Comparison

IMPULSation vs Surreal Machines Diffuse

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

IMPULSation

This app is a powerful convolution reverb that lets you load custom impulse responses for endless sound possibilities. Recreate classic amp tones, spaces, and delays with optimized signal processing. It offers a user-friendly interface with essential controls for precise sound shaping.

Highlights
  • Load custom impulse responses (.wav, .aif)
  • AUv3 and AAX plugin support
  • 88 factory presets
  • MIDI Learn and Program Change
  • Pre-Delay, Wet/Dry, Decay controls
  • Stereo Widener
  • iCloud Backup and Sharing
Features
Read full description

IMPULSation is an impulse response/convolution reverb that allows you to load in your own impulses for an an unlimited amount of neverb and amp possibilities. To give you an idea of the power of this app: There are literally hundreds of thousands of impulses freely available online and our app will load them all, given that it’s properly formatted in either .wav or .aif format. Say for example you have an electric piano sound that you want to run through a classic Fender™ AMP. You do a web search for “Fender AMP Impulses” and pick from the thousands of possibilities. You will literally spend hours upon hours freely downloading all of the available spaces, amps, reverbs, and/or delays to use within your favorite AUv3 DAW. The technology of convolving and deconvolving is a method of putting in a signal through an amp, reverb unit, delay unit, or space and with sophisticated mathematical interpolations techniques, you can create a very close replica of the actual source. Our IMPULSation is specifically designed for AMPs, reverbs, delays, and spaces of which our code is optimized to detect which is being used. The detection allows us to optimize the signal for better CPU and for optimal sound. As with all of our other apps, our goal is always simplicity with power. We give you all the important features needed for a great sound, without being too complex. The features are as follows: NEW UPDATED FEATURES: ▪ BlueTooth MiDI Capable ▪ iCloud Backup and Sharing of Presets ▪ Enhanced AUv3 Preset Resizing ▪ Expansion Pack Banners and Branding ▪ Metal support, Faster UI, Faster loading, and major CPU Updates ▪ Two Mode MIDI Program Change General Features: - AUv3 - AAX - 88 Factory Presets - The ability to load in your own impulses using the iOS files app (Works With External Drives via iPadOS) - MIDI Learn parameter **SPECIAL NOTE: Importing works by selecting a folder with .aif or .wav files in it and all of the files will be imported from that folder. App Controls: - Pre-Delay - Wet Controls with Range control for precise scaling - Dry Controls - Decay Controls - Waveform View - Stereo Widener that enhances pre-stereo signals - Master Output Includes Over 200 Impulses from very popular vintage reverb units: - LEX200 - LEX480X - RLND RE201 - RLND DEP3 Echo - EMT 244 - NBA Lush - ASR-10/DP4 - Exotic Places - Special FX ------- ATTENTION iFX Rack Users: 1. The default reverbs are the ones from the FantasyVerb 2. We will be offering a paid IAP option to import impulses. ---------------- Terms and Privacy Notices: • EULA Terms of use - https://gospelmusicians.com/EULA.html • Privacy Policy - https://gospelmusicians.com/privacy-policy.html • Terms and Conditions - https://gospelmusicians.com/terms-conditions.html

About

Surreal Machines Diffuse

This audio effect plugin blends analog-modeled delay with classic digital reverb, allowing users to morph between the two for unique soundscapes. It offers intuitive control over smearing, echoes, and damping, inspired by vintage hardware.

Highlights
  • Analog-modeled delay
  • Classic digital reverb
  • Morphing between delay and reverb
  • Nonlinearities and tape-style delay
  • Intuitive control over smearing, echoes, damping
  • AUV3 plugin compatibility
Read full description

Diffuse is inspired by classic hardware delay and reverb effects from the 1970’s and 1980’s. It takes a Surreal Machines look at the frontier between delays and reverbs. It's an analog/digital hybrid - an analog modeled delay fused with a classic reverb design used in early digital units. In Diffuse you get more than the best of both worlds - you can morph between delays and reverbs, and find all kinds of fantastical sounds in between the two. You’ll also find plenty of nonlinearities and smooth tape-style delay changes. Diffuse gives you complete control over smearing, echoes and damping in the most intuitive ways possible. ****** Diffuse is an Audio Unit V3 plugin; it benefits from an AUV3 host like Logic, GarageBand, Cubasis, FL Studio Mobile, AUM, etc.

Screenshots

IMPULSation4 screens
Surreal Machines Diffuse1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Surreal Machines Diffuse at 100% against IMPULSation's 50%. Surreal Machines Diffuse also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and price ($7.99 vs $9.99). IMPULSation's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

IMPULSation costs $9.99 and Surreal Machines Diffuse $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Surreal Machines Diffuse holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of IMPULSation's written reviews are positive against 100% of Surreal Machines Diffuse's.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
IMPULSation versus Surreal Machines Diffuse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIMPULSationSurreal Machines Diffuse
Price$9.99$7.99 — better
Rating3.7 (14 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better14
Further details — not scored
Size139 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMIDIculous LLCSurreal Machines

Customer experience

IMPULSation

All ratings14 ratings
Positive64.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Surreal Machines Diffuse

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

IMPULSation

No in-app purchases

None

Surreal Machines Diffuse

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is IMPULSation free?
IMPULSation costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Surreal Machines Diffuse free?
Surreal Machines Diffuse costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, IMPULSation or Surreal Machines Diffuse?
Surreal Machines Diffuse is rated higher. IMPULSation averages 3.7 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Surreal Machines Diffuse averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do IMPULSation or Surreal Machines Diffuse have ads?
Neither IMPULSation nor Surreal Machines Diffuse shows ads.

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