Comparison

Ascent Reverb vs GORILLA SYNTH

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

Head to head
About

Ascent Reverb

This audio plugin offers a dual-reverb engine, blending a spacious hall with a granular pitch-shifting particle effect. Create subtle ambient spaces or dramatic otherworldly atmospheres with intuitive controls and built-in ducking for mix clarity.

Highlights
  • Dual reverb engine
  • Granular pitch-shifting particle reverb
  • Spacious hall reverb
  • Pitch transposition up to one octave
  • Dynamic ducking compressor
  • Cross-platform preset manager
Features
Read full description

Ascent is a dual reverb for iPhone and iPad. It pairs a deep, natural hall reverb with a granular pitch-shifting particle engine: two reverbs, one interface, built to work together. The result is a sound that moves, from grounded, room-filling depth to shimmering, pitch-shifted atmospheres that evolve over time. The hall is the foundation; it always runs. The particle engine sits on top, and BLOOM sets how much of it you hear. Pull Bloom to zero for a pure hall, push it up for shimmer over the space, and dial in the built-in ducking compressor to keep your dry signal present. Subtle space to full cinematic wash, without ever touching a second effect. FEATURES • Dual reverb engine: hall reverb and particle reverb run simultaneously, with Bloom controlling the amount of shimmer. • Granular particle engine: pitch transposition from -12 to +12 semitones. Dual overlapping grains eliminate the metallic artifacts common in lesser shimmer reverbs, and an octave down gives darker, sub-octave shimmer just as easily as pitching up. • Expanse control: three tuned room modes (Small, Medium, Large) shape the delay network and spatial character of the hall, not just the decay time. • Particulate: adds a touch of randomness to grain pitches for thicker, more organic texture. • Built-in dynamic ducking: reverb tails pull back on transients automatically, keeping your dry signal present without constant fader riding. • Full preset manager with factory presets and favorites. • Runs as an AUv3 plugin in your favorite host, plus a standalone app. Ascent is part of Audio Damage's Motion Effects family, alongside Descent and Traverse. No accounts, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases. Buy it once and it is yours.

About

GORILLA SYNTH

This app offers a punchy, analog-style subtractive synthesizer for iOS, designed for fast sound design and expressive musical performance. It provides studio-quality sound with a clean interface, ideal for sketching ideas, producing tracks, or live playing.

Highlights
  • Dual oscillators with sub and noise
  • Classic ladder filter
  • Dual ADSR envelopes
  • Duophonic mode with glide
  • LFO modulation
  • Touch-optimized controls
  • AUv3 instrument support
Features
Read full description

GORILLA - Analog-Style Subtractive Synth GORILLA is a focused, punchy analog-style subtractive synthesizer designed for fast sound design and expressive play on iOS. Built for musicians, producers, and sound designers, Gorilla delivers studio-quality sound in a clean, performance-ready interface — whether you’re sketching ideas, producing tracks, or playing live. Key Features: - Dual oscillators with sub and noise - Classic ladder filter - Dual ADSR envelopes (Filter + Amp) - Duophonic mode with glide - LFO for pitch, filter, and PWM modulation - Touch-optimized performance controls - Built-in spectrum / EQ visualizer - AUv3 instrument support - CoreMIDI & Bluetooth MIDI - Designed for iPhone and iPad Gorilla is intentionally focused — no clutter, no distractions. Just fast access to powerful sound shaping and expressive control. Designed for mobility. Built for creation.

Screenshots

Ascent Reverb3 screens
GORILLA SYNTH4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: GORILLA SYNTH at every 3 weeks against Ascent Reverb's every 2 months. GORILLA SYNTH also leads on ratings volume (22 vs 6). Ascent Reverb's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%). On price, rating, 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

Ascent Reverb costs $4.99 and GORILLA SYNTH $4.99 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 Ascent Reverb against 4.9 for GORILLA SYNTH. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 22 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Ascent Reverb's written reviews are positive against 88% of GORILLA SYNTH's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ascent Reverb ships an update every 2 months, GORILLA SYNTH every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Ascent Reverb versus GORILLA SYNTH: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAscent ReverbGORILLA SYNTH
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.9 (22 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better87.5% of reviews
Number of ratings622 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAudio Damage, Inc.Steffen Mølgaard Larsen

Customer experience

Ascent Reverb

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

GORILLA SYNTH

All ratings21 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Ascent Reverb

No in-app purchases

None

GORILLA SYNTH

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ascent Reverb free?
Ascent Reverb costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is GORILLA SYNTH free?
GORILLA SYNTH costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Ascent Reverb or GORILLA SYNTH?
Ascent Reverb is rated higher. Ascent Reverb averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while GORILLA SYNTH averages 4.9 from 22 ratings.
Do Ascent Reverb or GORILLA SYNTH have ads?
Neither Ascent Reverb nor GORILLA SYNTH shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ascent Reverb or GORILLA SYNTH?
Ascent Reverb ships an update every 2 months, and GORILLA SYNTH every 3 weeks. Most recently, Ascent Reverb was updated on October 25, 2026 and GORILLA SYNTH on October 24, 2026.

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