Comparison

Synthwaver vs Microtonal Lab

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

Head to head
About

Synthwaver

Features
Read full description

SYNTHWAVER: SOUND IN MOTION Step inside the sound. SYNTHWAVER is a spatial synthesizer for iPhone and iPad that turns pure tones, noise, frequency modulation, and movement into an instrument you can feel around you. Every voice travels through a three-dimensional orbit, giving drones and atmospheres a sense of direction and depth. Put on headphones, press play, and hear synthesis leave the flat plane. BUILD A WORLD, ONE VOICE AT A TIME Start with one synth, then add more to create layers of pitch, color, rhythm, and space. Each voice has its own frequency, level, orbit speed, tilt, noise, FM, and reverb. Let one tone circle slowly beneath a fast-moving signal. Blend a warm noise bed behind a cluster of pitches. Set every layer in motion, or hold movement still and focus on timbre. Complex spatial scenes stay approachable because every sound remains visible, independent, and immediately playable. SCULPT PITCH BY EAR OR BY NOTE Explore the audible range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with a responsive frequency control. Use the one-octave keyboard for familiar notes, then shift across ten octave positions to reach the register you need. Indicators identify voices at a glance, while numerical readouts keep precise tuning close. Whether you are building intervals, beating tones, low-end rumbles, or glassy highs, pitch never feels buried in a menu. MAKE EVERY SOUND MOVE Movement is part of the synthesis engine. Set each voice to orbit from near stillness to 6.8 revolutions per second, then tilt its path through the Z-plane. High-quality HRTF headphone rendering creates a binaural field with changing position. Layer speeds and angles until simple waveforms become kinetic patterns: circling, crossing, separating, and reconnecting in space. GO BEYOND THE SINE Turn on frequency modulation for sidebands, metallic edges, animated basses, bells, buzzes, and unstable textures. Dial in the modulation index, choose a frequency in hertz or a musical ratio tied to the carrier, then refine it with coarse and fine controls. FM can add subtle shimmer or push far into complex territory. Each voice has its own settings, so one layer can remain pure while another fractures into rich motion. BLEND TONE, NOISE, AND SPACE Move from a clean oscillator to noise, or settle anywhere between them. Shape noise continuously from white to pink, from bright hiss to softer ambience. Then place each voice in one of ten acoustic spaces, including rooms, halls, chambers, plate, and cathedral, and set the wet/dry balance. Orbit, noise color, FM, and reverb make SYNTHWAVER at home creating test tones, evolving drones, cinematic atmospheres, strange machines, and abstract sound art. FAST, TACTILE, AND READY TO EXPERIMENT SYNTHWAVER keeps essential controls on the surface. Start or stop voices, minimize them into frequency chips, bring any synth forward, and stop the scene instantly from the master bar. Shape individual levels or adjust overall output. The interface adapts to portrait and landscape on iPhone and iPad, so it stays playable whether you are exploring on the couch, sketching with headphones, or presenting an idea. SAVE THE MOMENT When a combination clicks, save it as a preset. SYNTHWAVER remembers every voice and its playing state, pitch, spatial motion, FM, volume, noise, octave, and reverb. Open a scene later, continue shaping it, or build a library of drones, studies, and sonic environments. Move from discovery to a sound you can revisit. FOR CURIOUS EARS SYNTHWAVER is for musicians, sound designers, composers, students, educators, spatial-audio enthusiasts, and curious listeners. Study frequency relationships, explore modulation, design moving textures, build meditative soundscapes, or lose yourself in a strange orbit of your own making. No timeline. No maze of pages. Just sound, motion, and direct control. Your headphones are not just the output. They are the listening space. Create a voice. Set it in motion. Shape the air. Enter SYNTHWAVER.

About

Microtonal Lab

Explore music beyond the traditional 12-note scale with this comprehensive microtonal studio. Create custom scales, play a microtonal keyboard, sequence patterns, and perform live with a launchpad. Export your creations as MIDI files for further production.

Highlights
  • Harmonic Galaxy visualizer
  • Microtonal keyboard with custom scales
  • 32-step sequencer with FX
  • Launchpad for live performance
  • Extensive world scale library
  • Multiple tuning systems support
  • MIDI export for DAWs
Features
Read full description

Microtonal Lab is a complete microtonal music studio for iOS. Break free from the 12-note octave and explore the infinite space between the notes. AUv3 PLUGIN Use MicrotonalLab as a plugin inside GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, and any AUv3-compatible host. The full step sequencer, tuning system, and SF2 instruments are available directly in your DAW. Record sequences as MIDI regions with automatic tempo sync. HARMONIC GALAXY Discover musical intervals as a visual universe. Every dot is an interval above the root — its size shows consonance, its color shows its position in the octave, and its number shows the exact distance in cents. Pinch to zoom and new microtones emerge from the depths. Build custom scales by tapping intervals and save them to your library. MICROTONAL KEYBOARD A fully playable keyboard with exact microtonal tuning. Choose from piano, strings, marimba, vibes, bass, pad, flute, or synthesized waveforms. Activate any scale from the library and the keyboard reconfigures to show precisely those notes. Supports glide between notes for expressive playing. STEP SEQUENCER A 16-step sequencer with microtonal note assignment per step, velocity, gate, and swing control. Syncs to the host tempo in AUv3 mode. LAUNCHPAD A grid-based launchpad for live performance. Rows correspond to scale degrees, columns to time — tap to toggle notes and play your patterns in real time. SCALE LIBRARY Browse world scales from dozens of musical traditions, including Arabic maqam, Indian ragas, Persian dastgah, Javanese gamelan, and many more. Preview any scale, then activate it across all views with one tap. TUNING SYSTEMS Switch between 12-TET, 19-TET, 24-TET, 31-TET, and 53-TET. Full access to all scale degrees in the sequencer for every tuning system. MIDI EXPORT Export your sequences to standard MIDI files with full microtonal pitch bend on each channel. Import directly into any DAW for further production. FX Filter (low-pass with cutoff and resonance), reverb (from small room to cathedral), and delay — all controllable via XY pads in real time during playback. Microtonal Lab is built for composers, sound designers, music theorists, and anyone curious about the music that lives between the keys.

Screenshots

Synthwaver3 screens
Microtonal Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Synthwaver at $0.99 against Microtonal Lab's $6.99. On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Synthwaver costs $0.99 and Microtonal Lab $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Synthwaver versus Microtonal Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSynthwaverMicrotonal Lab
Price$0.99 — better$6.99
Rating—1.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Every 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.518.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB90 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRichard BarberMartin Adler

In-app purchases

None

Synthwaver

No in-app purchases

None

Microtonal Lab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Synthwaver free?
Synthwaver costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Microtonal Lab free?
Microtonal Lab costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Synthwaver or Microtonal Lab have ads?
Neither Synthwaver nor Microtonal Lab shows ads.

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