I wish I had discovered this sooner. It doesn’t seem to do it’s FTP thing correctly. And also doesn’t export stems correctly. I think both these issues are tied to the new IOS folder schematic. However, it is the only app that I get a song out of every time I use it. It’s really easy to compose beats on. The sounds it makes are awesome. Sadly I’ve only been able to export stereo and not stems, nor have I been able to use the FTP server to continue tracks in another DAW so it’s a bit crippled in that regard. The stuff I export doesn’t show up in the EXPORT folder either. I don’t think this is quite compatible with recent IOS. If it were updated it would still be a top app as far as I’m concerned. Geza X
Quick tip: to get patterns longer than a bar- 2, 4, or 8, simply navigate to the machine of choice and scroll down. Each machine has its own piano roll beneath it, that is where you set the pattern length. Press grid, then 4x, 8x, etc. Recording live is great, rock solid quantization. SOUNDS great. There are deep sound design possibilities but the fx are so good you could get by just with presets and fx. Once you understand how things are organized, which didn't take long, it's very easy to create a lot of music very quickly. Don't bother arranging at the start, just create patterns till your heart is content and then arrange later. Not much to complain about aside from very small interface quirks that aren't that big of a deal. I suppose more instrument tracks would be nice. But with the live automation recording and 16 tracks, you won't lack for cool sounds. Also, don't miss the PCM synths ability to import audio from elsewhere. You can edit and apply fx to imported audio endlessly. Great app, my only regret is I didn't buy it sooner!
Been making music since 1983 and I have to say, for a digital WS, this is quite impressive. I have tried a lot of similar apps, but I keep coming back to this one. The only problem I have experienced is on my iPad, when I try to connect via Bluetooth, it will not connect and only plays sound from the speakers. No other issues. Great app! Update 2023 Version doesn’t seem to be compatible with the new iOS 16 update. I literally lost years of music. The app doesn’t seem to be working since the update. Are the developers going to update Caustic? It would be worth it.
Amazing sounds and beat machine kits however I haven’t been able to open up any projects since Caustic can’t seem to rotate to landscape mode even without orientation lock enabled! Not sure if this is a problem other users have experienced or just my phone but would definitely like to be able to use to keep using this app again! I’d also love to see a function where caustic can export songs to my phones files without needing to open iTunes on my desktop.
I have messed around with production since 2011, trying different DAWs to find one that I truly liked. I downloaded Caustic in October and have spent 1000+ hours using the app. I’m still finding out new ways to use its tools and very rarely feel like I’m held back by the limitations on the machine. There are some elements that are inconvenient when using an iphone (sound doesn’t play on Bluetooth headphones) but the portability and ability to quickly jump into production more than makes up for it. Would recommend this to anybody, whether as a supplement for desktop DAWs or as a primary workstation for amateur production.
The app has since been rendered useless on my iPhone ever since the iOS 16 update. I have yet to update the app on my iPad and I hope it isn’t broken there as well. Having paid for the app a couple of years ago and up until now being pleased and even impressed by the quality and user friendliness of such a robust and feature rich DAW, I’m sad to see it in a state of disrepair. However, I’m keeping faith in the developers and hoping that they will fix the problems and restore mine and all of the loyal Caustic fans that rely on their software to flesh out their ideas and their creative outflows that would otherwise go unfulfilled. We need you. Don’t let us down. Thank you for everything you do.
I just want to say that I am super grateful to even be able to use this all these years! It is the only DAW that I will use and I’ve used it for all my music to date! I just wish the windows version works better, I’ve been trying to teach my brother how to make music with caustic on windows but once a certain amount of patterns are placed on the sequencer (max like 3) the screen goes black or all the text and pattern designs go away and bug out and it then becomes unusable, if there is a fix for this please help and respond to me my friend!
I hope they do update sometime (we would be happy to pay!) but it is still working fine on my older device with iOS 15, except most of the export options have broken! I was still able to use the AudioShare option however after purchasing that app and from there can save to iCloud, etc. like other modern apps. Might still be possible to sync files with iTunes as well, have not tried. Thanks for all these years with this groovy app!
Great app, have used it off and on the past couple of years… Sadly, it doesn’t work on iPhone. Probably still user friendly on a PC or another device, but as of the moment I leave this review, I think we can all agree it isn’t perfect… yet. 😜
Overall it has a lot of great features, probably the closes you'll get to Reason 4, sadly the sequencer section is not that good, I find it very cumbersome to get things done, I spent at least an hour trying to figure out how to make a pattern that was more than 1 bar long so I wouldn't have to record a chord progression a section at a time, apparently you can, so it really makes it a slow drawn out process, and for the most part, it just not that intuitive. I wish I could give it a higher rating but imo, the sequencer is more suited for step sequencing versus real time.
I’m on an iPhone 6. Every sample I record sounds like it went through a children’s Robot effect. I’ve tried everything I know to do, and cannot get a clean sample with this app. This is particularly frustrating, because I really just want to use this app as a tracker/sample sequencer. The fact it does that is amazing, but I’m working with nothing but robot sounds, and it is very frustrating. Please update.
This is the most comfortable and well thought out DAW that I have used on a mobile device. Just yesterday I was wishing for different time signatures, and guess what? This update has them! Among plenty of other good things. Thanks for all the good work.
One wish that i have is that i hope this developer could update this app to at least support for some time 🥲🥲 perfect app for mobile music creations!!!!
This app is a gem. It has let me make amazing songs on the go. 1. Exporting stems doesn't seem to work. 2. It's impossible to line up the dots that control the volume of a track at a certain time. They will always be a bit off from each other. 3. The modular synth exports with TERRIBLE crackling that isn’t in the synth before exporting sometimes. It seems like the mixer modules can glitch like this sometimes. I can’t figure out how to prevent the glitched exports! I hope these issues get addressed!
Amazing app. Just wish it could transpose your notes if you change scales. For example if u change from c major to f major the c will change to f instead of staying a c. More than worth the money as is tho!
Best mobile daw ever created! Thanks Rej I have a very important question tho.. I’ve recently installed it in an iPhone.. How and where do you find the Caustic-data folder ??
2021 update Please Still this app shows how little improvement has really happened with iOS music tools over the last 10 years. The developer of this app was so far ahead that only now he’s being passed. Wish list: Refresh the interface look/design, work as Audio Unit or AU’s within Caustic, better or access to Pro Mix/Mastering tools. Pass by every music app again for another decade.
Could caustic please be made as an audio unit extension? and also have a folder made for caustic in the files app so you can access your songs samples instruments and etc?
This is a very versatile and creatively expressive app. The only issue that I have is that my Bluetooth headphones keep disconnecting every time i try using the app. It is really frustrating as I’m usually in public and can’t listen to what I’m playing on my speaker. If this issue is fixed, this would be an amazing product.
Had this app for years on multiple devices and it’s always been amazing and I’ve written so many songs here, but since my last update a few months ago it hasn’t worked at all! Willing to pay for update
I paid 10 bucks open it up and I cant actually manipulate anything at all. I can scroll up and down but everything is centered to the left half of the screen in landscape and i cant interact with anything except the bar that slides everything vertically.
This app is truly capable if sooo much! But needs updates...... More synths, the ability to add more than just two effects, maybe a multiband compressor, etc....
This app is pretty good but I can’t get access .caustic files, I want to save all my project files and collab with other caustic users but I can’t because if this
It literally takes 3 minutes to make a smaller or bigger trying to change the length of it... so much hassle for little things like the grid and going back and having to put another note to replace and back out of the grid it’s just terrible and very confusing with not a lot of help
A bit of warning to you all... The developer wants you to fork over an additional cost for a separate app to export your songs. If this allowed me to export to Dropbox or Google drive from the get-go, a higher rating would be warranted.
This app worked fine on my iPhone however after an update for the phone the app only offers a single synth and only fills up half the screen. Junk! I want money back, what a rip off!!!
Getting keyboard triggers for keys never pressed. Unable to record due to this (felt like I was playing 2 player and it was always the other guys turn)
It won't connect to my Bluetooth headphones. Everything else on my iPhone 7+ will, but not Caustic. I won't be able to mix well without that - I hate to say this, but I either need it fixed or I need a refund. :( So excited to download this app, now very disappointed😭
I can’t even use it anymore because the screen is locked in some weird position. The developer completely abandoned this app. It was amazing for years until the latest apple update. C’mon man, DO SOMETHING!
I used to love this app until I bought the iOS version. $9.99 and I can't EXPORT the file unless I buy another $3.99 app? The export to share does nothing, you can't even save a local file with this app. What a joke. Fix this. 1 star because I can't give 0.
I used to use this all the time. Currently it doesn’t work on iOS. It’s stuck in landscape mode, cropped to half the screen, and the buttons are unresponsive.
Caustic 3 is a music creation tool inspired by rack-mount synthesizer/sampler rigs. Everything is real-time and optimized for mobile devices. Create your rack by adding up to 14 machines from a choice of: * Subsynth - Virtual analog subtractive synthesizer * PCMSynth - Multi-sample wave synthesizer * BassLine - 303-like monosynth * BeatBox - 8-channel sampling drum machine * PadSynth - Harmonic table pad synthesizer * 8BitSynth - 8bit equation solver synthesizer * Modular - Fully configurable and routable synthesizer * Organ - Tonewheel organ with rotary speaker * Vocoder - 8-band harmonic vocoder * FMSynth - DX-style 3-operator fm synthesizer * KSSynth - Karplus-Strong string modeling synthesizer * SawSynth - Supersaw-type synthesizer The app also includes: * Effects rack supporting 2 effects per machine (20 effect types). * Mixer desk with EQ, panning and global Delay/Reverb effects. * Master section with effect slots, parametric EQ and limiter. * Song sequencer AudioBus support for Input and Output slots. AudioCopy Paste + AudioShare support for import and export. Supports automation recording on most controls and includes powerful editors for modifying automation curves. Users can record their own WAV files for use in the PCMSynth, BeatBox, and Vocoder or import files through iTunes file sharing, ACP, AudioShare, or the built-in FTP server. Supports all uncompressed WAV files (8-16-24-32bit, any sampling rate). The PCMSynth can also load SoundFont files (.sf2), SFZ and FL/Xewton instruments (.instr, .ZIP) "Open In.." import support for all preset types, .WAV, .SF2 and .MID. (MIDI (.mid) files can be imported as raw sequencer note data.) Supports CoreMIDI and virtual MIDI for note, velocity and CC data. (be sure to set "Enable background audio" in advanced options to use virtual MIDI) See the in-app help section for dozens of informative tutorial videos and full online manual. There is also a FREE (full version) PC/Mac version available for download on the product website. Come visit www.singlecellsoftware.com to download more presets, request features, share your tracks and hear what others are creating with Caustic 3. Works on iPhone/iPod but iPad is recommended.