Comparison

MKSensation vs Numa Player

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

Head to head
About

MKSensation

This app provides essential sounds for live musical performances, offering a curated selection of warm, realistic instruments. Designed for ease of use, it allows for instant layering and inspiration for gigging musicians.

Highlights
  • Live gigging module
  • Rompler with realistic sounds
  • Instant layering
  • Easy to use interface
  • Global effects section
  • Multiple instrument types
Read full description

• Your Bread and Butter Live Giggin' Module and Rompler • You get 3-FREE Sounds (MKS Piano 2, Acoustic Grand, Brass) The MKSensation is a player's live gigging module designed to give you the bread and butter sounds needed for a live session, gig, church service, or studio session. The layout, ease of use, sliders, and simple functionality is what has made our PC version so successful. There is no fancy splash page and it's not rattled with hundreds of sounds. It's designed to be loaded and played for instant layering and inspiration. You could could call this your instant rompler full of the sounds you would use all of the time and given our reputation of sampling, you know the sounds will be very warm, thick, and realistic. You won't even believe that these sounds are coming from your iPad! History: Our roots stem from being gospel musicians. In the good ol' days we would have our multi-tier stack of keyboards and modules all layered together with a very intricate MIDI routing setup with all of or presets ready for live worship. Our setup would consist of a warm acoustic piano; a CP80 type of semi-realistic piano; lush strings; warm pad with filter cutoff; a very expressive tine; phat synth brass; a nice buzz saw; and a good ol' real brass sound. Between these few staple sounds, we were ready for any gig, service, studio session, or performance. Think about it....When you go to the music store to try out a new synth, what do you end up playing the most...? You play the pianos, keys, strings, horns, and synth sounds. That's what this module is all about. You can layer as many sounds as CPU permits, for instant inspiration on your iPad. Operation: - Click on a sound butto to activate the sound (Red LCD On) - Click the Green Light (Right Top Corner) to activate the global effects section. - The left side of the module shows the effects to be activated, and their levels - The exception is for the EP 1 and EP 2. The insert FX chorus will not be used. The sounds will be swiped out with the actual sample of the chorus from the MKS unit Sounds Available: 1. Piano 1 - MKS Piano 1 2. Piano 2 - MKS Piano 2 3. EP 1 - MKS EP 1 with and without chorus (Sampled using the original chorus) 4. EP 2 - MKS EP 2 with and without chorus (Sampled using the original chorus) 5. Power Grand - Classic gospel grand piano 6. Acoustic Grand - Warm acoustic grand 7. Dyno - 80s type electric dyno 8. FM Tine - DX FM electric EP 9. Brass - Warm Brass Section with Mod Wheel LFO 10. Synth - Poly Synth with Mod Wheel LFO 11. Strings - Warm cinematic strings 12. Pad - Warm pad CPU and Processing: CPU is contingent upon your iPad Model. As with anything, don’t go crazy! Don’t think you can activate 5-6 sounds and play full glissandos and you will not max out your CPU. Also, there is an inverse relationship between lower latency and CPU. For example if you want your latency (the time between you hitting the keys and you hearing the sound) to go down, then you probably won’t be able to play as many sounds at once. There is always a fine line between the two. From our testing using an iPad 4th generation, we were successfully able to stack up to 6-sounds at a buffer of 512. Obviously, the newer the iPad, the better (with the exception of the iPad 3). ------------------------------------------------------ These Devices and Anything Higher will Work: iPad 4th Generation, iPad Mini 1-4, iPad Air 1-2 These iPads Will not work: iPad 1, iPad 2, iPad 3rd Generation, iPad Pro (GUI Not Ready)

About

Numa Player

This free virtual instrument offers a vast library of high-quality sounds for music creation. It features a flexible multizone system, advanced sound engine, and extensive effects, suitable for both live performances and studio work across multiple platforms.

Highlights
  • Free multitimbral instrument player
  • Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS)
  • Standalone or plugin mode
  • Multizone sound management
  • Advanced multi-core sound engine
  • Extensive sound library
  • 9 insert effects and 3 master effects
Features
Read full description

Numa Player is a completely free virtual instrument. It's not only the perfect companion for your SL Keyboard, but it is also much more! The User Interface scales to different monitor sizes to fit best in your Audio/MIDI setup and makes Numa Player the first Studiologic Instrument Player available for macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS. KEY POINTS • A completely free Multitimbral Instrument Player. • The Only Cross-Platform Instrument: macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS. • Works in Standalone or Plugin mode. • The perfect match for Studiologic SL Controllers. • Live performances and Studio features. • A new "easy to use" user interface. • 4 Parts, 27 free sounds. • 9 Insert Effects and 3 Master Effects. MULTI-CORE. The advanced sound engine of Numa Player 2 takes your performance to the next level. It's now optimized to harness the full power of your device's multi-core cpu, delivering exceptional performance and ultra-low latency even in the most demanding setups1. Enjoy higher polyphony and smoother playback, no matter how complex your project gets. MULTIZONE. Designed with ultimate flexibility in mind, Numa Player 2 allows you to create and manage infinite Zones effortlessly. Add, duplicate, or drag and reposition zones with ease, all within an intuitive interface that puts full creative control at your fingertips. Customize each zone with its own sound parameters, keyboard ranges, and MIDI settings, or even assign custom colors for clear and easy navigation during your performance. MANY SOUNDS. Numa Player 2 comes packed with an extensive library of professionally recorded, high-quality sounds, covering a wide range of music genres and styles. Among Acoustic Pianos, punchy leads, orchestral textures and intricate percussive elements, find the perfect sound to bring your music to life. WHAT'S YOUR PROGRAM? In a Program you can combine any sound with its own insert effects. Save and load your program sets for Live performances and Studio sessions. 9x3 SOUND EFFECTS. MULTIPLY YOUR MOODS. Numa Player provides up to 9 integrated insert effects for each part and a Master effects section. LIVE OR STUDIO. PLAY SMARTER LIKE NEVER BEFORE. Organize the best Live Performarce setup with your devices and MIDI controllers or use Numa Player as an instrument plugin inside your DAW2 to create professional music sequences.

Screenshots

MKSensation4 screens
Numa Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Numa Player at 85% against MKSensation's 37%. Numa Player also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.7) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). MKSensation's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MKSensation sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Numa Player sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Numa Player holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Numa Player has 1.2K ratings behind it against 113, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of MKSensation's written reviews are positive against 85% of Numa Player's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MKSensation ships an update every 3 weeks, Numa Player every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
MKSensation versus Numa Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMKSensationNuma Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (113 ratings)4.7 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.1% of reviews85.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1131.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size539 MB110 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMIDIculous LLCFATAR SRL

Customer experience

MKSensation

All ratings112 ratings
Positive64.3%
Neutral13.4%
Negative22.3%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive37.1%
Neutral23.7%
Negative39.2%

Numa Player

All ratings1,189 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive85.2%
Neutral4.2%
Negative10.5%

Bugs and requests

MKSensation

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Numa Player

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashing issues in GarageBand
  • Incompatibility with some MIDI controllers
  • Sustain pedal causing noise

Requested features

6 requests
  • More types of resonance (aliquot, body, bridge/soundboard)
  • New piano models (Bosendorfer, Yamaha CFX)
  • More instruments (brass, saxes)
  • Ability to save custom patches
  • Ability to resize on-screen keyboard
Show 1 more
  • MIDI learn functionality

In-app purchases

10 purchases

MKSensation

One-time10
  • DYNO Synth$2.99
  • FM TINE Synth$2.99
  • Piano 1 Synth$3.99
Show 7 more
  • EP 1 Synth$3.99
  • PWR GRND Synth$3.99
  • SYNTH Synth$3.99
  • STRINGS Synth$3.99
  • PAD Synth$3.99
  • EP 2 Synth$4.99
  • All Synth$9.99
3 purchases

Numa Player

One-time3
  • VINTAGE PIANOS$17.99
  • GRAN CODA$24.99
  • STAGE D$24.99

Questions

Is MKSensation free?
MKSensation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Numa Player free?
Numa Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MKSensation or Numa Player?
Numa Player is rated higher. MKSensation averages 3.7 out of 5 from 113 ratings, while Numa Player averages 4.7 from 1.2K ratings.
Do MKSensation or Numa Player have ads?
Neither MKSensation nor Numa Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MKSensation or Numa Player?
MKSensation ships an update every 3 weeks, and Numa Player every 6 weeks. Most recently, MKSensation was updated on October 23, 2026 and Numa Player on October 30, 2026.

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