Comparison

Stria vs SoundSaw

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

Head to head
About

Stria

This app is a multilevel interactive sound synthesizer that utilizes Frequency Modulation and Wavetable Additive techniques. It offers extensive control over oscillators, pitch grids, and effects, with support for various audio and MIDI connections.

Highlights
  • Multilevel interactive sound synthesizer
  • Up to 240 FM or Wavetable Additive Oscillators
  • Five Spectral Pitch Grid Generators
  • MIDI Pad With Scale Grid
  • Extensive effects chain (Doppler, Glitch Gen, Reverb, etc.)
  • Snapshots Presets Morphing Pad
  • Control Manager LFO for Parameters
Features
Read full description

Stria is rated as a Killer App by Apps4iDevices. Multilevel Interactive Sound Synthesizer Idea and Csound-Orchestra by Eugenio Giordani “Stria” is the title of a very important composition by John Chowning and I would like to say that this computer music piece represents the manifest of Frequency Modulation technique applied to audio synthesis, invented by Mr. Chowning himself. + Audiobus and Inter-App Audio support + Up to 240 Frequency Modulation Oscillators or simple Wavetable Additive + Five Spectral Pitch Grid Generators (Geometric, Harmonic, Fibonacci, Scalar, Temperated) + MIDI Pad With Scale Grid + Effects chain: Doppler, Chopper, Glitch Gen, Sync Grain, Spectral Arpeggiator, FDN Reverb, Dynamic Compressor/Expander + Snapshots Presets Morphing Pad + Control Manager LFO for Parameters + Midibus, Virtual Midi and Network: 14 bit NRPN controllers + Capture Master Audio Output + File Manager, sharing common audio files via iTunes, Dropbox and AudioCopy + Post Fx Chain: Doppler, Chopper, Out Of Range, Sync Granulator, Spectral Arpeggiator, Reverb FDN, Dynamisc Processor + Bluetooth A2DP High Quality + etc...

About

SoundSaw

This app offers advanced sound processing for musical instruments and voice, enabling users to create noise, lo-fi, chiptune, and experimental audio aesthetics. It features a variety of distortion, bitcrushing, and filtering effects with a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • Simulates electronic circuit signal processing
  • Maximizer with feedback and hold modes
  • Overload effect for harmonic saturation
  • Decimator and Bitcrusher for digital artifacts
  • Controllable Feedback effect
  • 4-pole filter with envelope generator
  • Output filter and signal mixing
Features
Read full description

SoundSaw is a complex sound processing app with easy-to-use controls designed to distort the sound of musical instruments or voice, and give the sound the aesthetics and atmosphere of noise, lo-fi, chiptune and experimental music scene. Depending on the settings, it can add light distortion and saturation to the sound for a more natural and lively sound, or drastically change the sound and make it as loud and harsh as possible, full of all kinds of harmonics, crackles and rattles. The settings of this app provide great opportunities for experiments with sound destruction. All controls are located on a single screen, grouped by function into six sections with a plain way of signal path from the first section "Input" to the last section "Output". The chain of individual effects in this app is designed in such a way as to get the most interesting result for any parameter values in the widest possible range. App features: - Simulates different types of signal processing electronic circuits and their typical harmonic saturation and noise (static and dynamic). - The Maximizer keeps the maximum signal level for more noticeable distortions and feedback effects, and has a mode for hold the maximum volume when the input signal decays. - The Overload effect works like an electronic circuit when the signal is much higher than the maximum allowable level and oversaturated the signal various kinds of harmonics. - The Decimator and Bitcrusher effects produce very noticeable digital artifacts typical of cheap devices with simple DACs / ADCs, and add various kinds of crackles and rattles. - The Feedback effect is similar to acoustic feedback, but more controllable, with the resonant frequency varying in accordance with the harmonics of the input signal. - The 4-pole filter controlled by the envelope generator can be used after distortion effects. Filter types: Low pass, High pass, Band pass and Notch. - The envelope generator is controlled by the input signal and can generate a single cycle of envelope, repeat cycles or work continuously. - At the output there is a filter that can cut the high or low range of the original signal and mix it with the processed signal. Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGtCRrqSqwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr12DJTWRmI SoundSaw is a universal application for iOS and macOS. It can work on iPhone and iPad as well as Mac / MacBook with M1 chip (and later). SoundSaw works on iPhone and iPad standalone, as an Audio Unit or Inter-App Audio module, and supports Audiobus and Ableton Link. On macOS, SoundSaw can works both as a standalone application and as an Audio unit (AUv3) with DAWs and audio unit hosts like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, GarageBand, MainStage, Cockos Reaper, Plogue Bidule, Hosting AU, and other hosts that support AUv3 plugins. All application features are available on iOS and macOS, including MIDI support (with a MIDI learn option) and audio unit parameters. SoundSaw has a built-in detailed description of all parameters also available as PDF file on application site. You can find more information on SoundSaw and other experimental and audio processing apps at: https://motion-soundscape.blogspot.com

Screenshots

Stria4 screens
SoundSaw3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SoundSaw at $5.99 against Stria's $9.99. SoundSaw also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 91%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Stria costs $9.99 and SoundSaw $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Stria against 4.9 for SoundSaw. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 14 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Stria's written reviews are positive against 100% of SoundSaw's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stria ships an update every 6 months, SoundSaw every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stria versus SoundSaw: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStriaSoundSaw
Price$9.99$5.99 — better
Rating5.0 (35 ratings) — better4.9 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews91.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperapeSoftIgor Vasiliev

Customer experience

Stria

All ratings35 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive91.5%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.3%

SoundSaw

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

In-app purchases

None

Stria

No in-app purchases

None

SoundSaw

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stria free?
Stria costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SoundSaw free?
SoundSaw costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stria or SoundSaw?
Stria is rated higher. Stria averages 5.0 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while SoundSaw averages 4.9 from 14 ratings.
Do Stria or SoundSaw have ads?
Neither Stria nor SoundSaw shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stria or SoundSaw?
Stria ships an update every 6 months, and SoundSaw every 2 months. Most recently, Stria was updated on October 14, 2026 and SoundSaw on October 9, 2026.

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