Haven’t compared the OSC but lets put it like this, it an imagined A1 with features from NL2 and added features, not a 1-to-1 reproduction of the A1. The most obvious ones are:
- The beauty of the A1 is its simple, yet powerful layout/UX. This ipad app is more cluttered because of its added features. Therefore each section is split up into different pages instead of one overviewing page completely missing the philosophy of the A1 and Nord keyboards in general.
- Multi-timbrality is missing which is also one of A1 big strengths.
- FX section section is all over the place instead of a single FX at a time (some might see it as an improvement). Bit rate isn’t part of the original A1. Ringmodulation doesn’t sound similar. Nor does the FMs feature. All FXs in the app can be applied simultaneously which isn’t the case on the A1. FM is part of the OSC section, not a separate feature.
- 3 filters are missing (the most characteristic ones: Moog ladder, TB filter, either 12 or 24db regular filter is missing).
- A1 has a filter drive and a drive in the FX section that can be combined for extra distortion.
- App seems to be missing the filter tracking options, Amp and Mod env velocity feature.
- The LFO on the A1 can be turned into a single triggered envelope controlled by a single knob. This feature is missing from the app. On the other hand you get 2 LFOs and more envelopes.
- Flanger (claims it exists on their site but don’t see it in the demos), Phaser and Ensamble are missing in the FX section.
- A1 has two modes for the delay (analog and digital) but the app only has analog.
- A1 has a Like, Mutate and Randomize, which are great and are also missing from the app.
- App is also missing the Morph functionalities controlled by velocity or mod wheel which can even control the mutate and randomize functions!
- App claims it has reverb but was’t able to hear the different A1 settings in the demo.
For a 6 dollar app it seems to pack a lot of features but shouldn’t be confused with the original A1.
The A1 main drawbacks are that the pitch and OSC shape is not a separate modulation/feature outside of the OSC section which limits both functionalities to a single oscillator per layer. Would have also been nice with proper ADSR envelopes and more destinations for the LFO but those are things I can live with.