Beatmaker 3 vs Hydrogen

Beatmaker 3 is a virtual drum machine for building beats from ready-made kits, rhythmic phrases, and built-in effects. It brings the Beatmaker titles a user owns into one plugin with unified controls. Its browser can search by mood, genre, or BPM and preview kits and loops from titles the user does not own. Each title includes 10 genre-specific drum kits and rhythmic phrases that can be triggered in real time. The mixer offers per-track volume, pan, filter, ambience, saturation, and individual output routing. MIDI can be dragged into a DAW for editing or layering with other instruments. Beatmaker 3 supports 64-bit VST 2, VST 3, AU 2, and AAX; AU 2 requires Logic Pro X or newer, and AAX does not have native Apple Silicon support. It is listed for iOS, macOS, and Windows, with Windows 10–11 and macOS Big Sur 11 through macOS Tahoe 26 listed as requirements. Individual titles cost $49 as a one-time purchase, while the 17-instrument bundle costs $99.50, paid once. A free 7-day trial is available; there is no free plan.

Hydrogen is a drum sequencer and sample-based synthesizer for pattern-based rhythm programming, songwriting, or use with an external MIDI keyboard or sequencer. Its sequencer supports unlimited patterns that can be chained into songs. The pattern editor adjusts per-note properties such as velocity and pan, and humanization functions cover velocity, timing, pitch, and swing. Hydrogen imports WAV, AU, AIFF, and FLAC samples and provides downloadable drumkits through a sound library manager. It supports MIDI and OSC automation, time-stretching, and pitch shifting. Audio driver support includes JACK, ALSA, PortAudio, and OSS; exports include WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, MIDI, and LilyPond. Hydrogen is free under GPLv2+ and runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Listed Windows downloads support Vista and later, while the current macOS release supports 10.14 and later. The project describes use for home practice, studio work, and live performance. Its FAQ says there are no current plans for an LV2 plugin version.