Synthwaver vs Ample Juice
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Synthwaver
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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.
Ample Juice
This app simulates a guitar amplifier, cabinet, and microphone setup, allowing musicians to shape their tone with intuitive controls. It offers a range of sounds from clean to heavy distortion and includes a built-in tuner and preset saving.
- Simulated amp, cabinet, and microphone
- Adjustable gain, EQ, and mic positioning
- Pulp and boost effects
- Built-in chromatic, guitar, and bass tuner
- 25 factory presets
- AUv3 effect and standalone app
- MIDI and automation support
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Plug in. Tune up. Play a chord. If it needs more bite, turn it up. If the low strings need to hit harder, add Pulp. If the top end is getting in the way, move the microphone. Ample Juice works like the rig you already understand, because playing guitar should not feel like programming one. ONE SCREEN, LIKE AN AMP The whole signal path is in front of you: gate, boost, drive, amp, 4x12 and microphone. No pages to remember and no puzzle of hidden settings. Start with the controls you know, turn them until the guitar sits right, and leave the rest alone. FROM CLEAN ENOUGH TO LEAD READY Juice covers the ground between edge-of-breakup rhythm and a full lead voice. The first part of the dial adds body and sheen. The middle is where crunch lives. The last stretch opens quickly for sustain and saturation. Even when the gain is up, chords keep their notes instead of folding into one fizzy block. Pulp sits before the amp, where your boost pedal would. It trims low end before the clipping starts and leans into the midrange, so palm mutes land firmly and down-tuned riffs do not spread across the floor. Throw the Clean lever and the drive section steps aside; throw it back and every dirty setting is waiting where you left it. POSITION THE MIC BY TOUCH OR MOUSE No need to translate what you hear into studio jargon. Put a finger on the mic and move it, or grab it with a mouse. Position it toward the cone centre for cut, toward the edge for warmth, farther back for space, or off-axis to soften a sharp pick attack. The cabinet picture is the control—move what you see and listen as the tone follows. READY WHEN THE RIFF ARRIVES Use it as an AUv3 effect in your host or open the standalone app and choose your interface input. It adds no latency, so the note stays under your fingers. The tuner is already at the front of the rig, presets can save without stopping playback, and every control can follow MIDI or automation. 25 factory presets give you useful starting points for clean, crunch, metal, lead and more. Save the sounds that belong to your songs and take them across your devices. SPECIFICATIONS - Audio Unit v3 effect and standalone app - iPad, Mac, iPhone and Apple Vision Pro - Mono or stereo, zero added latency, no tail - 44.1 / 48 / 96 kHz as a plug-in and in the Mac app; 44.1 / 48 kHz in the iPhone and iPad app - All 22 controls automate and assign to MIDI - 25 factory presets across eight categories - Built-in chromatic, guitar and bass tuner - True bypass, click-free and safe to automate - Built-in user manual
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Synthwaver at $0.99 against Ample Juice's $14.99. Ample Juice's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Synthwaver costs $0.99 and Ample Juice $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Synthwaver | Ample Juice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | — | 4.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Richard Barber | Christian Thompson |
In-app purchases
Synthwaver
No in-app purchases
Ample Juice
No in-app purchases









