Circa Looper vs Wave Box
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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IMPORTANT: Circa is an AUv3 plugin. It requires an AUv3 host such as AUM (recommended), Garageband, Logic, or Cubase. It will not run on its own. Circa is a six-layer stereo looping instrument for iPad, built for players and producers who want a looper that does more than loop. Each layer is independent, fully modulatable, and deeply controllable, with a touch-first interface designed for live performance and studio exploration alike.Inspired by modern loopers like the BOSS RC-505 and MLRE on the Monome Norns, Circa pairs the playability of a hardware looper with the routing and modulation of a serious production tool. Capture a spontaneous take, carve it up with slices, pitch it, scrub it, route it through built-in effects, and let gesture recorders play your UI back like a second instrument. SIX LAYERS Six independent stereo loop layers, each with its own transport, sync mode, trigger mode, filter, and effect sends. Layers can sync to the host, sync to a master loop, or run free. Triggers can fire on sync, on audio input, or freely. Record from the stereo input or self-record through an internal buss for feedback loops and generative behavior. TOUCH-FIRST PERFORMANCE Dedicated pages for Speeds and Positions let you perform loops with your hands. The position strip can be divided into slices for chopped playback. Speed, position, filter, and sends are all continuous and playable. Damper, scrub, and slice controls are built for tactile manipulation, not mouse input. GESTURE RECORDERS Six UI loopers that record and play back your actual control movements. Almost every parameter in Circa can be captured as a gesture, then looped or played as a one-shot. Trim silence from the front, toggle loop mode, or fire gestures from MIDI. Build evolving performances without touching the interface twice. MODULATION Deep modulation across the plugin. Continuous targets include layer delay and reverb sends, output levels, A/B selectors, play position, and more. Momentary targets cover mute, solo, and toggle states. Assign multiple modulators to any target and build performances that develop on their own. FULL MIDI CONTROL A complete MIDI controller system with continuous, momentary, and hold assignments. Use any controller to drive most of Circa's functions. MIDI modulation assignments light up briefly when triggered, so you can see your rig working at a glance. BUILT-IN EFFECTS Studio-grade reverb, delay, parametric EQ, and compressor drawn from Audio Damage's effect library. Send any layer to reverb and delay independently, then route through the stereo bus EQ and compressor on the way out. SEVEN OUTPUTS Six assignable stereo outputs plus a dedicated cue output. Send any layer to any output. Solo, record, and edit through the cue bus without the audience hearing. CROSS-PLATFORM PRESETS Circa's user presets are XML-based and cross-platform. A preset made on iOS opens on macOS, Windows, or Linux, and vice versa. Sessions built in GarageBand or Logic on iOS open on desktop if you have a license to the desktop version. WHAT'S INCLUDED Six independent stereo loop layers Slice-based position playback Gesture recorders for UI automation Continuous and momentary modulation system Full MIDI controller mapping Built-in reverb, delay, EQ, and compressor Six assignable stereo outputs plus cue Cross-platform XML preset format AUv3 plugin for iPad Also available as a desktop plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux in VST3, AU, AAX, and CLAP formats at audiodamage.com.
Wave Box
This music plugin offers a dynamic dual waveshaper for creating symmetrical and asymmetrical distortion. Design unique sound curves by combining 12 pre-defined functions, ranging from subtle overdrive to extreme digital harshness.
- Dual waveshaper
- Symmetrical and asymmetrical distortion
- Customizable waveshaping curves
- 12 pre-defined shaping functions
- Modulation via LFOs and Envelope Follower
- Wide range of distortion effects
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Wave Box is a dynamic dual waveshaper plugin that can be used for both symmetrical and asymmetrical distortion. A waveshaper is a type of distortion in which the input signal is mapped to the output by applying a fixed or variable shaping function. Wave Box features two separate waveshapers that can be mixed together while being modulated by 2 LFOs and 1 Envelope Follower. You can design your own waveshaping curves by combining and adjusting 12 pre-defined functions (tanh, erf, sinh, sin, linear, abs, invert, floor, round, ceil, gauss 1, gauss 2). Wave Box can range from mild tube-flavoured overdrive to extreme digital harshness.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Circa Looper at $7.99 against Wave Box's $14.99. Wave Box's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and chart position (#187 vs unranked). 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 Wave Box $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Wave Box holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 7 respectively.
| Parameter | Circa Looper | Wave Box |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (9 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #187 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audio Damage, Inc. | AudioThing Ltd. |
Customer experience
Circa Looper
Wave Box
In-app purchases
Circa Looper
No in-app purchases
Wave Box
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Circa Looper free?
Is Wave Box free?
Which has better reviews, Circa Looper or Wave Box?
Do Circa Looper or Wave Box have ads?
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