Mobeat ~ Retro Synth Review

Mobeat ~ Retro Synth is pint-sized synthesizer designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Although it’s not as good as a real life keyboard and synthesizer, it will appeal to musicians on the go who want to create beats.

The default interface has a one row of piano keys, knobs, a slider for two oscillators, and a horizontal slider for the glyde rate. There are two additional interface options as well. The first replaces the glyde rate slider with a second row of piano keys, and the second interface option displays two touch pads and one row of piano keys. In addition, there is a slider on the right side of the interface that brings up many addition options while leaving one row of piano keys in place.

The app designers definitely had to make comprises when deciding what to display and overall they made the right decisions. The keys, pads, knobs, and sliders are all big enough to be used easily. The graphics are very well done and look just like their real life counterparts. Turning a knob or adjusting a slider is intuitive and easy.

Mobeat ~ Retro Synth does include some more advanced features, such as custom presets and the ability to save sounds. There are also controls options to fine tune both the oscillators and tools to adjust the modulation, pitch, and apeggiator. In addition there is an envelope generator, and the ability to add filters. Many of these options will only appeal to a small subset of people, but it’s nice that the options are there.

The app doesn’t include information about the various functions, which could leave many people confused about most of the more advanced features. Mobeat ~ Retro Synth definitely assumes users already have a good amount of information about synthesizer options.

Overall Mobeat ~ Retro Synth is a robust synthesizer. The small screen size of the iPhone definitely hinders what the interface can display, but the designers do the best they can. However, only users with some knowledge of synthesizers should check it out due to the lack of explanations in the app.