It depends on how you play. Summoning Stone has access to millions of songs, the largest library of music for tabletop games, plus ambience, sound effects and a TV display in one app for Apple devices. Pocket Bard suits ready-made, adaptive scenes. Syrinscape has the deepest catalogue of purpose-built sound sets and effects. Tabletop Audio is a free option that runs in any browser. Audio Forge is a soundboard built around your own audio files.
We make Summoning Stone, so weigh our opinion accordingly. Every competitor fact below comes from that product’s own website or App Store page, as of October 2026.
Looking for a specific device? See the best D&D audio apps for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
The short comparison
| Platforms | Music library | Your own audio | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoning Stone | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Millions of songs, plus built-in stream-safe tracks | Apple Music playlists (no file import) | Millions of songs, your own scenes, TV display and hands-free control |
| Pocket Bard | iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows desktop apps, Apple Vision; Android on Google Play | Scene music that follows the action; 20+ scenes in the free library | Not stated on its App Store page | Adaptive scene music, and Android |
| Syrinscape | Browser-based player, plus apps | 7,087 original music tracks | Yes, upload your own tracks and samples | A deep catalogue of purpose-built sound sets |
| Tabletop Audio | Any modern browser | Ambient focus; exclusive Zones for Patreon supporters | Not stated on their site | Ambient sound with nothing to install |
| Audio Forge | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Your own files; optional sound packs | Yes (MP3, WAV, OGG) | A personal soundboard of your own files |
What to think about before you choose
- Where do you play? Around a table, on a streamed video call, or in a virtual tabletop? Browser tools suit any device. Apple apps can use AirPlay, Siri and a connected TV.
- Do you want a ready-made library or your own music? A built-in library saves prep. Importing your own audio gives total control.
- How much do you want to customize? Summoning Stone lets you shape every scene, and start from community-made ones if you’d rather skip the setup.
- Do you want to steer live or prepare in advance? Some apps are designed to be adjusted as the story moves. Others, like Summoning Stone, save everything per scene so each one starts with a single tap.
- Do you stream or record? Music licensing matters. See the section below.
- Do you want tech around the audio? Lights, a second screen for maps, or a Stream Deck change which app fits.
Summoning Stone
An app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that puts music, layered ambience and a sound-effects soundboard in one place.
- Access to millions of songs, the largest library of music for tabletop games.
- Built-in stream-safe tracks from independent artists, or import your favourite Apple Music playlists.
- Layered ambient soundscapes, with reverb filters on effects.
- Built for professionals. A pro-level app with tons of features. It’s built for live streaming (built-in audio cleared for commercial use, hands-free control with Siri and Stream Deck, scenes that play the same way every time) and for professional game masters running lots of different games, with custom campaigns that fit each group rather than starting from someone else’s ready-made scenes.
- Priced below Pocket Bard and Syrinscape (as of October 2026), with a free tier: free sounds, music and effects, and up to five scenes. See what’s free.
- It gets out of the way. Each scene remembers its music, ambience levels, effects and reverb, so switching scenes is one tap and nothing needs adjusting mid-game.
- Room acoustics. Add reverb to a scene’s ambience and effects so a cavern, a hall or a church sounds like one.
- Fully customizable scenes. Build scenes from your own mix of music, layered ambience and effects, and group them by campaign. A little prep up front, then run the game from there.
- Skip the setup. Download community-made campaigns and scenes, including scenes for published adventures such as Death House from Curse of Strahd, and share your own.
- Screen mirroring that sends artwork and maps to a TV, with weather effects: rain, snow, fog, smoke and magic.
- Siri Shortcuts and a Stream Deck plugin to start scenes and trigger sound effects hands-free.
It does not run on Windows, Android or in a browser, and it does not let you import your own audio files.
Pocket Bard
Pocket Bard describes itself as a fully immersive audio experience for D&D and tabletop RPG sessions. Each scene is a layered soundscape you control live: music, ambience with individual intensity controls, and one-shot effects such as a door slam or thunderclap. Its music state controls let you move from exploration to combat in one tap and trigger a victory stinger, and an intensity slider reshapes the music as the scene escalates. The free library has 20+ scenes, with extra collections covering genres like sci-fi, horror and cyberpunk. A scene editor lets you customise the ambience and effects in each scene. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows and Apple Vision, and has a Google Play listing for Android. See our Summoning Stone vs Pocket Bard comparison.
Syrinscape
A large library of sound sets for D&D, Pathfinder and many other systems, mixed directly in the browser. Its site cites 7,087 original music tracks, 52,425 dynamic sound effects and 81,079 individual samples across 1,800 SoundSets. It works with any virtual tabletop and supports uploading your own audio. See our Summoning Stone vs Syrinscape comparison.
Tabletop Audio
A free, ad-free site with more than 500 ten-minute ambiences, 30 SoundPads of individual sounds, and a tool for mixing up to 40 sounds into a custom pad. It runs in modern browsers on any device and is supported by listeners through Patreon and donations.
Audio Forge
An RPG soundboard for iPhone, iPad and Mac that plays your own MP3, WAV and OGG files. It layers one music track over several ambience beds, has a one-shot board for spells and stingers, works offline, and can pull effects from Freesound. It also lists MQTT and Home Assistant integration for syncing with room lighting and a fog machine.
If you stream or record your games
Licensing differs a lot between these tools:
- Summoning Stone: its built-in music, ambience and effects are cleared for commercial use with attribution and a link to the app. This does not cover music you bring in through Apple Music.
- Tabletop Audio: ambiences are licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Non-profit channels can use them with attribution. Monetized use is decided case by case, and a Patreon subscription can double as a commercial license.
- Others: check each vendor’s terms before you go live.
Our recommendation
- Playing on Apple devices and want fully customizable scenes, millions of songs, room acoustics, a TV display and hands-free control in one app: Summoning Stone.
- Want a dedicated app on Android or Windows: Pocket Bard.
- Want the deepest catalogue of sound sets and effects, on mixed devices: Syrinscape.
- Want free ambience with nothing to install: Tabletop Audio.
- Want a soundboard for your own recordings: Audio Forge.
Many game masters use two of these together. Try the free options of each before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best audio app for D&D?
In our view, for game masters on Apple devices it’s Summoning Stone: fully customizable scenes, millions of songs, room acoustics, a TV display and hands-free control. Others suit specific needs: Syrinscape for the deepest catalogue of sound sets in a browser, Tabletop Audio for ambience with nothing to install, and Audio Forge for playing your own audio files.
Which app is best for streaming D&D on Twitch or YouTube?
Choose one with clear commercial licensing. Summoning Stone’s built-in audio is cleared for commercial use with attribution. Check Tabletop Audio’s terms if your channel is monetized.
Can I use my own music?
Syrinscape and Audio Forge let you import your own files. Summoning Stone imports Apple Music playlists.
Do any of these work on Android?
Syrinscape and Tabletop Audio run in a browser, so they work on any device, and Pocket Bard has a Google Play listing. Summoning Stone is Apple-only for now.
Which is the least effort to run during a session?
Summoning Stone: you prepare scenes in advance and each starts with one tap, playing as saved, so it stays out of your way. Pocket Bard is designed to be steered live, so in our view it asks for more attention while you’re also running the game.
Can any of them change my lights?
See Are there D&D apps that can change the lights?