Circa Looper vs GSDSP Quantum Granulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circa Looper
A powerful multi-channel looping instrument for iPad, designed for musicians and producers. It offers six independent stereo loop layers, deep modulation, precision syncing, and built-in effects for creating complex patterns and evolving soundscapes. Its touch-friendly interface allows for hands-on creative control and seamless DAW integration.
- Six independent stereo loop layers
- Deep modulation control
- Precision syncing
- Built-in reverb and delay
- Touch-friendly interface
- Full MIDI mapping
- Drag-and-drop audio export
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Circa runs as a standalone app, or as an AUv3 plugin in hosts such as GarageBand, Logic, AUM and Cubase. Equal parts workhorse and abstract creative tool, Circa is a six track multi-layer looping environment that can do most of the things your popular floor pedal looper can while also paying homage to the serendipitous world of ambient looping. Each layer can sync to the host, a master loop, or free run, and can be triggered in sync, with an audio signal, or freely. Circa has seven stereo outputs (including a dedicated cue output for monitoring) and built-in reverb and delay. Add in a complete MIDI control and LFO modulation system and Circa is a full looping workstation. Features -- Multi-Layered Looping Circa has six layers that can operate independently or in sync with each other and/or the host. Circa can record from the stereo input, or self-record via an internal buss for interesting feedback possibilities. -- Standalone Or Plugin As a standalone app, Circa has its own audio and MIDI settings: choose your audio interface, sample rate and buffer size, pick the input pair, send each of Circa's seven outputs to any output pair on your interface, and select a MIDI input. Sync to incoming MIDI clock, or let Circa set the tempo from your first loop. As an AUv3 plugin, it lives inside your host and syncs to its transport. -- Designed To Be Touched And Played Circa's user interface is made for tactile manipulation, with touch strips for speed and position (including dedicated pages). The position strip can be further subdivided with slices. All this works together to turn a looping effect into a playable instrument. -- Easy To Get Along With Circa's layers each have an undo for destructive edits like recording, overdubbing, and erasing. -- Controllability And Modulation Circa has 30 modulation slots. Each one can map a MIDI controller to any of Circa's looping functions, or run an LFO: seven shapes, free-running or tempo-synced, with rate, phase and level, modulating speed, start and end position, level, panning, delay and reverb sends, filter frequency and resonance, or the slice the play head is on. LFOs swing around wherever each control is set, so the knobs stay in charge. -- Self-Contained Circa has a full internal mixer, filtering on each layer, and studio-quality send reverb, send delay, parametric EQ and compressor taken directly from Audio Damage's extensive effect library. -- Expandable And Performance-Ready Circa has 7 outputs in all: six assignable stereo outputs and a cue output for monitoring. Send any layer to any of the six stereo outputs, while keeping the cue for soloing, recording, and editing, unheard by the audience. In the standalone app, each output can go to its own pair of outputs on your audio interface. -- Ecosystem-Aware Circa's user presets are cross-platform compatible, and work on any instance of Circa, whether on macOS, Windows, Linux, or iOS. In addition, sessions created in GarageBand or Logic on iOS will open in the desktop version on macOS if you have purchased a license to that version.
GSDSP Quantum Granulator
This live granular processor allows you to break down audio into small pieces or create atmospheric soundscapes. It features dual live buffers, a musical grain engine with tempo sync, and expressive pitch control with MIDI support. Shape your sound with an intuitive XY pad and mix section for detailed sonic manipulation.
- Dual live recording buffers
- Tempo-synced grain triggering
- Expressive pitch control with scales
- 2D XY pad for grain shaping
- MIDI playable granular instrument
- AUv3 audio effect plugin
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This Live Granular Processor lets you decompose audio into bits and pieces or lovely clouds. Dual Live Buffers Quantum Granulator is a powerful live granular processor designed for deep, hands-on sonic manipulation in real-time. Two independent recording buffers capture your signal and let you freeze, loop, or continuously record audio for instant transformation. Whether you’re sampling from the Main Input, Sidechain A, or Sidechain B, you’re in full control of what goes in — and what comes out. Musical Grain Engine Trigger grains freely in Hz or lock them to tempo for tight rhythmic effects. Adjust grain length, offset and density — from crisp stutters to blurred, cinematic clouds. Randomization adapts to your mode: in Hz it behaves like a geiger counter, adding sharp, bursty unpredictability; in BPM sync it becomes more spray-like, scattering grains around the beat for rhythmically coherent textures. Expressive Pitch Control Our easy-to-use scale picker lets you quantize grains to 30+ built-in musical scales, create your own, or let randomness take over. Play grains via MIDI to turn Quantum Granulator into an expressive granular instrument. Pitch shifting covers a broad ±24 semitone range and a separate fine control allows subtle adjustments within ±1 semitone, perfect for microtonal tuning or adding vibrato-like motion. Versatile Grain Shaping An intuitive 2D Envelope XY pad lets you sharpen or soften vertically, adjust attack and release horizontally. Control level, panning, and filtering to craft subtle movement or fully chaotic sound clusters. Shape the balance using the mix section — from subtle texture to complete granular obliteration. Granular Synthesis, Made Playable Quantum Granulator isn’t just a tool — it’s an instrument. Built for performers, producers, and sound explorers alike, it offers a deep but immediate interface into the world of granular synthesis, with every detail tuned for musicality and expression. Quantum Granulator 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
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: GSDSP Quantum Granulator at 100% against Circa Looper's 33%. GSDSP Quantum Granulator also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and device support (3 vs 1). Circa Looper's advantage is price ($7.99 vs $14.99) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). 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
Circa Looper costs $7.99 and GSDSP Quantum Granulator $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
GSDSP Quantum Granulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Circa Looper's written reviews are positive against 100% of GSDSP Quantum Granulator's.
Circa Looper ships an update every 3 weeks, GSDSP Quantum Granulator every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Circa Looper | GSDSP Quantum Granulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (10 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audio Damage, Inc. | Gustav Scholda |
Customer experience
Circa Looper
GSDSP Quantum Granulator
In-app purchases
Circa Looper
No in-app purchases
GSDSP Quantum Granulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Circa Looper free?
Is GSDSP Quantum Granulator free?
Which has better reviews, Circa Looper or GSDSP Quantum Granulator?
Do Circa Looper or GSDSP Quantum Granulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circa Looper or GSDSP Quantum Granulator?
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