrhythmic tracks
  • Advanced sequencing
  • Real-time FX automation
  • User drum kit creation
Read full description

DM10 is the ultimate Drum & Synth Machine for iPhone, iPad and Mac — from the creators of DM1, winner of the Apple Design Award 2012. 256 vintage & modern drum kits. Built-in Bass & Lead synths. A powerful step sequencer. Full Mixer, 4 FX slots & intuitive Song Mode. Everything you need to produce beats, from sketch to finished track — in one beautifully designed app One purchase. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. You get everything. DRUMS & KITS • 256 drum kits — Vintage, Acoustic, Hip-Hop, Electro & more • 10 instruments (Piano, Vibraphone, Wurlitzer…) • Drum Pads with customizable layout • Custom drumkit per track • User drum kit creation with samples import & export • Drums Glitch mode • Drumkits Randomizer STEP SEQUENCER • Drum & Synth step sequencer • 45 patterns • Variable step count, Accent, Triplets & Swing • Time signatures • Polyrhythmic tracks • Steps Probability & Retrig • Playhead Randomize • Custom Tempo, Kit, Mixer & FX per pattern • Steps Randomizer MIXER & FX • Mixer with level, pitch, length, pan & automation • 4 FX slots per track with real-time automation — 15 effects available: Overdrive · Delay · Reverb · Filter · Phaser · Formant · Texturizer · Robotizer · Dalek · Flanger · Decimator · Ring Modulator · Resonator · Compressor · Noise Gate • Mixer & Fx Randomizer SONG MODE • Song mode with intuitive editing • Audio export — master & separated tracks • Project import & export SYNTH ENGINE • Bass Synth — 3 VCO, Filter, ADSR, BitCrush, Detune • Lead Synth — 2 VCO, VCO Modulation, Filter, ADSR, Vibrato • 40 Bass & Lead factory presets PRO CONNECTIVITY • AudioUnit (AUv3) • Full MIDI support — Mapping, File Import & Export, External Clock • Audio Background support • Ableton Link • iCloud Shared Folder • Computer keyboard support VINTAGE DRUM MACHINES • 116 drum kits meticulously sampled from legendary machines: Roland TR-808, TR-909, TR-606 · Akai MPC2000 · Linn 9000 · Oberheim DMX · E-MU SP-12 · Simmons SDS-5 · Fairlight CMI · Teenage Engineering PO-12 · Korg · Yamaha · Boss · Casio · Alesis · Linn · Kawai · Pearl · Elektro-Harmonix · Wersi · Novation · Waldorf · Ensoniq · Sequential Circuits and many more. ACOUSTIC DRUM KITS • 32 acoustic kits recorded at Fingerlab Studio — sampled from iconic brands: Oyster · Ludwig · DW · Gretsch · Pearl · Premier · Slingerland · Sonor · Yamaha · Rogers • 26 percussion & instrument kits recorded at Fingerlab Studio STYLES DRUM KITS • 82 drum kits from various music styles: Hip-Hop, Electro, Dubstep, Trap, Synth, Concrete… Questions or feedback? contact@fingerlab.net Stay tuned! The Fingerlab Team

About

iOptigan

Experience the unique lo-fi sound of a vintage optical organ on your iOS device. This app faithfully recreates the original instrument's sound and functionality, allowing you to play chord patterns and explore different musical styles. It includes a virtual spring reverb, metronome, and MIDI capabilities for expanded creative control.

Highlights
  • Authentic lo-fi optical organ sound
  • Virtual spring reverb
  • Optical metronome
  • MIDI in/out and chord detection
  • Sequencer with record/playback
  • Audio and MIDI file sharing
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

This is the Optigan for iOS. The Optigan, short for Optical Organ, was a chord organ from the early 1970’s. It is remembered today for its unique system of sound reproduction using optical discs. These LP-sized film discs were optically encoded with 57 concentric tracks, which contained loops of musical combos playing chord patterns in different styles. Each disc contained a specific style of music (Bossa Nova, Big Band etc) which the user could control by pressing the chord buttons. Changing the discs was as simple as putting a new record on your turntable. Think of it as the 1971 version of GarageBand. Despite this novel technology, the scratchy sound of the Optigan left a lot to be desired. The iOptigan we present here truthfully recreates that lo-fi sound. 25 of the original 40 discs are included, the remaining 15 can be purchased individually or all together in the Complete Pak. Specifications and Features: • Disc loading rigth-side-up or upside-down • Spring Reverb (virtual) • Optical Metronome • Audio Demo for each Disc • MIDI in/out • MIDI chord detection • MIDI File Import • Sequencer with Record and Playback • Sharing for songs as Audio and MIDI File • iTunes File Sharing • Inter-App Audio • Smart background audio • Help overlay • Headphone optimised stereo (optional) • Radio Mode for Chord Buttons or Keyboard • Comfortable speed control in semitones or BPM

Screenshots

DM104 screens
iOptigan3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iOptigan at $5.99 against DM10's $17.99. iOptigan also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 72%) and chart position (#75 vs unranked). DM10's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 16). On rating, ratings volume, ads 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

DM10 costs $17.99 and iOptigan $5.99 up front. iOptigan sells 16 one-off in-app purchases. DM10 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iOptigan holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 54 and 114 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of DM10's written reviews are positive against 92% of iOptigan's.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
DM10 versus iOptigan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDM10iOptigan
Price$17.99$5.99 — better
Rating4.6 (54 ratings)4.8 (114 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.9% of reviews92.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings54114 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank—#75 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size454 MB179 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperFingerlabStefan Stenzel

Customer experience

DM10

All ratings53 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral5.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive71.9%
Neutral15.6%
Negative12.5%

iOptigan

All ratings114 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral4.4%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive92.2%
Neutral6.3%
Negative1.6%

User reviews

DM10

From 54 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient drum sequencing
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use interface
  • 👍 Great selection of drum kits
  • 👍 Regularly updated with new features
  • 👍 Inspiring and fun to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Issues with time signature and step rate
  • 🐛 Choke group functionality not working as expected
  • 🔧 Limited synth and bass modules

iOptigan

From 114 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Incredible sound quality
  • 🎶 Unique musical instrument recreation
  • ✨ Dream come true for musicians
  • 🎹 Great for experimentalists
  • 👍 Well-executed and fun

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Stuck/phantom keys
  • 🐛 Audio clipping issues
  • 🐛 Left-only headphone audio
  • 🐛 Touch issues on bottom row
  • 🐛 InterApp Audio broken in Garageband

Bugs and requests

DM10

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Dropping the first beat in some cases
  • Syncing issues in standalone mode

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add probability per step
  • Implement true triplets and flams
  • Allow tempo changes within a song
  • Increase pattern count beyond 45
  • Add more time signature options
Show 1 more
  • Implement MIDI mapping for pattern changes

iOptigan

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Stuck/phantom keys on M1 iPad Pro
  • E major plays D Diminished sample
  • Bottom row of controls unresponsive
  • Audio level clipping, especially when slowing playback
  • Left-only headphone audio output
Show 5 more
  • InterApp Audio broken in Garageband
  • InterApp Audio buggy in n-Track Studio Pro
  • App doesn't fill modern screen sizes
  • Vamp loop section bug with 5th switch
  • Gay 90's Waltz disc has incorrect flasher count

Requested features

19 requests
  • Update codebase with AudioKit Engine
  • Allow app to run in background
  • Add AudioUnit Extension support
  • Include newly released sound packs
  • Clarify chord identification methods
Show 14 more
  • AUV3 version
  • Audiobus compatibility
  • Virtual MIDI support
  • Ableton Link support
  • MPE support
  • Stacking discs for combined playback
  • Add Orchestron sounds
  • Add iChliton
  • Add Talentmaker discs
  • Update for larger screen compatibility
  • Export WAV functionality
  • Limit loudness of pops and scratches (equalizer?)
  • Set release of keys
  • MIDI program changes support

In-app purchases

None

DM10

No in-app purchases

16 purchases

iOptigan

One-time16
  • Champagne Music$0.99
  • Country Waltz$0.99
  • Romantic Strings$0.99
Show 13 more
  • Big Top Marching Band$0.99
  • Polynesian Village$0.99
  • Singing Rhythm$0.99
  • Rollin’ Easy$0.99
  • Movin'$0.99
  • Cathedral Organ$0.99
  • Vox Humana$0.99
  • Country Sunshine$0.99
  • Down Home$0.99
  • Gospel Rock$0.99
  • Guitar Boogie$0.99
  • New Orleans Blues$0.99
  • Complete Disc Pak$5.99

Questions

Is DM10 free?
DM10 costs $17.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is iOptigan free?
iOptigan costs $5.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DM10 or iOptigan?
iOptigan is rated higher. DM10 averages 4.6 out of 5 from 54 ratings, while iOptigan averages 4.8 from 114 ratings.
Do DM10 or iOptigan have ads?
Neither DM10 nor iOptigan shows ads.

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