# Nave — user reviews > 288 indexed App Store user reviews of Nave by Waldorf Music, rated 4.50/5 from 77 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nave/id596036905/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nave/id596036905.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 55 · 4★ 13 · 3★ 5 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 4 ## What do users think of Nave? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Powerful sound engine - 👍 Intuitive and visually appealing interface - 🎨 Vast sound design capabilities - 💯 High-quality presets - 🎹 Excellent on-screen keyboard - 🔊 Rich and detailed sound - 🎛️ Flexible modulation and effects - 🎶 Inspiring for music creation **Cons** - 🐛 Stability issues and crashes - 🔋 High battery consumption - 🔀 Preset navigation could be improved - 🔒 Lack of AUv3 support - 🔇 Some presets rely heavily on built-in effects **Commonly reported bugs** - Audio dropouts and glitches when used with other apps - Presets not saving correctly - Keyboard issues like lack of lock function **Most requested features** - Add AUv3 support for better integration with other apps - Improve preset management and organization - Implement a basic sequencer or MIDI recording - Add more modulation options and deeper sound design capabilities ## Newest reviews (15 of 288) ### 3/5 — Fantastic synth…except not AU support! *2023-07-27, version 1.8* Nave is an excellent synth very deep and sounds fantastic. I’ve had the Waldorf blofeld and iridium and Nave has that core Waldorf sound amd feature set…however Nave is lacking AU support which is a crucial mistake. I used apps like Drambo to write and it cannot use Nave in anything I do on the iPad musically except for in stand alone mode which leaves me not using it that often other than messing around and writing random patches for no reason, I’ve yet to use Nave in any actual production due to the lack of AU support…what good is an iOS synth if I can’t use it as a plug in? When I’m working in my real studio I use my hardware synths so it makes Nave kind of useless. If Waldorf added AU support Nave would be easily one of the top must have synths in the iOS environment. ### 3/5 — Great sounding synth *2023-06-28, version 1.8* With the release of Logic Pro for iPad, please add AU3 support. Otherwise your synth will not be used as much as it should. Thanks ### 3/5 — Awesome synth but it need audio unit support *2023-06-07, version 1.8* This is still one of my favorite synth apps on iOS. However, my biggest gripe is that I can use it as an external synth in my favorite DAWs. Please, please, please update this to include this feature; especially since Logic Pro is now available on iPad. ### 5/5 — Hall of fame IOS synth *2022-12-13, version 1.8* This remains a great app (as does, in its more-complicated way, Attack, which gets abuse from people who don’t bother to learn it) for people who like to program their own patches. The first-rate wavetable oscillators are easily tweakable and can be rewritten. Importing audio to tables can be an adventure, but that too can be done to good effect. Images can be converted to wave shapes. A text-to-table feature exists and can give interesting, if German-accented, results. Spectrum controls and modulation extend the sound palette still further, and the two oscillator outs also have have a distinct multiplied output. Tying the wavetables together with a stereo-spreadable analogue-modeled oscillator with PWM and a separate ring mod to the first wavetable. The filter section offers the standard choices, but with high-quality sound and atypical flexibility in routing, tuning, driving/distorting, and modulating, with three lovely, syncable, speed-adjustable looping envelopes. Two audio-capable LFOs, ten open mod-matrix slots, along with the many mod possibilities in the main sound-engine sections, and a lot of other quality-of-sound-sculpting features keep the synth fresh. There are plenty of handy, high-quality effects as well. We could do with an arpeggiator that does faster and, especially, slower tempo divisions, though the present functions do what they do very well. Sequencing would be great, but there is no great hardship in hooking up one of the bazillions of MIDI sequencers in the App Store - unless you want to use the internal recorder (yes, there’s one of those too - it has four tracks and it works well when inspiration cannot wait for a DAW). The on-screen keyboard remains as good as it gets on this platform. This is a huge benefit for actual mobile use. Why more developers fail to put this kind of effort into the OSK - on a mobile OS - remains a mystery to me. So, does this sound “dated” or not worth using? Do the presets need updating for current taste? Maybe, but why use such a synth as a preset player? Whether you are making the preset sounds your own or you are building your own presets from the tables on up, the presets are at most starting points. Yes, the synth could use an update to make use of new standards revisions. That is no reason to avoid this instrument. For all that lack of updating, it remains not only easy to use, but it still works to create beautiful sounds. What’s remarkable is how well this was done from the start. All these years later, it remains among the few best synthesizers for Apple’s mobile devices. ### 5/5 — Still top *2022-12-01, version 1.8* Still one of the best after all these years. Keep supporting this synth so Waldorf keep supporting it. This synth still has so much to offer, it’s old, so what it still sounds space age, does everything from complex soundscapes to searing leads. Easy to use, you can create your own wavetable by simply importing samples then messing with partials in the 3D view. Nice mod matrix, good sounding filters and flexible distortion section, Fx are a bit weak these days but still usable, good performance controls. Only thing missing these days is AUV3 but don’t let that stop you. Still highly recommended. ### 5/5 — Please add AU3 support *2022-11-26, version 1.8* I don’t need to say just how amazing this synth is, read the other reviews: I am just commenting to request that AU3 support be added, I am certain many would be willing to pay for the right to be able to use inside AUM, Drambo or others. Please consider this Waldorf. ### 5/5 — Outrageous quality *2022-07-27, version 1.8* There’s nothing in the world of iPad synthesis that can do what Nave does, nor astonish me with the amount of control available over this sonic banquet. My only concern is that the developer stops updating it. I wish it were possible somehow to buy this in hardware form so that I’d never suffer the fear of it being lost through a lack of updates and then falling foul of whatever Apple’s guidelines are. This is more an observation about Apple than about the developer. It would be wonderful if the things we bought that aren’t updated could be preserved in a sandbox mode emulating the last known good iPad OS that allowed the software to work. It’s not often, not ever actually, that I write an App Store review, and my primary concern is that I should ever be without the software. Bravo. ### 5/5 — Quality *2022-06-29, version 1.8* Making your own wavetables is so easy and intuitive. Type and modulate the text as a wavetables , it makes wavetables synthesis very intuitive, cannot wait for the VST version! ### 3/5 — Still no update *2022-04-27* Too bad this hasn’t at least been made AU by now. Nice synth but AU’s are easier to work with. ### 4/5 — AUv3 Support fehlt *2022-04-20, version 1.8* Bitte noch AUv3 implementieren und alles wird gut. ### 5/5 — Nach wie vor einer der besten, aber… *2021-11-03, version 1.8* …leider schon ewig kein update mehr. Keine Frage, dieser Synth, sein Sound und die Möglichkeiten sind bis heute grandios. Schade, daß Waldorf eine solche Perle einfach vergammeln lässt. AUv3 wäre die Krönung! ### 4/5 — Fantastic synth but no AU3 support and dated file system *2021-10-12, version 1.8* Fantastic sounding synth and once you get your head around how it works, is capable of some truly inspiring sounds. I’ve made quite a few tracks with just this synth and they sit very well in the mix. It loses one star due to the fact its not AU3,:which is a real shame. Also please could you update the sample wave import to use the Apple file system? The other methods are now redundant due to age. This for me is the best synth on the App Store and with a little updating and attention from Waldorf would keep it there. I’ve been looking at buying your hardware synths but I don’t like the fact that projects like this get abandoned. The Blofeld is the same, great piece of kit but no updates and the knobs don’t last that long. These are great gateways into your more premium products and should be treated with love and care. ### 3/5 — Dated *2021-07-28, version 1.8* Should stay at the sale price and would love to at least see some updates and new patches. Pros: Beautiful interface (standalone), fully featured as a standalone synth with recorder. Very precise and tunable sound. Cons: Hasn’t been updated in years, No auv3, Most patches rely heavily on internal fx, eq, and compressor. Nice list of patch designers but the sounds are aging. Patch navigation system should have a way to favorite presets andvisualize all banks by category. No MPE. ### 4/5 — Great app but how to load extra presets *2021-06-11, version 1.8* Great sound, but how do I load extra sounds? I tried putting navebank files from KVR for example into the Documents next to the one I added but it crashed the app, so I had to remove them again. Are the ones for the pc or Mac incompatible? Anyway, enjoying using it. ### 4/5 — Un dérivé du quantum? *2021-06-04, version 1.8* Bonne application qui reprend l interface de l iridium quantum et un peu de son moteur wave.ce qui manque sur le quantum , cette petite fonction très agréable de séquenceur 4 pistes qu on q sur cette application ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Immer noch kein AuV3 *2026-03-25, version 1.8* Warum kann Waldorf diesen wirklich guten Synth keinen AuV3 Unterstützung geben Solange das der fall ist leider nur einen Stern Bitte arbeitet daran. ### 1/5 — No auv3 *2024-11-24, version 1.8* Be aware ### 1/5 — Warum kein AUv3? *2023-06-27, version 1.8* Unverständlich, zumal alle modernen DAWs das AUv3 unterstützen. Was sollen wir ihnen denn dafür bezahlen? Der Synth ist klanglich top. ### 1/5 — Kein AUv3 *2023-01-04, version 1.8* Bitte AUv3 implementieren. Es ist schade ein solch schönen Synth veralten zu lassen ### 1/5 — Eats up battery when off *2022-06-23, version 1.8* Try using this app and then close it and watch how fast your battery drains. Check your battery in settings. Nave will be at the top of the list consuming 80-90% of your battery. This has been going on for years and Waldorf doesn’t care. That’s why they get a 1 star from me. ### 1/5 — Nice but presets don’t stick *2020-08-18, version 1.8* Really like the sounds but the presets don’t stick. They always reset back to 5th Chord by Richard Devine. Thus, unusable. ### 1/5 — Impossible d’ouvrir l’App depuis iOS 12.2 *2019-05-13, version 1.8* Impossible d’ouvrir l’App depuis iOS 12.2 (iPad Pro 2018 12.9") Good But Audio Unit Extension Please! ### 1/5 — IOS11? *2017-11-17, version 1.7* Wo bleibt das Update? ### 1/5 — To Hard *2015-03-15, version 1.6.2* This app is to hard to get to grips with, can't believe the price for it, so expensive 💷💷💷 ### 1/5 — Digital Clipping - Support hasn't Solved Yet *2014-06-27, version 1.5* Update: I never heard back from Waldorf support, I was able to reproduce this distortion/clipping which makes the filter unusable. Just got a refund from Apple. I really like the sounds of this synth, obviously except for the undesirable distortion and un-usability of the main filter. Sad day. I'm using this app on an iPad Air. I like this app but it's pretty useless when it's clipping and distorting when I enable the LP filter. Simply having the filter enabled is causing the sounds to have an unpleasant distortion. I've tried everything I can think of including turning down the volume at all gain stages, making sure the compressor is off (support said the audio sample I sent sounded like a compressor issue), and making sure I wasn't hitting the voice limit. The only thing that causes the distortion is having the filter active, which means I can have a filter or an undistorted sound. Currently looking into requesting a refund for this app. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — A Nave refresh would be great *2026-07-14, version 1.8* Make no mistake this is a gem and always will be. I would love a Auv3 and potential refresh of this amazing synth. Wouldn’t even be mad if it ends up in a synth the size of the new Protein, hint hint. ### 5/5 — Still rules *2025-10-09, version 1.8* This synthesizer helped to set the standard for the platform in the early days of music on mobile devices. Essentially unaltered but for compatibility updates, this app continues to delight me with its deep sound-design and looping capabilities. Users can get lost for hours editing wavetables and can zip through the process by transforming images into custom tables and then, either way, tune the results with ample higher-level tools. Even the on-screen keyboard distinguishes the app as being among the most predictable and responsive of its kind. Waldorf did all this without years of examples on the platform to study. They just went all in and made a classic. If you do not know Nave, do yourself a favor and give it a close look. ### 5/5 — AUV3 please!! *2024-08-06, version 1.8* Great synth! We just need and update for auv3 ### 5/5 — Used this and realised why IAA is not finished. *2024-01-19, version 1.8* The thing not commonly explained, is that Audio Unit v3 is not a direct and equal replacement for IAA as a ‘plug-in’ system. As far as I have found, IAA instruments in GarageBand on my iPad Pro M1 are recorded as waveforms ie an audio sound. The sound patches in Nave, have really been worked on, and the sonic adjustments you can make, while playing, seem endless. I think my workflow might be to record a whole lot of material into Apple’s baby DAW, and then cut and shut/comp it into what fits afterward. Audio Unit plugin versions, are limited in GB iOS/iPadOS to what is variable using automation in that DAW, and drops in as MIDI. Thus IAA is a recorded actual sound (ie tweak anything you like, you get what you did, exactly), and AUv3 plugins only really vary and have as automation, what the two wheels to the left were altered to as time went by. But, IAA can only have one instance per song, not multiple instances like with AUv3. Not always the issue it might be. For that ‘special sound’ or ambient twisting audio in the background, you don’t need multiple instances with Nave, is one way to look at it. So IAA while ‘deprecated’ is by no means replaceable by an Audio Unit version, especially if the IAA connectivity is well done. GB iOS/iPadOS only sends ‘start’ and ‘stop’ MIDI signals I have measured, hence limited automation…all of which leads me to this: The Waldorf Nave has a suite of sounds that come with it, and a ‘tweak-ability’ that are beyond the norms of iOS/iPadOS. I used it for ten minutes, and already have over a dozen other iOS soft synths, and this probably makes half of them look quite weak. I recorded into GB on iPadOS on the Pro M1, messed with some setting or other, and it sounded pretty amazing. That’s it, it’s quite something, AUv3 not being done vs this having IAA only, isn’t as bad as it might be. The intrinsic excellence of Nave, and the quality of the sound patches as standard, is why it’s not by any means done yet. ### 5/5 — Great Synth!!! *2024-01-03, version 1.8* Will there ever be a AUV3 version of your apps! They are too good to faze out in ios updates! Please! ### 5/5 — Still boss *2023-11-23, version 1.8* After all these years Nave is and always has been an excellent synth. Please update Nave, it’s too good to let it flounder and deserves to be bought up to speed. Maybe mpe? I know I’m not the only one. ### 5/5 — Generative drone king *2023-09-10, version 1.8* This is the best IOS app to make never ending generative synth lines. So many modulation possibilities! Well it’s Waldorf so no surprise…Also you can email the banks/patches and open it in the VST version not like the Korg apps… ### 5/5 — My Honest Opinion *2023-01-22, version 1.8* It’s been a year since I last reviewed Nave, and I still haven’t found a synth app that can outperform it. If Nave was AUv3, I would hardly ever use other synths, full stop! As long as I launch the app before I launch Cubasis3, I then never ever have problems with audio disconnects or crashes being it’s IAA. I read recently that a new developer was working for Waldorf that had connections with Nave, 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞could be good news 😉 2 Feb 2022 I have become a synthappoholic! I have purchased that many synth apps over the years, But, I haven’t found a synth app that can outperform Nave for cutting lead sounds, the only letdown of this great app is the constant audio disconnect in IAA. I really really really really wish the developers would update Nave to AUv3, if that was to happen, I don’t think I would use anything else for my music projects in Cubasis3. 20th July 21. I’ve been purchasing lots of new iOS synths over the past several months, but in the end I keep coming back to Nave, it completely outshines all of them with its blistering sonic lead and pad synths, and sound fx - they are beyond imagination. Since upgrading my iPad 8 gen to iPad Air 4, I’ve found that Nave has not suffered quite as many audio disconnects as it did before in Cubasis3. I would still like to see an Au3 update. ### 5/5 — Waldorf is still active. But we need exporting back. *2023-01-11, version 1.8* Well, it appears that Waldorf are still checking their App Store page every once in a while - as we can see in another review, the developer did respond to a review from back in June of 21. Even if it’s only to monitor reviews, they have to be paying attention on some level and perhaps… if enough voices carry, they will probably see reason enough to at LEAST bring exporting of Navebanks back (Pretty please). This was one of the first synths on the radar when we first got into iOS music making. It’s literally the only standalone app I use (& the design is eye candy, so I don’t mind). Although there is no AuV3, there is a four-track recorder, which is smart. That feature and many others reinforce that Nave is a special synth and always was. The sound engine is up there with the KORG apps - but it’s also got that FM soundtrack vibe bc of the ability to transpose oscillators independently of their pitch (Stole that one from Waldorf). I don’t actually mind the lack of AUV3 as much as I mind the total lack of exporting to backup your Navebanks. It appears that the iOS versions have buried Nave on this one, as I was able to export presets only just recently & now, totally gone. I can’t email them to myself. I can import banks, but I don’t even know where that would be from. It’s a confusing system, and I think that if anything the community would be most appreciative of a simple export feature right inside the app (and clearly marked so). Many thanks. We’ve only scratched the surface with Nave. I don’t want it to die a premature death like Final Touch. ### 5/5 — Comptible con Mac OS 12.5.1 *2023-01-05, version 1.8* Comptible con Mac OS 12.5.1 , Live / Garage Band / Cubase --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-09.*