Matrix Vocoder vs OLI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Matrix Vocoder
Transform your voice into an electronic instrument with this app, simulating classic analog vocoder sounds. It analyzes input signals, performs spectral analysis, and reassembles synthetic speech using filter banks and replacement signals.
- 32 channel filterbank with analog filters
- Stereophonic synthesis with alias-free oscillators
- External carrier input
- Voiced/Unvoiced detection and pitch tracking
- Formant shift
- Patchbay for channel connection
- 16 internal oscillators for choir sounds
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Matrix Vocoder transforms your voice into an electronic instrument! The Vocoder was invented by Homer Dudley in the mid-30's of the last century. Dudley worked at Bell Laboratories, and this is where the first Vocoder took shape. The Matrix Vocoder is designed to properly simulate the classic analog Vocoder sound made famous e.g. by the music of the german band Kraftwerk. At there last world tour they used in fact the PC version of our Matrix Vocoder on stage ! The epic Cylon Robot voice is The basic function of a Vocoder is characterised by an analysis of the input signal, usually speech but other type of inputs can also be very interesting. In a special filter bank, a spectral analysis is performed and signals are developed which follows the amount of spectral energy in each channel. Another part of the analyser tests if there are unvoiced or voiced sounds at any particular time and extracts the pitch of the voiced sounds. The output section of the vocoder consists of a stereophonic synthesis filter bank which assembles the new synthetic speech from the characteristic filter envelopes from the analysis stage together with an external or internal replacement signal. - 32 channel Filterbank with 8-pole Butterworth analog filters - Stereophonic synthesis with analog modelled alias free oscillators. - External carrier possible ( left channel = voice / right channel = carrier ) - Voiced/Unvoiced detection - Pitch tracking - Formant shift - Matrix uses patchbay to connect analysis and synthesis channels. - Pan position and level for each channel. - 16 internal oscillators with unlimited voices for choir like sounds. - Stereo wide panorama parameter for internal generator. - Optional monophonic generator with Glide setting. - Internal noise generator. - Effect AudioUnit and Music Effect AudioUnit - stand alone / Audiobus 3 / IAA
OLI
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OLI turns sound into something you can see. Play a frequency and sand on a vibrating plate organises itself into the standing-wave figure that frequency produces. Point the microphone at music, an instrument, or a singing voice, and the plate follows what it hears, live. REAL PHYSICS, NOT AN ANIMATION The plate is a simulation of the actual mechanism Ernst Chladni demonstrated in 1787. Grains migrate down the amplitude gradient — the direction the surface moves away from them — and stick where the plate is too quiet to lift them. That is why the lines are sharp, why the figure settles and holds, and why the same frequency always draws the same shape. The nodal function is the real one for a square plate with free edges. Nothing is pre-drawn. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Tune any frequency from 20 Hz to 4 kHz, by number or by sweep • Listen — the microphone drives the plate from any sound in the room • Pick a figure and get the exact frequency that draws it • Mix several modes; the plate shows their superposition, as a real plate would • Watch in Light mode, where the tone is raised about 40 octaves into visible light and the colour is that wavelength • Projector mode: full screen, no controls, for a room 186 PRESETS, EACH LABELLED WITH WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS Planetary tones from orbital periods. Pulsar spin rates that are audible with no scaling at all. Schumann resonances. Molecular and quantum frequencies. The tuned granite pillars at Hampi, computed from beam theory. Fungal electrical rhythms. Singing bowls, wind chimes, temple bells and a tuning fork, modelled from their partials rather than sampled. Every one carries a tag: measured physics, exact mathematics, musical tradition, physical model, chosen for feel, or popular but unverified. Where something is folklore, it says so. NO HEALTH CLAIMS OLI makes none, anywhere, ever. It is an instrument and a physics toy. Frequencies named for a tradition are labelled as tradition, not as medicine. FREE, WITH NO ACCOUNT The tone generator at any frequency, the full plate simulation, patterns and mixes, projector mode, and the microphone. Sound made visible is not the paid part. OLI PRO • The full library of 186 presets across 21 categories • Instruments and textures: bowls, chimes, bells, gong, conch, throat singing • The sound builder — design a voice from its partials • Saving and sync across your devices • Export the plate as a wallpaper Monthly $2.99, Annual $17.99, or Lifetime $34.99 paid once. Both subscriptions begin with 7 days free. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. A subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and you can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Privacy Policy: https://oli.red-triangle.net/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ THE MICROPHONE Audio is analysed on your device, in the moment, to find the frequencies in it. Nothing is recorded, stored, or sent anywhere. OLI stays silent while listening — a live microphone routed to the speakers it is hearing would howl — so play your music from anywhere and watch the plate follow it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: OLI at Free against Matrix Vocoder's $5.99. OLI also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 15 months). Matrix Vocoder's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#178 vs unranked). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
OLI is free to download; Matrix Vocoder costs $5.99 up front. OLI sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Matrix Vocoder asks for nothing beyond the download.
Matrix Vocoder ships an update every 15 months, OLI every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Matrix Vocoder | OLI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (20 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 41.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #178 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Harry Gohs | Shankareswary THANGAVELOO |
In-app purchases
Matrix Vocoder
No in-app purchases
OLI
- OLI Pro — Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- OLI Pro — Annual7 Days trial$17.991 Year
- OLI Pro — Lifetime$34.99









