Comparison

Scissor Hands vs Bit Splitter

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

Head to head
About

Scissor Hands

This powerful audio effect offers dual high-pass and low-pass filters with adjustable steepness and extensive modulation options. Shape clean tones or create extreme sonic destruction with internal saturators and versatile modulation sources.

Highlights
  • Dual high-pass and low-pass filters
  • Four independent modulation sources
  • Internal saturators up to +36 dB
  • Morph settings for smooth transitions
  • Standalone app with trial and license purchase
  • HQ mode with 4x oversampling
Read full description

Scissor Hands is a dual filter with internal drive and modulation to boot. High-pass and low-pass filters in series, four modulation sources, and internal saturators you can push up to +36 dB. It may look straightforward, but this little filter is extremely capable, equally useful for clean tone shaping and brutal sonic destruction. Dual Filters - High-pass and low-pass filters in series - Selectable steepness per filter - Drive internal saturators up to +36 dB. At 0 dB, perfectly clean and linear - Per-filter Q-Gain Compensation for taming output at high resonance settings - Updated drive gain compensation for louder output at high settings Modulation - Stereo LFO with nine waveforms, warp, and swing - Envelope follower with optional sidechain input - Eight-step sequencer - Self FM, filter audio output to cutoff for spicy audio-rate modulation - Freely mixable modulation sources per filter - Repeatable Random engine for consistent bounces Core Features - Morph Settings for smooth transitions between two complete configurations - Auto Bypass saves CPU when input is silent - AB settings comparison - HQ mode with 4x oversampling - One-click loudness matching - All parameters automatable with precise playback - Light and dark interface modes - Internal undo/redo - Standalone app includes support, manual links and in-app purchase options for license purchase Two-week trial included, one-time purchase for full unlock. Unlock your plug-in via in-app purchase from the standalone app or activate in the plug-in using an existing desktop license. Your in-app purchase activates the plug-in on all of your iOS devices. Owners can claim a crossgrade code in the standalone app to receive a discount on a desktop license. Check out our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sketchaudio Read the manuals: https://sketchaudio.com/manuals/

About

Bit Splitter

This app manipulates audio by isolating, gating, or masking specific bit-planes of the input signal. It offers unique sound-shaping capabilities for creating glitchy, degraded, or rhythmically chopped audio effects.

Highlights
  • Bit-plane isolation
  • Gating with bit-planes
  • Bit-depth reduction (masking)
  • Adjustable bit selection
  • Input drive control
  • Dry/wet mix control
Features
Read full description

BIT SPLITTER A bit-plane manipulator. The input is scaled and quantized to an 8-bit value, then a single bit-plane of that value is used to reshape the signal. Where a bit crusher reduces resolution and hands back a degraded copy of the sound, the bit splitter operates on one specific bit and can either output that bit on its own, use it to gate the input, or mask the signal down to a chosen number of bits. MODES ISOLATE Outputs the chosen bit-plane on its own as a bipolar square wave. The most-significant bit behaves like a sign comparator, producing a hard square that tracks the waveform; lower bits flip more often as the amplitude moves, giving increasingly noisy, aliased fuzz. This is the most literal reading of splitting a bit out. GATE Passes the dry input only while the chosen bit is high, and mutes it otherwise. The signal is chopped by its own bit-plane, producing glitchy, rhythmic gating that still carries the source material underneath. MASK Zeros every bit below the chosen one and reconstructs the result to audio. This is a bit-depth reduction in which BIT sets how many low bits are discarded: at 0 the signal is untouched, at 7 only the most-significant bit survives (1-bit). Closest of the three to a classic crusher, but with arbitrary bit selection. CONTROLS BIT In Isolate and Gate, selects which bit-plane is used, from 0 (LSB) to 7 (MSB). In Mask, sets the lowest bit that is kept, so it acts as a resolution control. Lower bits track fine detail and toggle rapidly; higher bits track the gross shape of the waveform. Range: 0 to 7 THRESH Input drive into the quantizer. The signal is divided by this value before being mapped to a byte, so lower settings push the signal harder into the 8-bit range (clipping into it sooner) while higher settings keep it quieter and more centered. It changes which bits are active for a given input level, and so reshapes the character of every mode. Range: 0.01 to 2.0 MODE Selects the bit-plane operation: Isolate, Gate, or Mask (see above). Switching mode changes what BIT means, so the two are best adjusted together. MIX Controls the balance between the unprocessed (dry) input and the processed (wet) output. At 0% only the dry signal is heard; at 100% only the processed signal passes through. Intermediate values produce a linear crossfade, useful for blending the harsher modes back under the source for parallel-style processing. Range: 0% to 100%

Screenshots

Scissor Hands2 screens
Bit Splitter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Scissor Hands at Free against Bit Splitter's $1.99. Scissor Hands also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). Bit Splitter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

Scissor Hands is free to download; Bit Splitter costs $1.99 up front. Scissor Hands sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Bit Splitter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Scissor Hands against 5.0 for Bit Splitter. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Scissor Hands versus Bit Splitter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScissor HandsBit Splitter
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings33
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSketch Audio, LLCCallback Audio, LLC

Customer experience

Scissor Hands

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bit Splitter

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Scissor Hands

One-time2
  • Two-week TrialFree
  • Full Unlock$6.99
None

Bit Splitter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scissor Hands free?
Scissor Hands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bit Splitter free?
Bit Splitter costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scissor Hands or Bit Splitter?
Scissor Hands and Bit Splitter are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Scissor Hands or Bit Splitter have ads?
Neither Scissor Hands nor Bit Splitter shows ads.

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