Bismark bs-16i App Reviews

shut down and restart your ios device, if too little ram. if you know the sf2 works with your device+bs16i, but you get an error, do a restart to clear ram.

More features by still the goat. This is the best sf2 player, for little money, I really recommend this, coming from a user that uses this in band rigs, I kinda wish there more features, like if I play the note low velocity, that the filter cutoff be affected too, that way I can use less samples instead of having layers, saves more room, another thing I would like is that, an env thats also effected by cutoff, similar to how korg im1, has this VDF, and VDA EG under the “Easy” tab, if I play a note, I can make it where the note plays full volume, and like 2 seconds later it decays a little and stays like that the rest of the duration note is held. Also some organ effects like a “Wah” would be good if there isn’t one. If possible, adding these features would be very helpful when designing sounds. At the end, this is the best app, and definitely recommend to everyone

broken. i’ve used bismark bs-16i for about a year or two and ever since the implementation of the new version , neither the legacy nor the new version work properly as a plugin for garageband !! the soundfonts won’t load in either version and any project i have that has a soundfont crashes :(

Still thumbs down even with update. I bought the first version for 4.99. Waste of money unless you're into sound fonts. Now the developer has upped the price. Don't buy it. There is a bank of sound fonts in the update but of poor quality, IMO. Still no help file AT ALL and no user forum. This developer does not have his/her act together. Save money and aggravation and go buy ThumbJam. The samples are awesome, there's support and many more features.

A must have!!. I have all the top synths for iOS and its hard to pick one as a favorite but if I could only have one synth loaded and had to choose it would be BS-16 without a doubt. It can cover everything by itself with the right sound fonts. I use a program on the PC called Extreme Sample Converter and can convert any sample from my EMU and Akai sample library's with the click of a button. Honestly this should get the top iOS synth award.

Not a review. Anyone know how to get the sound Busy Boy???!

Thank you :). Thank you for the new update with an app support. I'm so glad you have to continued the development of the only sound font player in the App Store. To anyone think about buying this app, you should! It has a great sound engine. With an unlimited amount of sf2 files form 1990s until now, is the easiest way to know your sounds will be unique when making iOS music.

Please make compatible with IOS 14. Love this app but ever since IOS 14 it is unplayable live. Please update.

Bs-16i legacy. Thank you for fixing the crashing problem

Change to a newer IPad is not opening. I change my IPad , and not opening ? What can I do , even I tried to purchase again

Legacy version won’t load. When I open a song in GarageBand that uses the legacy version, it crashes.

Please. I do not add it, the power to octave the instrument as in the part: tune, coarse of the semitones without loosing fidelity the sound...

Rare Breed. The update is great. The inclusion of a soundfont that has dozens of sounds should help for people that don't have any soundfonts. The interface could still use a little work. But i am grateful for this app that makes it possible to take my library of thousands of high quality soundfonts on the road. Keep up the good work! For people that don't know, one of the reasons this app is superior is that your database of sounds is almost limitless. There are tons of quality soundfonts you can find online for free, if you don't already have any. Cheers!

Trash. After new updates it trash....

Amazing App for Musicians!. I have a sample library business and I’ve wanted to bring my Sounds to iOS for a long time. The soundfont format is old but simple to use and with BS-16i, I have successfully made around 4 SF2 soundfont libraries to be used with BS-16i! Bismark and I have a great relationship and I look forward to bringing more soundfonts to be used with this incredible app!

Smh. I kept getting a big scary loud feedback while I play from time to time ..

Does what it says it does.. This is a multitimbral Soundfont PLAYER! It's not a Soundfont editor. To the user TranslationPolice - You're bashing an app that never said it could do what you needed it to do in the 1st place. You need a Soundfont editor like Awave Studio (PC only) or Polyphone (Mac and PC) to edit Soundfonts. Once they're edited, then you load them back into BS-16i. AFIAK there are no Soundfont editors for iOS.

The Best Soundfont Player Available!!!. This app sounds fantastic!! The developer has continually improved and supported this program since releasing it several years ago. He has been quick to respond whenever I've had a question. It supports all of the important technologies (IAA/Audiobus), and the MIDI works great!! This is an essential app for my music arsenal!! HIGHLY recommended!!!!

Work horse. For the keyboard parts I cover in my classic rock band, this app is indispensable, providing useful pianos, synths, and various hard-to-find instruments and sounds, like thunder and lightning, perfect for “Riders on the Storm.” Sometimes it gets jacked up by IOS updates, but these problems get resolved.

FIX TRANSPOSE. This app is amazing!!!! But its totally useless if transpose doesnt work!! Please fix it!

Great app!. I needed a multi-timbral synth for my iPad... checked out a few and went with this one. No regrets at all. It comes with some good sounds but what I really love is I can import my own soundfonts. Its got two keyboards, mixing options and lots of other nice stuff too, but I wish you could save a set up, patch or instrument channel assignment... hopefully we will get this in a future update. Thanks for a great program... love it.

Love this app. I’ve used this app for a number of years but just came across this bug. After adding portamento to a patch I tried (multiple times) to save it as a scene. After it “saves” the portamento setting is at 0. I’ve tried saving it as a new scene, overwriting an old scene, changing the sound font, and everything else I could think of but nothing saves the portamento setting. This is not the on/off setting (that gets saved) but the amount of portamento. Why is this?

The last few updates have broken it. Sessions I had in aum for years were rock solid until this update came out. Now they’re not loading correctly.

Must have app!. As you probably know the purpose of this app, I’ll just say that it does it very well. Extremely efficient app, was running several instances in AU mode without any issues. And I was using huge samples (1gb+) in all of them. Excellent developer! One small request, if you could make the defaults, when starting a new instance, with all fx - Off, and volume at middle position, this app would simply be perfect! I always use various external fx, and the volume is a bit too loud by default. Thanks!

I can't access the "INBOX"! HELP!. Please fix this bug and I will give your app 5 stars.

I hate the new update you guys did a week ago.. Idk what made you guys change the look. Now instead of just pressing an instrument to play it, I have to open the list then select instead of having the entire list on the left side with the knobs on the right. NOT A FAN OF IT, POINTLESS UPDATE.

Terrific App. One of the first music apps I ever purchased. There are LOADS of soundfont files on the internet, and within a week I had a library with over 6 GB of free samples. The app makes it very easy to sort and store your samples. You also get an 8 channel mixer and two keyboards which can be used together or separately. Also, the developer updates regularly and it shows. The BS-16i plays nice with every virtual midi app I've lobbed at it. Great value, easy to use, plays well with others ... All you have to do is spend a little time finding soundfonts to add to your library. Highly recommended!

Can’t use as AU in BM3. This app holds a lot of potential.. if only it could actually work without crashing ... I’ve uploaded a lot of Soundfonts into mine only to be disappointed because the app constantly crashes in Beatmaker 3

Not Working Anymore. I REALLY love using this plugin, as I consider it the best soundfont player for GarageBand. But, I can’t load songs that use it anymore. I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the legacy version of the app, or just with the plugin itself, but it’s pretty much unusable for me now, especially since I only really use the legacy version.

A solid app. Wow, is this good. If you have a lot of Soundfont sounds, you must get this. I have thousands, including all the Emu series. This app handles soundbanks perfectly. Just a solid app that does exactly what it says, perfectly. Now, IMHO the developers of Nanostudio and Beatmaker 2 should rush to be the one to have this developer integrate this excellent instrument into their software. It would expand the usefulness of their software dramatically. Now, update to virtual midi support.

?. WHERE IS BUSY BOY?

Great way to capture realistic sounds. I've used this app to capture and perform some of the amazing orchestral, vocal, and drum sounds floating around the Internet in sound font files. Sound fonts can be "opened in" the app, so you don't need to sync with a computer via iTunes. The app lets you layer multiple sounds triggered by a single key press. For example, you could have a guitar which swells into a choir. Each sound can be managed indepentently. I had a question about how to do this, and the dev was very helpful. He hung in with me over three emails, but eventually showed me exactly how to do what I wanted. Bravo!

All time favorite!. This is one of my favorite go-to sampler/soundfont player apps. I've tried Sampletank, Sound Canvas, countless other miscellaneous samplers and all the soundfont player apps..bs-16i still remains my number one, thanks to: -superb velocity sensitivity even without external midi controllers, the accelerometer response is top notch. One of the best I've seen *across* keyboard apps. Yes, it beats GarageBand hands down on this. -beautiful selection of default soundfonts. Honestly I've tried the Miroslav from Sampletank and many other string sections but nothing beats "Stereo strings Fast" for me to get into the zone with some Zimmer-esque aggressive string action. -the easy to use multitimbral mapping means that it plays *very* nicely with virtual MIDI and projects I've got going on in my DAWs. For example fiddlewax+bs-16i=instant orchestral layering bliss -And of course adding your own soundfonts is a breeze, though it's hard to beat the stellar collection the dev had put together. What's more it perfectly complements (sonically speaking) my other favorite sampler Thumbjam, I've often found myself using them as controllers/sound palettes for each other. Lovely stuff, kudos!

In Gral. Good App but incompatibility isues with.... This is a very good App on my Ipad 2 runs fine, but when i tried on my iphone 3gs it crash very often and when i am lucky enough to make it work it hardsly plays midi songs besides it couldnt load the 4 soundfonts it suposses. When i wrote to customer support i didnt have any answer, when i tried to get in touch with some question for the pc version i wanted to buy, they either got in touch with me, im waiting for an answer yet ... For the Pc now im thinking to buy the Fantasize Soundfont player or Maybe the Camaleon 5000 due to the bad customer service this bs16 has, im sorry and sad because other way it is a good app on my ipad

Connection. I have a Yamaha ypg 235 and I try to conect but don’t have a sound

Audiobus in the house!. Fully functional with Audiobus to record sequenced sound into your iOS DAW of choice, Folder Management for Organization of Soundfonts and Midi files! It also has 'Scenes' to save your layouts for different song projects so you can recall them on the fly! This was one of the first solid midi equipped apps to run 16 channels of midi without a hiccup! I sequenced this app with everything from a Commodore64 to a MPC. As a day 1 user and supporter of this app, I can now say that it is COMPLETE! Bravo!

EXCELLENT. Especially with the latest update! I have been using bs-16i for a long time, and it works beautifully. It is very easy to import any sf2 file, either purchased ones such as Sound Factory files, or those you can make yourself with something like Polyphone. The biggest negative I had was that bs-16i would not save the sound font setting with patch info in a host app, such as AUM; this required you to manually load the correct sound font, or make up a custom sound font that contains all the sounds you’d like to have on hand. With the latest update, this limitation is gone, and bs-16i is working like I have wanted it to all along. BIG THANKS to the developer for getting this feature working!

Amazing app, super fun to use and work with!. My only issue is that MIDI will cut out for a split second sometimes, it’s usually just one audio track but sometimes it’s all of them. (Audio tracks that are bs-16i of course) Is there any way you could possibly fix this? It can be incredibly noticeable and a bit frustrating at times.

Where’s the busy boy one?. I’ve been looking for busy boy on this so I can play a song and I can’t find it

Great app. This app is pretty amazing.

Audio Unit Yay!. More than ever, this app should be in your toolkit if you make music of just about any genre on iOS.

Catch Busy Boy. Quick question. How do you get "Catch Busy Boy" because I wanna use it for "el paso del gigante" and I tried looking for it but couldn't find it.

Auv3 problem. Please send a new update for auv3 because I made some music with the app but right after this new update today the won’t load inside BeatMaker,nanostudio and others app pls send send an update for the app to load as auv3 due to sound selections I made when making music.

Cubasis issue. When I go to use the bs in cubasis as a multi TimbrAl instrument ... whether I load my own scenes in or not. Whenever I press stop in a project. The bs resets itself yo factory. No matter what I do. In cubasis. Latest iPad latest iOS. Fix that and I’ll buy every upgrade you have this thing sounds amazing.

AUv3 version doesn’t recall soundfonts. 2021 update: I ended up giving up on this app because the soundfont recall issue has been a known problem for years but has never been fixed. It's a shame because the bs16i has all of the features that the other soundfont apps for iOS lack.

Fix transpose. Is a good app but need to fix the transpose the tune option make the app sound like toy fix it and will be a awesome app

Never worked with Soundfonts till now. Amazing music app! Bought this on sale during the holidays and must say that the sounds are pretty good and the UI is very is easy to work with IMO. I can use Midi Bridge to play bismark with my Synthstation 25 easily! Another thing I can do is use Jordan Rudess's Geo Synth, route it to the Midi Bridge app, go into bismark and turn on virtual midi and route channel to trigger both sounds from the Geo Synth screen. It took me a little bit to figure it out, but Midi setup is fairly easy compared to most apps. Last but not least the import of Soundfonts is awesome! I have never used Soundfonts before, but they sound just as good as WAV if not better. Great app and thanks for dropping the price for the Holiday season.

MIDI cc 123 issue. Very good app, but dev did not respond to repeated requests for help. My external midi controller sends cc 123 (all notes off) when the last key is lifted, and bs16i stops all notes at that point even if the hold pedal (cc64) is down. No other synth apps that I've tried have this problem. I was able to work around it by filtering out cc123 with FrEWI. Will upgrade to 5 stars if this gets fixed so I don't have to hack it every time.

Its great but have some issue. This is a great app over all. But we do have some issue. I purchased this app 2 weeks ago, and I couldn’t find it working with AUv3 in GarageBand. It’s suppose load in “Audio Init Extension” but instead it loaded in “Inter-app unit”, and I have no idea how to fix it. Though everything else worked fine, but I’m still trying to make it work.

Doesn’t save patches. I love this sampler but the main flaw that is annoying is that it never saves the patches I used in my projects. When I reopen up a project I’ve worked on using the bs-16i, I always have to reselect the sound patch i had for each track (if i remember) which most definitely hinders me from instantly starting back on a project. Fix this bug please. It will benefit me and everyone else that purchased this.

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The app for Serious Musicians. I'm not easily impressed by most music apps but this one is great. Connect your midi keyboard or midi guitar and you can play just about any combination of sounds (layered, mix on the go etc). The included sounds are acceptable (full midi bank) but the best thing about this app is that you can add Soundfont2 files and there are many good ones available free on the Internet. I've added some great sounding pianos and other sounds and they play great and with no apparent latency.

Chokes on some soundfonts. Fort he money I would expect it to work well even with large soundfonts but it doesn't. The thing will choke and crash then it forgets your previous assignments. In summary it is good but finiky. I use midi Keyboard now mostly whose processing isn't as good and you get hte occasional stuck note BUT it reads every soundfont I have thrown (including one that is over 1 Gig) at it and never crashes.

Not really worth the money.... I've used soundfont with midi files before and the improvement to the overall sound is amazing. So when I saw this app I thought it would be worth a try...but I was wrong. Considering the functionality vs the price, it's not worth it. There is a huge list of improvements needed to make this app even remotely usable(the ability to transpose the song, tempo control, a better library layout, etc). The fact there isn't even a manual speaks volumes about the developers poor commitment to the project.

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Has some good features. I have a lot of powerful MIDI applications on my iPad. But this lesser-known app has some good solid features as well. I love how it supports sound fonts. Even the general midi instruments are pretty decent sounding. So glad that they have added Audiobus support.

Number 1 🎹🎷🎺🎸🎻. This is the best music app with amazing sounds.plus the soundfont feature is great.

THE app for soundfonts.. I bought this app mainly to play my collection of soundfonts on my iPad, and it works perfectly for this.

It's just bad!. Don't buy the app. It's not ready for prime time. Purchase some the other midi apps available like Sweet Midi Player, cost more but miles ahead.

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no midi out to Audiobus midi chain when playing midifile. Playing the on-screen keyboard produces sound from SampleTank or the Ravenscroft piano app, but when a midifile is imported and played the keys in the on-screen bs-16i image move up and down, but no sound appears. I'd report this to the developer confidentially, but an hour or so of searching the website shows no email address for bug reports and/or technical queries, or forum, or anything... and no support page... just Facebook and Twitter links (yuck!). This is a beautiful app, and very solid, so I'm puzzled why there's no real bug-report path for purchasers! Almost a year ago, (12/21/2016) "zavier11" reported a similar problem on the Apple App Store (probably for lack of a bug-reporting mechanism). There seems to have been no reply. I'd love to get a reply, but there's no way I'll post an email address here!! Four stars for quality, despite the fact that the app refuses to do one of the main things I bought it for!!

where's the help files?. Just downloaded this but can't figure out how to get Soundfonts into it...I need more help than just simply saying "use file sharing functions of iTunes" At least make a quick tutorial so I can get it up and going.......

Great SoundFont. Please add midi learn function to the sliders and knobs🎹🙏🏽. When using bs-16 app inside of AUM bs-16 will drop out the audio but the keyboard keys responds to midi.

Excellent. Thanks for the update to Core Midi and iPad support. Very nice midi implementation. This app is just what I have been looking for when it came to practice while traveling. I normally play a Hammond Organ and you cant take one of those with you where ever you go. With this app I have found several sound fonts that cover the Hammond better than all the others I have tried. If you are looking for sound fonts you might want to try this site ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/awe32/soundfonts/ . It has quite a few good ones. Don't overlook the Gravis Ultrasound soundfont because that has some great patches (well great for what I want / need). This is my first review. I really enjoy this app!! Thanks and hi Bismark.

Amazing!!!. Basically turns your ios device into a midi module. I've loaded up my own soundfonts I can't be any happier. Best $8 I've ever spent!!!!

Amazing. Amazing app! I am using it to layer some sounds along with my Roland Jv-1080. sweet!

Lacks Manual. How about some decent documentation? This is my first syth and I prefer not to stumble around for hours trying to grasp every aspect of it... when some documentation could-should be provided to help me use it to its full potential. I got midi and sound working fine...

Great app but. I kind of been waiting for like a tracker update or even recording

Great app. This app is a must buy for anyone who plays music live. Please add support for the Akai synthstation 25.

Brilliant. Such great sounds easy to use.

Busy Boy sound. I found this app from you tubers making El Paso de gigante on YouTube using this app. The sound they were using were called Busy Boy. I tried looking for it in the app but it’s not there. Someone please tell me how to get the sound called Busy Boy.

Great app. Can't use onstage though.. Great app. The ability to get sound fonts on here is awesome. However, the polyphony really lacks A LOT!!!!! Such a good wasted app. Can't use live until the polyphony comes WAAAAYYYYY UP!!!!!

Blown Away!. I used this app live today after a year of SampleTank and it’s leaps and bounds more friendly and easy to use on stage. If you are looking for a good general midi sound module this app is unbeatable. GREAT sounds and great capabilities with the sound. There are $500.00+++ keyboards on the market that can’t get these sounds right. For $8 this app is insanely perfect.

Latest Update Crashes on iPad 4 (iOS 8.4.1). App crashes on startup. Never happened before. Please fix this so that I can perform live with it once again. Thank you.

Nice app. I love that an app finally came out that supports sound fonts! My only request is to add the ability to enlarge the keys, and I can gladly give it 5 stars!

Stuck notes are common rendering this app not useable. This is the only auv3 app I’ve purchased that has this behavior. I’d send it back if I could.

Awesome. Love this app great sounds you can find lots of Soundfonts online

Works great, needs more documentation. The best iOS sampler, but please post the full midi spec as it will make the app that much more attractive! Keep it up!

Nice niche. I truly appriciate the ability to play soundfonts through ipad. Midi latency is lower ( good) compared to other apps. I do wish there were a few more configurable parameters ( e.g. Would like to assign breath controller to something) but all- in-all a very solid app.

HURRAH!!! IAA HERE!!!. WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! Thank you Shun!!!! NOW this is MY TO-GO app!!! Thank you very much!!!

Useful.. Sound fonts open a whole world of sound. This program is controllable via virtual midi and external keyboards.

Thank you!. This sounds and works amazingly well. I love this. I like it better than Sampletank for iOS

best sampler on ios so far!. so cold! if you are like me and have beatmaker 2 and need more sounds then this is that one! it needs to run in the background and virtual midi support tho. had issues were the sf patches wouldnt stay on channel 3. but still on my iphone4 and ipad2 this thing is like the one on pc!