Tablets and other mobile devices have come a long way since the early days and these days it’s not unusual to hear about professional decisions making use of them in the studio and even live. It also means that many music apps available for iOS are no longer just novelty gimmicks, but are able of delivering some impressive results. There are a number of vintage synth apps for iOS owners to enjoy, but musicians looking for software that offer the deep and heavy bass sounds that they crave also have plenty of options. Here are just five synth apps for iOS that are sure to impress with their bass output.

Cyclop for iPad

Price: $24.99

Cyclop is one of the more premium priced synth apps for iOS, but there is a very good reason for that. It is billed as a “cutting-edge mono synth for low-frequency connoisseurs” and has all the features to back such a lofty claim. Cyclop is also available as a desktop version, but the iPad version is a fully featured port and not a scaled down imitation. This means you get plenty of connectivity options, a flexible internal modulation system and the option to integrate it with the desktop app if you wish. It is the ability to move presets between the desktop and iPad version of the software that makes Cyclop particularly appealing as it means you can keep working on your projects even when on the move without sacrificing anything. Cyclop is pretty versatile as it is also able to produce lead sounds, but it really excels when it comes to bass. Just be sure to at least skim the manual as Cyclop has an overwhelming number of options to mess around with.

BassLine - Analog Modeling Synthesizer

Price: $4.99

Anyone who fondly remembers the Roland TB-303 from the early 1980’s will have a blast with BassLine. This app is based on the classic monophonic bass synthesizer and, while it is one of the oldest options apps in its category, it is still relevant as well as affordable. BassLine offers user a built-in step sequencer along with on-board effect, while its low-pass filter is able to produce the type of high-resonance filter sweeps commonly offered by vintage synths. Other features include overdrive with tube-like distortion characteristics, tape echo effects with tempo-synchronous delay times, gated sequencer mode with real-time pattern transposition, and much more. Anyone in need of further convincing should listen to “The Fall,” the 2010 album by Gorillaz as they made use of BassLine.

Model 15

Price: $29.99

The Model 15 by Moog Music is another iOS app with a higher price tag, but considering that you are getting a portable and accurate version of the Moog Model 15 synthesizer, it is hard to argue with the price. To get any closer to the real thing you would need to buy an actual Moog Model 15, which easily sells for thousands of dollars these days. This app functions as both an educational tool as well as a fully working musical instrument, so you can easily coax those distinctive  Moog bass sounds out of it. Even through the headphone of your iOS device this app sounds good, but obviously if you want the best results you should really use a high-quality audio interface to listen to the output.

Sunrizer Synth

Price: $9.99

Like BassLine, the Sunrizer Synth from Beepstreet is an older app, but this just means that it is more affordable and has had plenty of updates since it was first released. It is also one of the first synth apps on iOS that made everyone sit up and take notice of what is really possible using a portable device. The developers have gone to great lengths to ensure that Sunrizer is able to deliver the kind of warmth and clarity that one would expect from a vintage analog synthesizer. It offers true SuperSaw sound emulation just like the legendary Roland JP-8000 and multi mode, so you can multiply oscillators for a sound that is even fatter and fuller.

iSEM Synthesizer

Price: $9.99

Another iOS virtual synthesizer with great bass sounds and a wallet friendly price is iSEM from Arturia. What it does is recreate the classic Oberheim Synthesizer Expander Module from 1974. If you’ve ever hard tunes from artists and bands like Lyle Mays, Supertramp, Vince Clarke and Depeche Mode then you’ll be familiar with the sound of the Oberheim SEM. This iOS version has all the original parameters of the Oberheim SEM along with added functionalities, such as new LFO, arpeggiator, portamento, noise and sub oscillator. The interface isn’t as daunting as some other apps either, so iSEM is a good place to start if you have a tight budget and want plenty of features without having to read an encyclopedia sized user guide.