GORILLA SYNTH vs Descent Granulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Dual oscillators with sub and noise
- Classic ladder filter
- Dual ADSR envelopes
- Duophonic mode with glide
- LFO modulation
- Touch-optimized controls
- AUv3 instrument support
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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.
Descent Granulator
This app captures audio, breaks it into tiny grains, and manipulates them for unique sound effects. Explore subtle thickening, rhythmic delays, frozen soundscapes, and shimmering pitch-shifted textures.
- Real-time granular engine
- Pitch shifting with quantization
- Six-axis randomization
- Diffusion and feedback controls
- Tempo sync
- 35 factory presets
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Descent is a real-time granular effect that captures incoming audio, breaks it into tiny grains, and scatters them across time and pitch. The result: everything from subtle thickening and rhythmic delays to vast frozen soundscapes and shimmering pitch-shifted clouds. GRANULAR ENGINE Control up to 50 simultaneous grains with independent settings for duration, overlap, and envelope shape. Play grains forward, reverse, or randomly mixed for tape-style effects, reverse swells, and glitchy textures. PITCH SHIFTING WITH QUANTIZATION Transpose from -24 to +24 semitones. Lock pitch shifts to specific intervals—octaves, fifths, or any chromatic combination—for harmonically correct shimmer and transposition effects. SIX-AXIS RANDOMIZATION Independently randomize pitch, pan, position, amplitude, duration, and grain count. Dial in subtle organic movement or push into complete textural chaos. DIFFUSION AND FEEDBACK High-feedback mode with a diffusion control transforms delays into lush, reverb-like washes that never get harsh or run away from you. TEMPO SYNC Lock grain timing to your session's tempo or let textures evolve freely in untethered mode. 35 FACTORY PRESETS Covering shimmers, delays, reverbs, pitch effects, and experimental sound design. Cross-platform XML presets are compatible across all Audio Damage plugin formats and operating systems. SOUND DESIGN IDEAS Add subtle depth with a few long grains and minimal randomization Create rhythmic delays with short, quantized grains at high feedback Build infinite sustain pads by freezing audio with high grain count and overlap Craft shimmer effects by quantizing pitch to octaves and fifths Transform vocals into ethereal textures with diffusion and wide panning AUv3 compatible. Runs standalone or hosted in AUM, ApeMatrix, Audiobus, Cubasis, GarageBand, and other AUv3 hosts on iOS 13 or newer. From Audio Damage—making creative software for discerning musicians since 2002.
Screenshots
Verdict
GORILLA SYNTH and Descent Granulator both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 88% of GORILLA SYNTH's written reviews are positive against 0% of Descent Granulator's. GORILLA SYNTH also leads on ratings volume (21 vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). 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
GORILLA SYNTH costs $4.99 and Descent Granulator $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for GORILLA SYNTH against 5.0 for Descent Granulator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GORILLA SYNTH has 21 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of GORILLA SYNTH's written reviews are positive against 0% of Descent Granulator's.
GORILLA SYNTH ships an update every 3 weeks, Descent Granulator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GORILLA SYNTH | Descent Granulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (21 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 21 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.2 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Steffen Mølgaard Larsen | Audio Damage, Inc. |
Customer experience
GORILLA SYNTH
Descent Granulator
In-app purchases
GORILLA SYNTH
No in-app purchases
Descent Granulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is GORILLA SYNTH free?
Is Descent Granulator free?
Which has better reviews, GORILLA SYNTH or Descent Granulator?
Do GORILLA SYNTH or Descent Granulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, GORILLA SYNTH or Descent Granulator?
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