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XENON Synthesizer app for iPhone and iPad


4.6 ( 9936 ratings )
Music
Developer: iceWorks, Inc.
5.99 USD
Current version: 1.7.5, last update: 5 years ago
First release : 09 Aug 2010
App size: 84.27 Mb

* Hybrid Polyphonic Synthesizer (VA, FM, Formant, PCM(112))
2OSC + FILTER + AMP + 4LFO + 8ENV
* Virtual Analog Monophonic Synthesizer x2
2OSC + FILTER + AMP + 3LFO + 6ENV
* PCM Polyphonic Synthesizer
OSC (112 PCM sounds) + FILTER + AMP + 3LFO + 6ENV
* Rhythm Machine for six tracks
* Mixer
* 16 step Pattern Sequencer
* Song Sequencer (320bars)
* AudioBus
* CoreMIDI (input)

Pros and cons of XENON Synthesizer app for iPhone and iPad

XENON Synthesizer app good for

But it should be possible to zoom in/out the keyboard for having more notes on the display.
Unstable. The app just crashed during adding patterns to the song whilst playback. first time crash though. From every other aspect the best synth suite available on the app store! Excellent!
Easy, great sounds and options, beautiful straightforward interface, im totally new to this stuff but read a lot of reviews (icegears Argon well regarded; got that first but no pattern sequencer like Xenon) and put a tune in my head down pretty quick. Minuses: i bought it as soon as it came out so paid more (still worth more than $10 to me) But crashed today so lots of nervous saves now. Free the West Memphis Three.
I first tried Argon which is a great sounding synth but thats about all it is. You can record with it and play overtop but there is no sequencer at all. Still for what it did I liked it and thought Id give Xenon a try. Overall Xenon is great. It provides a a few synths and rhythm which is all you need. The synths are great. The only things keeping this from perfection is the GUI which isnt completely intuitive and even after learning where to find everything I still get lost on occasion. The other minor issue is the sequencer portion which is perfectly fine but not quite as quick to operate as some of the other competing apps. Piano roll veterans will likely have no issues. Despite picking it apart slightly its well worth your money. I bought it right before it went on sale and I dont feel ripped off.
Sequencer is the most Amazing part of this app,-Even better on iPad!
The flexibility of the synths, the beautiful control layouts, and one of the best song designers Ive used makes for a great value. There are a ton of presets for the synths, that you can easily tweak to get just the sound you are looking for. I have Rebirth, which is a great bit of nostalgia, but this is easier to use at half the cost. Theres still room to grow, but it will be a while before I start running out of room.

Some bad moments

When on synth and click sequencer app simply dies to iPad menu, not very cool.
This is a rather well laid out little synth and sequencer. Features are easy enough to find, and it sounds decent enough. My main complaint is the lack of Tabletop or Audiobus integration. At this stage, if I hadnt already downloaded it months ago, I probably wouldnt bother. Why so slow on an update IceGear? You seem to ignore updates in favour of releasing new apps such as Cassini, another great synth which along with Argon is also still missing Audiobus...
Why didnt I try this sooner? I think the colorful interface made me question its ability. Was I wrong! Beyond the pretentious pseudo-instruments and on-par with (and possibly beyond) mainstream instruments like ims-20, rebirth, and ielectribe. Might be the best of only a handful of true software synthesizers for iOS. A few fixes would make this perfect 5-stars like linear knob movement, keyboard scrolling position, knob automation, occassional sound drops, and a less vague UI.
Im not sure if its superior than any of the other competitors, but this never gets brought up enough when people compare iPad "daws" like music and nano studio. I think you should change the header from synthesizer to workstation considering it has a full sequencer.
I had used this app for numerous months and loved it but recently I had to reset Im iPod and I redownloaded this app but I can no longer edit patterns without it crashing. If I tap on the screen at all on the pattern editor it crashes. This is a serious problem that makes this incredible app completely useless. I am willing to wait for an update to fix this but until then, this app will be clogging up space on my iPod.
All in all, its a great app. No lag, good sound quality, etc... The flaw is... After sustained playback of a pattern, the app goes silent. If the devs fix this problem, Ill definitely update my review. (5 stars)