KQ Dixie 4+

Wonderful DX for the iPad

This is just what I have been waiting for someone to build. A straight forward 6 operator FM synth for the iPad. It sounds good and all the controls fit on one screen. There is also a very useful and quick Sysex file import facility to provide thousands of ready made presets.

What makes it a 5-star app for me, is that the developer listens to his customers and keeps improving the app, instead of taking things away like many others (including the big companies) in this appstore. Being able to play velocity using the onscreen keyboard is one such noted improvement, as there are many times when one cannot use a separate MIDI touch sensitive keyboard to program and play it.

Thanks to the dev for making a great app at a great price!

Developer Response ,

Thank you for a review.
The touch sensitive keyboard has been implemented at version 2.0.
Try setting the wheel mode to "modulation" and you can change the velocity sensitivity.

Great DX app, low resource usage, good for sequencing in DAWs

I remember when the hardware DX was an object of lust and envy for many. The idea you could have one for £3.99 would have been absurd, yet here we are. There are literally thousands of free patch collections of powerful and distinctive sounds you can download and open in this marvellous little synth, for clear and distinct digital textures, bells, pianos, and even some thumping analog-y basses, as well as the usual bass guitar noises. There are some cool curated collections too, which eliminate the dross and duplication -search for ‘Dexed cart 1.0’. If I had a criticism it is that it is not easy to navigate the patch folder system, and I have yet to find a non messy way to save my own curated banks of sonic weirdness culled from the masses of bland 80s cheese on offer that you have to wade through to find the gems. And if I had a suggestion it would be to add in a patch randomiser/morpher function, as FM is still hard to program and a good ‘roll of the dice’ could at least give you a starter for 10 in creating your own sounds.

So far, so good!

Impressed by simplicity of use, managed to get 100s sound banks installed - that exposed only problem in interface I’d like changing straight away...... Instead of showing filepath for every single patch when browsing, change it so that folders are present for ease of use. Would be nice if full cut and paste could be added to the folder structure too. At present it would be impossible to compile a master library from selections made after auditioning from 1000s of patches. Other than that - a great FM app at a great price - thoroughly recommended.