Comparison

SmashCut Visual Synth vs Fauve

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

Head to head
About

SmashCut Visual Synth

Control video playback and transformations using MIDI messages, similar to how musicians control audio samplers. Set cue points, trigger playback, and manipulate video in real-time for presentations, live streaming, or creative video art.

Highlights
  • Load and cue video from camera roll
  • Control playback with MIDI notes
  • Transform video with MIDI CC messages
  • Built-in MIDI controller for second device
  • Wi-Fi based device connection
  • Universal app for iOS and Mac
Features
Read full description

Musicians have used audio samplers for decades, triggering drum sounds, pianos, and hundreds of other instruments using MIDI keyboards and sequencers. SmashCut brings the same sort of functionality to video content. Load in any video from your camera roll, easily set cue points in the video, and you're ready to play with video in a new way. The app responds to MIDI note messages to seek to cue points, and start or stop playback. With MIDI CC messages, you can scale, rotate, and transform the video in a live and interactive way. And if you don't have a MIDI keyboard, you can still use all of the features of the app -- there's a built-in MIDI controller that you can use on a second iOS device. What can you do with SmashCut? If you're making a presentation using video, you can trigger play and stop using the remote, and move to different cue points easily. If you stream video or podcast, you can use SmashCut to cue to a video clip with no hassle or headache. The iPad version of the app runs on a Silicon Mac, and works well with streaming software such as OBS. If you have a band, and are putting on a show, you can sequence video to keep in time with the music. SmashCut is a great way to put together a music video, or to just cut, splice, and glitch video for fun. Instead of trimming video clips in a conventional editor, you can play with video like you would a musical instrument. There's full support of MIDI, and also an easy Wi-Fi based connection system; if you have two devices on the same Wi-Fi network, they'll connect in seconds. You can use the iOS built in screen recorder to capture video and audio from the app. The app is universal, running on iPad, iPhone, and Silicon Macs. There's a watermark on-screen that can be removed with an in-app purchase.

About

Fauve

This audio processor captures and reinterprets sonic fragments, introducing intentional glitches, distortions, and variations. It allows users to reshape sounds, creating unique soundscapes that blend memory and reality.

Highlights
  • Records and breaks down incoming audio into fragments
  • Introduces intentional glitches, distortions, and memory errors
  • Allows shaping playback with sampling/slicing parameters
  • Sculpts amplitude through 'Absence' parameter
  • Blurs reality with 'Mirage' parameter for dream-like effects
  • Lock parameters to preserve settings while browsing presets
  • In-GUI information for parameter details
Read full description

Fauve is an audio processor that collects sonic fragments and replays them, not always faithfully. It forgets, distorts, and glitches into new meanings.  Like the hallucination of a broken machine. A fractured memory, yours to reshape. "Fauve is a perfect cure for sound-alike effects. It really is distinct from other buffer/glitch and granular tools. And it strikes an ideal balance between predictability and weirdness, between polished controls you can learn and master and unexpected combinations that surprise you." Peter Kirn – CDM By continuously recording incoming audio, Fauve analyzes and breaks sound into small units we call collections. When playing them back, it sometimes fails, opening space for the user to edit and shape the material according to their own sonic vision. Fauve can be a harsh distortion, a gentle shadow, a paroxysmal dance between reality and dream, and much more. It can slightly scramble your sound, completely strip it of its original meaning, or introduce subtle, almost imperceptible variations to make it richer, yet always organic. Fauve disrupts, but never destroys. REMEMBER / FORGET Fauve listens and remembers — but it may forget to capture the present, getting stuck in the past. It blends memory and reality, shaping a soundscape as if it were truly what it just heard. BEHOLD THE HALLUCINATION Beyond the native errors of its faulty replicatory nature, Fauve opens space for your design: you can shape the playback of fragments using classic sampling/slicing parameters like Disorder, Repeat, Freeze, and playhead rate. SHAPING THROUGH ABSENCE Sculpts amplitude in two distinct ways through Absence: turn left to assign a random value to each fragment for more organic results, or turn right to introduce audio drops, adding uncertainty, or even reaching distortion wilderness on shorter fragments. BEYOND BALANCE: ENTER THE MIRAGE Let Fauve blur reality with its dream using the Mirage parameter. Shape the balance, focus it across the stereo field, and control amplitude for both source and processed sound. LOCK PARAMETERS Enable lock toggle to preserve key parameters values while browsing presets. IN-GUI INFOS Enable Infos toggle to get all parameters details always in sight; just hover on a parameter. Fauve is a totem/series plugin, and like all totems, it follows its own logic. Timing in Fauve doesn’t rely on beats or note values — it’s driven by the material itself. Every operation is triggered by zero crossings, making the outcome deeply dependent on the source. Same settings, radically different results.

Screenshots

SmashCut Visual Synth3 screens
Fauve3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SmashCut Visual Synth at Free against Fauve's $3.99. SmashCut Visual Synth also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%). Fauve's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 12.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

SmashCut Visual Synth is free to download; Fauve costs $3.99 up front. SmashCut Visual Synth sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Fauve asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SmashCut Visual Synth holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 19 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of SmashCut Visual Synth's written reviews are positive against 75% of Fauve's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SmashCut Visual Synth versus Fauve: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmashCut Visual SynthFauve
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.9 (14 ratings) — better4.7 (19 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1419 — better
Update frequencyEvery 40 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.09.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSecret Base DesignK-Devices

Customer experience

SmashCut Visual Synth

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Fauve

All ratings19 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SmashCut Visual Synth

One-time1
  • Watermark RemovalFree
None

Fauve

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmashCut Visual Synth free?
SmashCut Visual Synth is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fauve free?
Fauve costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmashCut Visual Synth or Fauve?
SmashCut Visual Synth is rated higher. SmashCut Visual Synth averages 4.9 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Fauve averages 4.7 from 19 ratings.
Do SmashCut Visual Synth or Fauve have ads?
Neither SmashCut Visual Synth nor Fauve shows ads.

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