Comparison

GSDSP MagicDelay vs PolyrhythmLab

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

Head to head
About

GSDSP MagicDelay

This app offers a unique spectral delay effect with advanced control over thousands of parallel delays using a single curve. It allows for real-time modulation, tempo-syncing, and precise feedback management for expansive sonic exploration.

Highlights
  • Spectral delay with single curve control
  • Tempo-synced grids and free-flowing motion
  • Real-time curve modulation and morphing
  • dB/s feedback decay system
  • Built-in highpass and lowpass filters
  • Crossfeed for stereo image expansion
  • Feedback Over for values beyond 100%
Features
Read full description

Do we need yet another Delay? Of course! We need thousands of delays working in parallel with full spectral control. One Curve. Infinite Delays. MagicDelay lets you control thousands of spectral delays with a single, elegant curve. Apply BPM-type grids to lock your shapes perfectly to the tempo, or let them flow freely for more experimental motion. With the powerful Curve Modifier, you can modulate, morph, and reshape your delay patterns in real time — turning one curve into endless rhythmic and spectral variations. Thoughtful Feedback control Control your delay tails using either traditional feedback in percent or our unique dB-per-second decay system — created specifically to manage the feedback of many varying delay times at once. Using dB/s ensures predictable, consistent tail lengths across the entire spectrum, even in the most complex settings. Sculpt the Spectrum Refine your delays with built-in highpass and lowpass filters, adding warmth, clarity, or sparkle exactly where needed. Activate Crossfeed to expand your stereo image and create immersive, wide-angle motion. And when things get wild, use Kill to instantly mute and clear the delay line — total control at any moment. Beyond 100% Need more? Push into new sonic territory with Feedback Over, allowing feedback values beyond the traditional 100% limit. From endless atmospheric swells to self-oscillating spectral chaos, MagicDelay gives you room to explore — and break — the rules. A New Dimension of Delay Whether you’re a musician, sound designer, or producer, MagicDelay is a spectral playground built for discovery. Its multi-curve design, deep modulation system, and flexible feedback architecture make it a truly expressive tool for shaping delays far beyond the ordinary. MagicDelay is an AUv3 audio effect plugin compatible with Logic Pro, AUM, Cubasis, GarageBand and many more. A Desktop version is also available for Windows and macOS (VST3 / AU / AAX). More information here: https://gs-dsp.com/products

About

PolyrhythmLab

Create complex, evolving musical rhythms and dynamic visual performances. This app offers a unique polyrhythmic engine for sound layers and a live visual mixer with customizable effects and camera controls. Export audio, MIDI, or video of your creations.

Highlights
  • True polyrhythm engine with independent step/pulse counts per layer
  • AUv3 plugin support for DAWs like GarageBand and Logic
  • Live MIDI output for driving external synths
  • Integrated VJ mixer with audio-reactive visuals and effects
  • Song mode for arranging patterns into full tracks
  • Save and reload groovebox patterns and VJ setups as presets
  • Export audio, MIDI, and video recordings
Features
Read full description

PolyrhythmLab is a groovebox built around true polyrhythms: every sound layer gets its own step count, pulse count, and rotation, so layers of different lengths interlock and drift in and out of phase instead of locking to one shared grid. NEW IN 2.0 — AUv3 PLUGIN Use PolyrhythmLab as a real instrument inside GarageBand, Logic, AUM, and any other AU-compatible host. Four independent polyrhythmic layers, each exposed as automatable parameters, real MIDI output so your performance actually records as a MIDI region, and its own compact control panel with a live pattern wheel, a randomizer, and optional sync to your session's tempo. NEW IN 2.0 — LIVE MIDI OUTPUT Send a real Note On/Off for every layer hit straight from the main app — one MIDI channel per layer, over a virtual MIDI connection — to drive another synth, app, or piece of hardware in real time, not just sync tempo. NEW IN 2.0 — CAST VJ MIX Send the VJ Mix visuals to a TV or projector over AirPlay or a wired adapter, while your device keeps the full set of live controls. Save and reload VJ Mix setups — visual styles, effects, camera moves, and their LFOs — as named presets, same as patterns. GROOVEBOX • Euclidean-style rhythm engine — set steps, pulses, and rotation per layer • Drums, glitch/textural one-shots, classic synth voices (piano, bell, pad, bass), and melodic synth patches • Per-layer filter, reverb, delay, pitch, and LFOs on every parameter • Randomize engine biased toward musical, playable combinations • Chord modes, scales, and modal note selection for melodic layers SONG MODE Arrange your saved patterns into sections and chain them into a full song. VJ MIX A live visual performance surface: blend two audio-reactive visualizations, layer on real-time color and shader effects — RGB split, kaleidoscope, pixelate, glow, trail — and a 3D camera with zoom, pan, orbit, and tilt, each with its own LFO. Randomize the whole look by hand, or hand it to an autonomous "robot" that keeps remixing itself. Record the performance in real time via ReplayKit, or export a styled video clip. PRESETS Save and reload both groovebox patterns and VJ Mix setups as named presets. EXPORT Render your patterns and songs to audio, or export them as MIDI. No account, no ads, no analytics. Everything is stored locally on your device.

Screenshots

GSDSP MagicDelay3 screens
PolyrhythmLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PolyrhythmLab at $4.99 against GSDSP MagicDelay's $29.99. GSDSP MagicDelay's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 1.0) and review sentiment (25% vs 0%). On update cadence, 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

GSDSP MagicDelay costs $29.99 and PolyrhythmLab $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GSDSP MagicDelay holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GSDSP MagicDelay has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of GSDSP MagicDelay's written reviews are positive against 0% of PolyrhythmLab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GSDSP MagicDelay ships an update every 5 weeks, PolyrhythmLab every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
GSDSP MagicDelay versus PolyrhythmLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGSDSP MagicDelayPolyrhythmLab
Price$29.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.7 (14 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB401 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGustav ScholdaMartin Adler

Customer experience

GSDSP MagicDelay

All ratings14 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

PolyrhythmLab

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

GSDSP MagicDelay

No in-app purchases

None

PolyrhythmLab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GSDSP MagicDelay free?
GSDSP MagicDelay costs $29.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PolyrhythmLab free?
PolyrhythmLab costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, GSDSP MagicDelay or PolyrhythmLab?
GSDSP MagicDelay is rated higher. GSDSP MagicDelay averages 4.7 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while PolyrhythmLab averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do GSDSP MagicDelay or PolyrhythmLab have ads?
Neither GSDSP MagicDelay nor PolyrhythmLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GSDSP MagicDelay or PolyrhythmLab?
GSDSP MagicDelay ships an update every 5 weeks, and PolyrhythmLab every 4 weeks. Most recently, GSDSP MagicDelay was updated on November 3, 2026 and PolyrhythmLab on November 4, 2026.

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