Remember, oh, about a year ago when most new synths were coming out for desktop/laptop computers? Now it seems like you could start an entirely new KVR Audio-style site just to keep tabs on mobile synths on handhelds – okay, on the iPhone.
Nonetheless, megaSynth looks pretty delicious. On the synth side:
- 3 oscillators, 7 waveforms
- Triad arpeggiator and “Chordmatic” chordmaker with 23 scales
- 24-bucket step sequencer
- LFOs: filter, pitch, volume, plus an audible LFO
- Reverb and modulation effects
- 209 factory presets, or save your own
Also, it’s nice to see the megaSynth developers thinking about the unique features of a mobile device:
- Two keyboards (or “manuals,” if you like!), which makes better use of the aspect ratio of the iPhone screen
- 5-voice polyphony – exactly the number of fingertips the iPhone/iPod can track
- Recording – including mic input from the 2G iPod and iPhone
- Accelerometer control for pitch, cutoff, and resonance
From the makers of miniSynth, which, accordingly, costs just $1.99.
Of course, at the risk of raining on everyone’s parade, I do have to point out the elephant in the room with all of these apps: they don’t allow tangible input (at least until we get MIDI input working on the iPhone), and for years, we’ve been spoiled by the convenience of having a plug-in architecture on desktop computers. It’s not as though you’re going to have half a dozen iPhones sitting around your studio. The cost of a netbook is plunging low to the point of an iPod touch – far less than an iPhone, if you consider the contract. Don’t get me wrong: mobile synths can be fantastic fun, and great for sketching out ideas on the road, and they’re just a few dollars. I’m just saying, it’d be pretty silly if we nonetheless forgot about the cheap and free synths for computers.
Happily, we don’t have to choose, so let the synthy goodness – mobile/handheld and desktop/laptop/netbook – continue.
iTunes App Store Link [US$4.99]
Note the requirement spec update, iPod touch or iPhone with OS 2.1 or later
Now I just need to grab all these synths at have a deathmatch. Stay tuned.