Comparison

Heavier Metal vs Shruti Bot

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

Head to head
About

Heavier Metal

This music plugin emulates a classic 1990s distortion pedal with advanced digital modeling. It offers full parametric control, capturing the original circuit's behavior for a wide range of guitar tones. Optimized for low CPU usage and low latency, it's compatible with various AUv3 hosts.

Highlights
  • Parametric NAM distortion model
  • Recreates original pedal behavior
  • Mid-forward gain, tight low-end
  • AUv3 plugin for Mac/iOS
  • Native Apple Silicon support
  • Ultra-low CPU, near-zero latency
Features
Read full description

Heavier Metal is a modern distortion plugin based on one of the most aggressive pedals of the 1990s. Built using Artera DSP’s Parametric NAM engine, it delivers not just the sound — but the full behavior of the original circuit. Every knob. Every nuance. Captured with precision. This isn’t a snapshot. Heavier Metal is fully parametric — meaning all front-panel controls respond just like the original analog pedal. From razor-sharp riffs to soaring leads, it gives you the full expressive range of the original hardware, with the flexibility of a native plugin. Key Features – Fully parametric NAM model — not a static capture – Recreates the full tone-shaping behavior of the original HM-style pedal – Mid-forward gain structure with massive sustain and tight low-end – AUv3 plugin for macOS and iOS – Native support for Apple Silicon (M1/M2) – Ultra-low CPU usage and near-zero latency Compatibility Heavier Metal runs in any AUv3-compatible host such as Logic Pro (Mac/iPad), GarageBand (Mac/iOS), AUM, Cubasis, and more. Available exclusively on the App Store.

About

Shruti Bot

This app simulates a tunable shruti box with ten reeds and adjustable bellows for dynamic sound. It offers a unique approach to intonation and includes various effects like LFOs, resonance, chorus, and tape delay.

Highlights
  • Tunable shruti box simulation
  • Ten reeds with just intonation
  • Adjustable bellows for dynamic volume and tremolo
  • Independent mixer fader per reed
  • Customizable tonic and microtonal tuning
  • Two free-running LFOs per reed for tuning and level
  • Integrated resonance, chorus, tape delay, and reverb effects
Features
Read full description

Shruti Bot is a shruti box you can actually tune. Ten reeds, laid out the way a real box is — the low Pa and Sa drone pair, the full middle saptak from Sa to Ni, and the upper Sa. Every reed sits at its just-intonation ratio against the tonic, not the tempered approximation, so the drone locks together the way the instrument is supposed to. Pull up the bellows and it breathes. At zero no air moves at all and the box is silent; push it up and the drone gets louder and pumps harder, until the breathing turns into an audible tremolo riding on top of the tone. Pressure opens the timbre as well as the volume, so a stroke sounds like air moving rather than a fader going up. THE REEDS • Ten stops — Pa and Sa below, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni across the middle, Sa above • Just intonation throughout — 3/2, 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, 5/3, 15/8 against the tonic • A tapered tuning peg on every reed, plus or minus 100 cents, turned by hand • Detune two neighbouring reeds and they beat against each other — real acoustic summing, not an effect • A mixer fader per reed, independent of the stops, for balancing what's already sounding THE KEY • Any tonic across all twelve pitch classes, octaves 1 through 6 • A peg for each key, arranged as a keyboard • Every pitch class keeps its own microtonal trim, so you can build a tuning that isn't twelve-tone equal temperament and it stays put • The current note and its offset are always on screen MOVEMENT • Two free-running LFOs on every reed — one for tuning, one for level • They run at their own rates and drift in and out of phase, so the beating keeps reorganising and the drone never quite repeats • Set them slow and the box simply sounds alive THE CHAMBER • A swept resonance that moves like a body cavity rather than a filter sweep • Stereo chorus, the point where the drone opens out of the centre • Tape delay with a real moving head — sliding the time bends the pitch the way tape does, and the repeats darken as they recirculate • Plate-style reverb from a quarter second to six TWO INSTRUMENTS Tap the logo. Shruti Bot 2 replaces the reeds with four analogue oscillators — sine, triangle, saw and pulse — with phase shaping on each, from slow comb sweeps to full PWM. Everything else carries straight over: the same tuning, the same reeds switched on, the same effects. Only the sound source changes. No accounts. No subscriptions. No ads. No network. Nothing leaves your device.

Screenshots

Heavier Metal4 screens
Shruti Bot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Shruti Bot at $1.99 against Heavier Metal's $12.99. Heavier Metal's advantage is device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). 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

Heavier Metal costs $12.99 and Shruti Bot $1.99 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 Heavier Metal against 5.0 for Shruti Bot. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Heavier Metal versus Shruti Bot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeavier MetalShruti Bot
Price$12.99$1.99 — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequency—Every 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReinarc LLCScott Hsiung

Customer experience

Heavier Metal

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shruti Bot

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Heavier Metal

No in-app purchases

None

Shruti Bot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Heavier Metal free?
Heavier Metal costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shruti Bot free?
Shruti Bot costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Heavier Metal or Shruti Bot?
Heavier Metal and Shruti Bot are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Heavier Metal or Shruti Bot have ads?
Neither Heavier Metal nor Shruti Bot shows ads.

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