Comparison

VAPolyBass vs Shruti Bot

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

Head to head
About

VAPolyBass

This app is a polyphonic synthesizer with a transistor ladder low pass filter, designed for use with a step sequencer. It offers multiple oscillators, effects, and MIDI support, functioning as a standalone application or an AudioUnit Extension.

Highlights
  • Polyphonic synthesizer
  • Transistor ladder low pass filter
  • Analog style step sequencer
  • Multiple oscillators and LFOs
  • Built-in effects (delay, chorus, reverb, etc.)
  • AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) support
  • MIDI 2.0 and Ableton Link support
Features
Read full description

VAPolyBass features -24 dB per octave transistor ladder low pass filter and it is designed for playing with step sequencer. This polyphonic synthesizer consists of three oscillators, resonant low pass filter resonant high pass filter, amplifier, ADSR envelope and five LFOs. VAPolyBass operates as a stand alone or as an AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Stand Alone supports Ableton Link, MIDI and audio file export. Built-in Effects include delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, eq and compressor. Project files can be saved in iCloud Drive, so that the project can be accessed from iPhone, iPad or Mac. Main Features - Polyphonic Synthesizer. - Lowpass filter modeled on -24dB per oct transistor ladder filter. - Analog style step sequencer. - Maximum 8 voice polyphony. it depends on performance of the device it is running. - Built-in effects and piano roll sequencer. - Audio Export. Linear PCM format (AIFF, WAV and CAF) and compressed format (AAC) - Support Audio Unit Extension (AUv3). - Support MIDI 2.0. Support Foot Pedal. - Support Ableton Link, Bluetooth MIDI, MIDI In / Out. - Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Support iCloud Drive to share project files between the platforms. - Factory Preset: 128, Effects: 40 Improvements - Support MIDI Foot Pedal (CC#11, CC#64) - MIDI CC Settings are saved. It will be recovered when the app launched in the next time. - UI Color can be selected from black, navy, gray or steel. System Requirements - iOS 17.0 or later - Devices with Apple Silicon are recommended. A13 Fusion or above is highly recommended. - AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) requires host application which support AudioUnit Extension. - AudioUnit Extension is supported by Apple Logic and Apple Garage Band on iOS and macOS. For any other DAW, it depends on the application and some of them don’t support AudioUnit Extension. - Sound may be distorted if CPU of the device doesn't have enough power. If it happens reduce number of voices.

About

Shruti Bot

This app simulates a shruti box, offering a tunable drone instrument with ten reeds and adjustable intonation. It features dynamic bellows control for volume and tremolo, along with a variety of effects like tape delay and reverb. An alternative sound engine with analogue oscillators is also included.

Highlights
  • Tunable shruti box simulation
  • Ten reeds with just intonation
  • Adjustable bellows for volume and tremolo
  • Independent mixer fader per reed
  • Key selection with microtonal trim
  • LFOs for tuning and level modulation
  • Resonance, chorus, tape delay, and reverb effects
Features
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Shruti Bot is a shruti box you can actually tune. Ten reeds, laid out the way a real box is — the low Pa and Sa drone pair, the full middle saptak from Sa to Ni, and the upper Sa. Every reed sits at its just-intonation ratio against the tonic, not the tempered approximation, so the drone locks together the way the instrument is supposed to. Pull up the bellows and it breathes. At zero no air moves at all and the box is silent; push it up and the drone gets louder and pumps harder, until the breathing turns into an audible tremolo riding on top of the tone. Pressure opens the timbre as well as the volume, so a stroke sounds like air moving rather than a fader going up. THE REEDS • Ten stops — Pa and Sa below, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni across the middle, Sa above • Just intonation throughout — 3/2, 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, 5/3, 15/8 against the tonic • A tapered tuning peg on every reed, plus or minus 100 cents, turned by hand • Detune two neighbouring reeds and they beat against each other — real acoustic summing, not an effect • A mixer fader per reed, independent of the stops, for balancing what's already sounding THE KEY • Any tonic across all twelve pitch classes, octaves 1 through 6 • A peg for each key, arranged as a keyboard • Every pitch class keeps its own microtonal trim, so you can build a tuning that isn't twelve-tone equal temperament and it stays put • The current note and its offset are always on screen MOVEMENT • Two free-running LFOs on every reed — one for tuning, one for level • They run at their own rates and drift in and out of phase, so the beating keeps reorganising and the drone never quite repeats • Set them slow and the box simply sounds alive THE CHAMBER • A swept resonance that moves like a body cavity rather than a filter sweep • Stereo chorus, the point where the drone opens out of the centre • Tape delay with a real moving head — sliding the time bends the pitch the way tape does, and the repeats darken as they recirculate • Plate-style reverb from a quarter second to six TWO INSTRUMENTS Tap the logo. Shruti Bot 2 replaces the reeds with four analogue oscillators — sine, triangle, saw and pulse — with phase shaping on each, from slow comb sweeps to full PWM. Everything else carries straight over: the same tuning, the same reeds switched on, the same effects. Only the sound source changes. No accounts. No subscriptions. No ads. No network. Nothing leaves your device.

Screenshots

VAPolyBass4 screens
Shruti Bot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Shruti Bot at $1.99 against VAPolyBass's $14.99. Shruti Bot also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On rating, ratings volume, 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

VAPolyBass costs $14.99 and Shruti Bot $1.99 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 VAPolyBass against 5.0 for Shruti Bot. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VAPolyBass ships an update every 2 months, Shruti Bot fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
VAPolyBass versus Shruti Bot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVAPolyBassShruti Bot
Price$14.99$1.99 — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyo TogawaScott Hsiung

Customer experience

VAPolyBass

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shruti Bot

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

VAPolyBass

No in-app purchases

None

Shruti Bot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VAPolyBass free?
VAPolyBass costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shruti Bot free?
Shruti Bot costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VAPolyBass or Shruti Bot?
VAPolyBass and Shruti Bot are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do VAPolyBass or Shruti Bot have ads?
Neither VAPolyBass nor Shruti Bot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VAPolyBass or Shruti Bot?
VAPolyBass ships an update every 2 months, and Shruti Bot fortnightly. Most recently, VAPolyBass was updated on November 5, 2026 and Shruti Bot on November 1, 2026.

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