This is because the entire sound engine is driven by synthesis. Rather than samples, the character of the sounds you create near the mic are fed through a synthesis engine; to make new original tones. The engine is quite deep too, from the makers of Sunrizer. If you're not up for diving into the dual-synth engine here, there are a 92 factory presets that cover Electronic, Ethnic, Imaginary and Industrial percussion. I'm deeply impressed with some of their pseudo-acoustic presets.

There is also a great six track recorder, which can have varying loop lengths. You can even overdub new instruments on top to simulate even more tracks. This is very well designed and easy to work with, including helpful options to clear individual tracks or the whole thing. These tracks or live recordings can be exported via iTunes or Audio Pasteboard.

My only disappointment with Impaktor has been the fixed-screen in portrait mode. This is fine on the iPhone, but on the iPad it can be annoying, especially with the Smart Cover and other stands that work in landscape mode.

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Beep Street.

Awesome!

Recommendation: Easily the most unique percussion instrument on iOS, with lots of great features. Buy Impaktor on iTunes: $4.99

Among the features are 8 cue points for each of the two decks, 14 effects controlled by X/Y pad, and excellent beat-matching. Beat-matching and pitch-shifting often give other DJ apps a lot of trouble, but CrossDJ is able to handle both nicely.

Aside from the X/Y pads for the effects there is little to distinguish this as a iPad app. It does a very good job of emulating modern DJ software, while maintaining virtual platters for scratching, but it doesn't really do anything new to take advantage of the iPad platform. There is also no option to record your sets.

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from MixVibes.

Meh	Recommendation: If you're looking for a DJ app this offers a lot at a great price, but without innovation. Buy CrossDJ on iTunes: $9.99

As an instrument there are many samples available for playing with the on screen note bars. As the name implies, you can jam out fully with just your thumbs and a small learning curve. Importing your own samples is made easy with AudioCopy/Paste. There is even support for creating multi-sampled instruments, using a specific sample for different octave ranges.

The looper allows you to lay down quick melodies, or even import a backing track from another app. A lot of thought has gone into this app, but this is most evident in the looper where each recording is a separate instance. If you mess up, you can just keep hitting the "Delete Last" button to only remove the latest loop, instead of starting over from scratch.

On iPhones this is practically an Essential app, you really can jam with just your thumbs, but on larger iPad screens the experience is a little awkward to play.

Awesome!

Recommendation: For playing sampled instruments, or with Virtual MIDI, there is a lot to like here. Buy ThumbJam on iTunes: $8.99

Tic Tac is a sample-based step-sequenced studio, designed with a whole lot of functionality on one screen. 4 Drum Parts, 1 Bass Synth, 1 Lead Synth, 1 Chord/Pad Synth, and additional sound effects are all instantly accessible from this single screen layout. Fitting all of those step-sequencers onto a single page makes the app feel a little cramped. This is also experienced with the limited mixing options, which create a cramped feeling in the "beatz" this app produces.

Volume controls on the individual tracks are available, but not for the individual drum parts. This will often lead to hats that are just way too loud for the mix. The samples provided are decent, though not extensive. Most of the tracks can be modulated with an LFO pitch mod for variety, but there are no filters, nor traditional envelopes.

You are severely limited to just 6 patterns, which need to be saved in an awkward way with buttons on the bottom of the screen which "Save to Disc". The over-all design feels somewhat schizophrenic; everything fits on the iPad screen, but there is an X in the top right to close the app as if it were made for Windows. A lack of any kind of audio recording is also worth noting.

Pass	Recommendation: A flawed app that tried very hard to provide a lot, but only offered a mess. Buy Tic Tac Beatz Electro on iTunes: $2.99

The large X/Y Loop Mod controller allows you to move the playhead and dynamically change loop lengths. This allows for fluid changes to your sound. The Glitch effect offers 4 quadrants of varying playback, causing the playhead to flutter around and warp. No matter what you do though, the app will keep track of the playhead's position. As soon as you stop screwing around, the playhead will snap back to where it should be!

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Alex Matheu.

Awesome!

Recommendation: Fun and easy app for making original grooves, with great features like recording and Audio Copy/Paste. Buy GlitchBreaks on iTunes: $4.99

You've got 4 sets of patterns to play at any given time, each with their own set of 4 samples. Sliding your finger along the pattern circle will bring up an entirely new pattern. Building up new patterns is quite easy, as they have included the ability to copy pattern data. This is handy for quickly adding variety to your loops!

Recent updates have added a lot of new dimensions to the app, including effects and recording. Loops recorded with Loopseque can be exported via Audio Pasteboard, in addition to iTunes file-sharing and Dropbox. Samples can be imported in much the same way. The new ability to add your own samples, simply by using Audio Pasteboard, adds a lot of potential here. They would like for you to purchase tracks and loops from them for about $1 each, but this is hardly necessary now that you can easily import your own from just about any app.

I did encounter some bugs, including one crash, all related to the recording and recording playback. These weren't terrible, and no data was lost, but I think that is worth mentioning.

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Casual Underground.

Friendly

Recommendation: A fun app, and handy for building new loops in a hurry! Buy Loopseque on iTunes: $5.99

As the name suggests, everything going on in here is pure synthesis. Specifically Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis, in a striped-down form. You still have some modulation options, but not as much as you would have in a more traditional FM Synth like DXi. EPS is offering only two modulators and two LFOs for added Tremelo and Vibrato. A delay effect, as well as a Tube Overdrive, help to thicken out the sound.

The limited controls allow it to cram everything on to one screen. This is nice when you're playing, but at the heavy cost of articulation in envelopes. Modulators are limited to just a Decay envelope, and the voiced carrier only offers Decay/Release. All of this adds up to a very simplified version of FM that should be more approachable for new users. Other features greatly extend the usefulness of this app; including Virtual/Core MIDI, Recording and Audio Pasteboard.

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Bacaj Apps.

Friendly

Recommendation: Great piano sounds, but limited options. This is a nice introductory FM experience. Buy Electronic Piano Synthesizer on iTunes: $4.99

BitWiz now supports recording and Audio Copy, making it a great source for new original samples. While some app's have gimmicky Twitter stuff, the inclusion of patch sharing via Twitter is quite fun and useful in BitWiz!

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Kymatica.

Experimental

Recommendation: Bitwise Operators are a weird way of working, but the results can be impressive. Buy BitWiz on iTunes: $2.99

Everyone's a Critic

For each app I give my paragraph blurb, attempting to explain what it does and how well I feel it achievies that. You are welcome to disagree with me! I just provide this blurb because people seem to like reading what I have to say about apps, but I want to read what you have to say too!

Everything is current!

I try to keep this guide updated. As apps get patched I will reevaluate them and their entries here to reflect the ever changing state of apps. This works better than video reviews; developers can keep updating apps, but I can't keep updating videos. All of what you read here should be indicative of the latest versions of each app. Due to this limitation, only apps I own are represented.

Disclosures all over

Unlike other guides and sites, no one pays to be listed here. This is invite-only, and no money is accepted for ratings. I believe in operating openly, so I disclose in all entries if I received a promo code for the app. This has never had any impact on ratings, because I'm not about to sell you out for a $5 app... not even for a $30 one.

Ratings Explanation

Rather than a 1-5 Star Rating system, I try to rate everything based on who I'd recommend the app for. There is no scale here. An "Essential" app is obviously better than a "Pass" app, but a "Friendly" app might be better than an "Awesome!" for some users. The words don't make one app better than another, this is just a handy label to help organize apps. Here is how I think of the ratings:

Navigation

Disclosure: I received my copy for review from Boulanger Labs.

Awesome!

Recommendation: Elaborate and flexible effects in one pretty package, but most useful for live audio input. Buy csGrain on iTunes: $9.99