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Koala Sampler vs Beatmaker 3 - Which one is the best?
I've spent the past few weeks diving deep into Koala Sampler and Beatmaker 3. Summarized my thoughts about the apps and their differences. Worth checking out, especially if you're trying to decide between the two.
Comments
It’s like pitting an MPC vs. SP404… they are both special in their own ways. Good question!
BM3 is one of the DAWs missing from my collection, maybe I will treat myself to it in the next month or two
I like to see how people are using Koala. Music created from samples does intrigue me although it is not something I have any background in so it is interesting to see examples of how Koala is put to use. It also reminds me that I should buy it for my Android phone for when normality returns and I am out and about as I will not have my iPad to hand.
Hope DB is keeping you supplied with the good stuff.
Exactly. That was my thoughts as I was using both apps. They have some similarities and differences that should be celebrated. Honestly, I really like both apps.
@MisplacedDevelopment BM3 is an interesting DAW. Coming from GarageBand, it required me to think of my projects as little blocks of ideas, get a groove going, then expand it to a full DAW with the added bonus of adding AUv3 effects, and a great sampling engine.
Nice. I use an Android as well. Koala and Zenbeats (along with Google Drive) are the apps that allow me to link my projects together with the iPad.
Haha, yeah DB has a lot of the good stuff 😎
BM3 is so powerful, when it does what it's supposed to. Koala sometimes feels limited, but that can be good for creativity, and the updates are awesome surprises.
BM3 is not only more powerful but the stretch quality is much much better
Its like chopsticks and baseball bats
For me Koala’s strength comes from the immediacy of everything it’s capable of, which is a lot, and the brilliance of its UI. Comparing it to a DAW isn’t very fair to it, it’s a sampler after all, a very capable one.
BM3 is undoubtedly more powerful but I would choose Koala every single time.
Definitely!! It’s usually between it and miRack as the first app I open when I want to make something.
I’ve slowly been learning MiRack more and more. Like Drambo, it’s an endless well of basically whatever you want it to be and I love that. I just have to figure it out lol
Koala for me - it’s much easier. Could never figure out Beatmaier
BM3 is easily the best DAW for live/studio hybrid integration I've used but sadly doesn't run on iPhone, which is where I've landed for iOS production. I still use BM3 on iPad sometimes though, where I'm not able to bring my MPC Live II -- my current (long time) go-to mobile music production platform.
I would kill or die for the MPC 2 DAW (not iMPC) on iOS though -- just make the interface a compromise between the stand alone version and the PC DAW version, it'd be immense.
Koala is a wonderful app AND BeatMaker has some functionality that nothing g else does…I think most comparisons have been by people who don’t need/want/know about a lot of BeatMaker’s capabilities.
Beatmaker 3 has a bit of a confusing workflow for me personally , your mileage may vary. What I was able to wrap my head around was BM3 has a bit of a learning curve, but has one of the fullest featured samplers in it I've ever worked with packed with so many options to shape your samples that even blows Koala Sampler out of the water. It can also host AUv3s and has a timeline, so that also makes it a fully featured DAW. It IS iPad-only, so iPhone users aren't able to enjoy it.
Koala Sampler is much simpler to pick up right away but can go super deep if you keep exploring/read the manual. Koala also has a bit of a learning curve if you want to take full advantage of its feature set. It has less options to shape your samples than BM3, but that doesn't mean what's already there isn't robust. Per-sample EQ and tone controls for instance. No timeline, but once you turn on "sequence snapping" to "snap to sequence", it's easy to record your live performance. (I first discovered this feature under BPM settings a couple days ago, and I've used Koala for how long now? 😂 I love how many surprises it constantly has around each corner.)
Koala can't host AUv3s, but it can be USED as an AUv3 in other hosts such as AUM, NS2, and yes, even in BM3 (although the last one would be rather redundant). It's also universal and feels much more like playing with a hardware sampler on a touch screen.
Even though BM3 and Koala can both load samples, it's basically comparing very delicious apples to very delectable oranges. You're basically comparing a DAW to a fully featured sampler. BM3 has more features and is the DAW where you can lay things out on a timeline, but Koala is quicker to pick up and use for sketching out ideas to completing full tracks in most genres including Ambient and lends itself better to live recording and performance.
Another thing to consider is cost. Koala Sampler is five quid US and costs about fifteen after all IAPs are purchased. BM3 is a little under thirty quid US which doesn't include IAP sample packs. Both are worth their asking price and then some, so it all depends on how deep your pockets go.
If you have a monthly budget of about a hundred strictly for apps, get both if you have at least an iPad.
Drambo hosting loopy and koala ( if using multi ipads )
Or by choice to host Drambo in loopy or for cpu reasons.
Still wish Id kept bm3 ( when it were just £8 )
To use with KQ feedback.
Even just as a sampler BM3 is rich. I’ve never learned to use it as a DAW, I pretty much just use it as a sampler.
Well obviously bm3 wins
But for immediate and fun use it’s koala
For iPhone….koala
For android koala
So I’m reality ….koala wins tbh
Koala all day. I love BM3 but I’m not gonna do any serious sample sound design there when I can do virtually the same stuff in Koala within a fraction of the time. I can live without envelopes and chromatic time stretching
I heard that if you sample Koala IN Beatmaker 3, it will either unlock Beatmaker 4 OR destroy the universe!
Now you've done it...
Agreed. BM3 is probably the closest you can get to the MPC live/One on iOS. And it’s right up there with it. The amount of features is really crazy and the time stretching and pitch shifting is very very good.
Buuuuut Koala is probably my favorite app on the App Store so it wins by default for me lol
Exactly! It's a freakin powerhouse! I really want to redownload it again, but I really can't be faffed to pull out my M1 Pro or Mini 6 when often my best musical ideas come about when laying back in bed mucking around on my new 14 Pro Max. 🤣
I'd argue both apps are winners in my book, but I do like Koala Sampler a bit more than BM3. Then again, I should try BM3 again to see how it goes now that I'm more into the sampler workflow than a DAW workflow.
I deleted all my DAWs to clear up space once I settled into Logic, but BM3 was the only one I couldn’t bring myself to delete. The sampler is just too powerful and sets it apart from just being another DAW. Vatanator Pro is another good one and the UI is a bit easier to work with, imo. It can be unstable at times though.
Oh bugger, Vatanator Pro is iPad only too. 😂 Once I pull out one of my iPads, I'll just stick to mucking about in BM3.
One of the things I love about BM3 is that I can add slice markers to large files and trigger the different slices without needing to slice to individual pads. It’s great because you can move the markers around to refine the slices and you can have slices that play through the following slice.
I forgot BM3 did that!
Unfortunately but their standalone drum machine “Vatanator” has an iPhone version and it’s probably a top 5 drum machine for me. It’s full of weird, Lo-Fi, grainy, classic drum machines. Definitely recommend. Vatanator Pro has all that dialed up to 11 with some cool effects, but if you already have BM3 you probably don’t need it. I’m just a sucker for grooveboxes lol
Same! Koala, Drambo, BM3, Gadget, Electribe Wave standalone, are all just simply chef's kiss. Besides Vatanator Pro, what else would you recommend?
(I'll have to muck about with Vatanator soon, but my next iOS purchase will have to be Piano Motifs. Looks amazing.)
Piano Motifs is excellent. I’ve had it since before it was even an AU and it was awesome even then.
Those are all great! I also really like all 3 Ampify apps, Hypertron, GR-16, Pure Acid, Pepp (it’s old but so cool and unique), TriqTraq, Oscilab, the Rob Wilmont apps, Samplr, Fieldscaper, Elastic Drums, Ton (underrated Digitakt clone), C.Arp (Omnichord clone), Beat Machine, Loopmix (kinda), Chordion, Note, Egoist, Pulse, Touchscaper, Nanoloop, Yellofier, Jam w/ Jordan, Beathawk.
……okay I’m obsessed 😂 some of those are IAA but they’re all great in their own ways and half of them at least are either free or have free versions. I left out apps like Patterning that are mostly drum machines but kinda groovebox adjacent.