I'm about to pull the trigger on getting an iPod Touch, and I'm in the middle of researching the top 3 fully-featured sequencing apps. NanoStudio has a version you can try out on your computer, but the other two don't.

From what I have gathered so far, they are very similar in terms of sequencing, effects, mixing, importing/exporting, but NanoStudio is limited to 6 tracks only. Where they differ is mostly in the sound modules and editing depth. NanoStudio is all synths, while Music Studio is all sample-based, and includes a lot of conventional instruments like guitars, basses, orchestral, ethnic...etc. Music Studio also sell add-on packs for additional sounds. BeatMaker 2 comes with a set of sounds, but there's no option for add-on's, although the sound/sample editing capabilities is deeper in BeatMaker 2, but that's irrelevant to me, since I only want to use a hand-held device as a rough-draft tool, not for final polish. I plan on exporting MIDI out to Sonar on the computer for actual polished work using better quality sounds.

I do not want to use any MIDI controller devices with the iPod Touch. It is strictly a hand-held only device to me, to be used while traveling (during flight, on the train, waiting in line...etc).

AFAIK, none of them allow simple multi-track audio, but I know that Music Studio is working on that feature right this moment. NanoStudio and BeatMaker 2 can record samples, but that's not the same as straight audio track recording into the sequencer.

Right now I'm leaning towards Music Studio since it has a wider range of instruments for different musical genres, and it doesn't bother with the features I don't need (loop chopping, sample editing, time stretch...etc).

Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice from those who have used these apps and compared them.

I just tried NanoStudio for the PC, and it was clear to me that Music Studio is superior for the kind of workflow I prefer. First of all, Nanostudio's keyboard cannot be resized, so what you can play on it is limited, whereas in Music Studio, you can resize the keyboard to show more octaves by making the keys thinner. Also, the pinching action is much faster and more intuitive in Music Studio. Another glaring problem in NanoStudio is that you can ony hear the notes you want to lay down in the pianoroll during vertical movements (before you commit the note) but not horizontally, as horizontal movement only creates fill notes, whereas in Music Studio, you can move around the pianoroll without drawing anything and be able to hear the notes.

Just these two issues alone would push NanoStudio out of the competition for me.

I have read the manual of all three apps, but I wish there were some insightful BeatMaker 2 demo/tutorial videos available, there there are only crappy ones made by users, instead of well-produced ones made by the developer.

At this rate, I guess it'll have to be Music Studio.

Buy what you want, but at this time BM2 is by far the most robust. Unlimited tracks, import and make your own sounds, great audio tools for beat slicing and chopping....etc. I own Nanostudio, musicstudio and BM2' .... And the only one I actually use is BM2.

Can you elaborate on why you prefer BeatMaker 2 over the others?

BTW, Music Studio's going to have sampling, step-sequencer, audio tracks, fx bus improvements, and a bunch of other new features in the next update.

Also, did you view the videos at http://www.Intua.net ?

BM2 has what Music Studio CLAIMS it is going to get already (on it's version 1.0 release even). Music Studio is VERY limiting, Nanostudio is limiting but BM2 is the least limiting. The two "serious" music app on iOS are Nanostudio, and BM2. At this point in time BM2 is ahead......

I watched some, but they aren't nearly as informative as the ones for Music Studio, and they also feature really simple music that's mostly MPC-styled pad-based loop compositions, as opposed to the much more sophisticated compositions demoed in Music Studio (such as full-blown orchestral compositions using lots of orchestral instruments).

I read the user's manual of all three, and watched a bunch of videos, and it doesn't seem to me that Music Studio is the most limited (for my workflow and compositional needs). While the other two has fancy stuff like synths and beat slicing and sampling, they are not essential to actual composition, which is what I need the most--to compose music. I don't want to do any actual production work on a hand-held device--I do that on a full-blown DAW sequencer (I use Sonar X1). I just want to compose the MIDI data on the hand-held device, and then export the MIDI data out to Sonar so I can use high-quality sample libraries and real instruments to replace the cheap sounds. I also don't care much about the effects since I'll be using high-quality effects in Sonar to finish off the tracks anyway.

I also never use loops or sample phrases, so some of the main selling points of NanoStudio and BeatMaker 2 just doesn't apply to me. Mine is a strictly "compose/play every thing myself" kind of workflow.

So other than the features I don't really need, what else makes BM2 superior to Music Studio? The pianoroll? The keyboard layout?

Sounds like Music Studio is what you need!

i prefer nano studio, but the synths alias like a mofo
the sounds in music studio are really cheezy and if you want any good sound they sell them to you, plus there is no modelling in music studio, its all rompler

you should also try xenon, pretty much like nano studio

I don't mind that the ROMpler sounds aren't any good--as long as they serve the purpose of a rough draft of MIDI composition. I'm going to export the MIDI data out to Sonar X1 and replace all the sounds and effects with high-end VST's anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

I did check out Xenon, and I really liked the visual design, as well as having multiple synthesis engines instead of typical VA. It looks like the sequencer is very limited though--it's stuck on 16 note patterns. What if I want to do a snare roll or glitchy drums at 32 or 64 notes?

But even if I buy one of these "synth workstation" type of apps for making strictly electronic music (and use Music Studio for making more conventional genres of music), there's still the problem that the CPU of hand-held devices just aren't very powerful, so the synths are limited by what the modest CPU can handle--including stuff like the aliasing problem you mentioned, as well as the DAC on these hand-held devices probably isn't that great. So that means, if I spend time designing patches and doing all this intricate modulation and effects and production polish, the end result is still compromised by the bottleneck of a limited CPU and DAC. And if I export the MIDI data out to Sonar X1, I'd have to replace all the sounds I painstakingly created in these apps, and that's like redoing all the hard work I already did.

Or maybe I shouldn't care and just make whatever "limited" music in these synth workstation apps and present them as is--that they are "fun" tracks I did on my mobile device, instead of "serious" tracks with all the high-end production polish. But that doesn't feel quite right either.

I have the same dilemma as Lunatique here. I want a functional DAW/sequencer for my iPod touch, but I'm not into all the loops and whatnot - I compose all my music note-by-note.

I can't choose between NanoStudio and MusicStudio. MusicStudio is nice in its almost unlimited amount of tracks, while NanoStudio can only edit 6 tracks, but its electronic music capabilities are quite appealing too.

BTW, what is the typical bottleneck in terms of CPU vs. RAM in these apps? I would assume in NanoStudio, the bottleneck is often the CPU, since that app is mainly synthesis based. In Music Studio and BeatMaker 2, I would assume the bottleneck is often RAM based since they use strictly sample-based instruments. None of this assumption is taking into consideration the usage of effects though.

I'm asking because iPhone 4 doubles the RAM of iPod Touch's 256 MB RAM to 512 MB, but it cost more than double. I don't need a phone--I just want to run apps, and the iPhone's better camera and display aren't important to me either. So it's really down to just the amount of RAM.

I never use loops on my may PC DAW or on iOS. I actually play the notes in, and clean up the midi later if need be. That is yet another thing I like about BM2. I can play melodies and such on the keyboard, and play the drums on the pads . Or of course, enter it all in on the piano roll if I so desire.

Hey Dewaine, what kind of instruments/sounds are included in BeatMaker 2? I can't find any information about it in the user's manual or the videos or on the site. One thing I like about Music Studio is the diversity of musical genres it covers with its instrument packs.

You seem to keep missing the point, I'll try again. It does not matter what soundest is included since you can import any wav sample into it. There are thousands of free samples on the Internet, and hundreds of sound sets you can buy. Below is info from the Intua site,notice the "included sound set" info near the bottom. The included sounds are okay, but I have yet to use them.

On another issue, don't expect to score movies on a phone, none of these programs compare to a good DAW on a full computer system.... But, they sure are a lot of fun


STUDIO:

- Create multiple instruments with Drum Machine or Keyboard interface
- 10 effect units to choose from: Reverb, Compressor, Filter, Delay, EQ, Flanger, Chorus, AutoPan, BitCrusher, Overdrive.   
- 3 effect slots for each instrument, unlimited global effect racks
- Customizable Cross Controller for all effects, to manipulate multiple parameters at once

DRUM MACHINE:

- Up to 128 trigger pads: 16 pads over 8 different banks
- Chop Lab: Slice audio loops to automatically create new sound presets
- Control sound parameters on individual pad: volume, pan, mute, output bus, semitone, fine tune, reverse and autoscaling
- Low/high pass filter per pad with cutoff and resonance control
- Choose between various pad trigger modes: one-shot, hold & loop
- Customizable envelope (ADSR) control for each pad
- Exclusive groups and polyphony management
- "Live" modes: trigger, mute, reverse, velocity and tune spreading.

KEYBOARD SAMPLER:

- 128 keys keyboard with pitch wheel, double keyboard mode, note display and zoom controls
- Easily create your own instruments from any sample combination with the keygroup editor
- Volume and filter ADSR envelopes
- Low/high pass filter with cutoff, resonance and key tracking
- 2 LFOs with customizable amplitude, offset and rate (synchronizable), controlling volume, pitch and filter parameters
- Polyphony control, with up to 32 voices per keyboard sampler
- Legato play mode with customizable glide
- Keygroup controls: volume, pan, semitones, fine-tune, reverse and one-shot, hold, hold & loop trigger modes

MULTI-TRACK SEQUENCER:

- Create unlimited instrument and FX tracks
- Automations: Record, edit and replay instrument and effect parameters
- Record, draw, arrange and resize patterns along the timeline to build your song
- Compose and modify patterns with a piano-roll interface. Edit notes, parameters, and automations.
- Instrument and effect recording options: Quantize, take or partial undo, pre-roll, Overdub, note erasing.
- Includes multiple convenient tools such as zooming  

WAVE EDITOR:

- Full-fledged wave editor with intuitive pinch and selection for manipulating samples
- Basic edition tools: trim, cut, copy, paste, with 8 levels undo/redo
- High quality time-stretching and pitch-shifting algorithms
- Audio tools: normalize, silence, reverse, fade in and out, cross-fade
- Record new samples from device microphone or plugged instrument
- Loop points and tempo/signature editor

MIXER CONSOLE:

- Realistic multi-track mixer with level meters
- Edit volume, pan, solo, mute and bus routing features for individual tracks

LARGE SOUNDBANK INCLUDED:

- 68 Drum Machine presets from all genres
- 111 Keyboard Sampler presets, from synthesizers to realistic orchestral instruments.
- More than 1800 quality samples to choose from

SHARING & GLOBAL OPTIONS:

- Export your songs to Audio or MIDI files
- Transfer and manage your files from your computer using the integrated FTP server
- Import any songs from your iPod library to create new remixes
- Share audio content with more than 20 other music applications using the iOS pasteboard
- Upload your songs directly to your SoundCloud account
- User friendly file browser and manager, with sample, preset and project tagging for quick lookup
- Supports BeatMaker 1 kits and projects
- Fully supports Retina display
- Native iPad version coming soon as a free update

Yeah, I have read that list on their site, but it says nothing about exactly what instruments are included.

I understand that I can use my own samples, but that is extra time I have to spend creating my own library of sounds to use. I would have to go hunting for the best sounding free samples available on the internet (or cull suitable samples from commercial libraries I have), spend many hours auditioning them, choose between them, mapping them, and so on. If the app already has a great selection of sounds, then I wouldn't have to waste my time compiling my own library.

And I do expect to be able to score/compose anything on an iDevice, as long as the polyphony is under the app's limit (and knowing all the sounds will be replaced by higher quality versions later on the desktop computer). I mean, did you watch the Blue Danube video for Music Studio?

http://www.xewton.com/musicstudio/videos

That is a full-blown orchestral arrangement, with lots of instruments playing intricate stuff simultaneously. The sounds aren't great, but I plan to export out the MIDI data and replace the sounds with high-end sample libraries anyway, as well as do any additional MIDI massaging and CPU-intensive effects in Sonar X1.