Synthwaver vs Bliss AUv3 Sampler
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ 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.
Bliss AUv3 Sampler
This app transforms any sound into a playable synth instrument. It allows you to host and resample AUv3 instruments, offering deep modulation, studio effects, and extensive import capabilities for creating expressive music on the go.
- Host and resample AUv3 instruments
- Deep modulation and dual filters
- Full MPE expression support
- 7 studio effects with 8x oversampling
- 1 GB factory library
- Import SFZ, SoundFont2, EXS, Kontakt, Akai, and more
- Built-in wave editor and loop modes
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Bliss brings desktop-class sampling to iOS. The same desktop engine now in your hands, on stage, on the couch, anywhere. Load a sample, play an instrument. Bliss turns any sound into a rich, expressive, playable synth with a workflow built for speed and a sound built to impress. โ HOST & RESAMPLE ANY AUv3 โ Load any AUv3 instrument right inside Bliss and capture it into your own multi-zone instrument. Auto-sample across the keyboard with velocity layers, then play it back with zero CPU overhead โ even offline. Export the result as standard SFZ or Bliss ZBP, ready to reuse anywhere. Turn any synth on your iPad into a lightweight, playable sampled instrument. โ A REAL SAMPLER ENGINE โ โข Up to 64 voices of polyphony โข Pristine SINC 128 interpolation (512-point mode for mastering-grade playback) โข Mono, poly, legato with glide, and 4-voice unison with detune โข NEON-optimized, native Apple Silicon performance โ DUAL FILTERS โ โข Two 24 dB/oct filters: lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, peaking โข Zipper-free cutoff, resonance and drive โข Velocity and keyboard tracking โ DEEP MODULATION โ โข Independent amp, mod, filter and LFO envelopes โข Two syncable LFOs with configurable phase โข Parameter morphing for evolving, living sounds โข 8 assignable macro knobs โ automatable from your DAW โ FULL MPE EXPRESSION โ Per-note pitch bend, timbre and pressure. Auto-configures with ROLI Seaboard, LinnStrument and Expressive E Osmose. โ 7 STUDIO EFFECTS โ Multiband limiter, soft clipper, stereo rotation, chorus, delay and reverb with 8x oversampling โ plus per-slot bit reducer, phaser and distortion. Per-zone sends. โ 1 GB FACTORY LIBRARY โ Start making music instantly with 100+ ready-to-play instruments โ keys, pads, basses, guitars, strings, winds, percussion and more. A free 1 GB download, available in-app. โ IMPORT EVERYTHING โ Bliss speaks every sampler dialect: SFZ, SoundFont2, EXS, Kontakt NKI (1โ4), Akai S1000/S3000/S5000-6000, XPM Keygroups, Renoise and CUE sheets. Audio in WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG and MP3. โ BUILT-IN EDITING โ โข Full wave editor with undo, 1:1 zoom, stereo/independent channel selections โข Loop modes: forward, bidirectional, backward, crossfade, trim โข Cut, paste, mix paste, fades, normalize โข Visual key mapper for zones, velocity ranges and root keys โข Tempo and transient auto-slicing โ AUv3 + STANDALONE โ Run Bliss standalone or as an Audio Unit v3 inside AUM, GarageBand, Cubasis, Logic and any AUv3 host. Fully automatable, resizable, and ready for your rig.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Synthwaver at $0.99 against Bliss AUv3 Sampler's $19.99. Bliss AUv3 Sampler's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.5). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Synthwaver costs $0.99 and Bliss AUv3 Sampler $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Synthwaver | Bliss AUv3 Sampler |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 โ better | $19.99 |
| Positive reviews | โ | 0.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | โ | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | โ | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 15.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Richard Barber | DiscoDSP LLC |
In-app purchases
Synthwaver
No in-app purchases
Bliss AUv3 Sampler
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Synthwaver free?
Is Bliss AUv3 Sampler free?
Do Synthwaver or Bliss AUv3 Sampler have ads?
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