Descent Granulator vs Drift Audio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Drift Audio
Record sounds and transform them into interactive landscapes. Play back your recordings by touching a dynamic terrain that responds to your gestures, creating unique sonic experiences. Explore multi-finger playback for layered sounds.
- Record up to 10 seconds of sound
- Interactive touch-based playback
- Multi-finger sound layering
- Terrain visualization of recordings
- Dynamic, breathing sound surface
- Automatic sound naming
- Built-in reverb and delay
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Record any sound, then play it back by dragging across a living terrain. Your recording becomes the landscape — loud moments rise into ridges, quiet moments stay flat. Touch the surface and it transforms your sound into something new. HOW IT WORKS Record from the microphone — voice, instruments, ambient noise, anything up to 10 seconds. Drift listens and names your recording automatically. Each sample appears with a miniature terrain preview showing its unique shape. Tap a recording to enter the canvas: a reactive surface that deforms under your touch. Drag horizontally to move through your sample. Drag vertically to shift pitch — high at the top, slow and deep at the bottom. Press harder for a thick, layered wash. Press lighter for delicate, scattered fragments. The surface responds like a physical material. Your finger pushes into it, surrounding lines ripple outward and spring back. A trail follows your gesture and fades. When you're not playing, the terrain breathes — peaks sway, flat areas drift — so it always feels alive. Put down a second finger and a second voice appears. Hold a sustained tone with one hand while exploring with the other. Each finger has its own position, pitch, and intensity. FEATURES · Record up to 10 seconds from the microphone · Play back by touch — position, pitch, and intensity all respond to your finger · Two fingers, two independent voices · Terrain shaped by your recording — every sample looks different · The surface ripples, breathes, and springs back · Automatic naming using on-device sound recognition · Built-in reverb and delay · No account, no internet, everything stays on your device
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drift Audio at 100% against Descent Granulator's 0%. Drift Audio also leads on price (Free vs $4.99). On ads, in-app purchases, device support 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
Drift Audio is free to download; Descent Granulator costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Descent Granulator | Drift Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audio Damage, Inc. | Consumer Therapy |
Customer experience
Descent Granulator
Drift Audio
In-app purchases
Descent Granulator
No in-app purchases
Drift Audio
No in-app purchases





