TubeSound vs Melthaven
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TubeSound
This app emulates the warm sound of classic vacuum tubes for your audio. It offers 23 modeled tube circuits, from subtle harmonic coloration to amplifier-inspired saturation. Advanced controls allow for deep customization of tube behavior and aging.
- 23 modeled vacuum tube circuits
- Subtle harmonic coloration
- Pro Mode for advanced control
- Tube aging simulation
- AUv3 plugin support
- Custom preset saving
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TubeSound adds the warm, rich character of classic vacuum tubes to your audio. This is not a typical tube-style distortion effect. Many presets operate below 0.5% THD, producing subtle harmonic coloration rather than heavy saturation. REAL TUBE CIRCUITS 23 carefully modeled tube circuits inspired by legendary hi-fi and guitar amplifier designs from the 1950s to today. Each model recreates key parts of the original design, including triode curves, power supply sag, transformer behavior, and natural analog drift. PRO MODE Take full control over tube circuit behavior with advanced parameters such as plate voltage, grid bias, PSU stiffness, transformer saturation, and more. Includes 5 factory presets inspired by iconic circuits, plus the ability to save and manage your own custom Pro presets. TUBE AGING Three wear stages: New, Worn, and Old. Each stage changes the tube character with increased noise, wider drift, and reduced gain. AUv3 PLUGIN Use TubeSound as an Audio Unit effect in GarageBand, AUM, or any AUv3 host. FREE TO TRY All 23 circuits are available in the trial version. During the trial, audio mutes for 3 seconds every 30 seconds. A single in-app purchase removes this limitation. FOR • audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts • music producers and mixing engineers • mastering and subtle harmonic coloration • guitar and instrument processing • adding analog tube character to digital audio Product names are used for reference purposes only and are not affiliated with or endorsed by their respective owners.
Melthaven
This app provides a note-triggered phase shifter for guitarists, bassists, and synthesizers. It offers organic, rhythmic movement that syncs to your playing, with analog-modeled filters for diverse sonic textures. Enhance loops or create experimental sounds with its input-dependent modulation.
- Note-triggered phase shifting
- Analog-modeled OTA filters
- Responds to guitar and bass transients
- Enhances pre-recorded loops
- Input-dependent synth modulation
- Low-latency engine
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Melthaven is a note-triggered phase shifter built to give guitarists and bassists organic, rhythmic movement that syncs to their playing, rather than a fixed LFO. It's also highly suited for a number of synth basses and sounds with sharp attacks and fast decays. Its analog-modeled OTA filters provide deep resonance and character, ranging from wah-like effects to complex, shifting formant textures or even experimental tones, like bubbling or hard, slappy effects. For bright, harmonically dense signals – such as saturated or overdriven tones and synthetic sounds – the effect range also includes growls and glistening sweeps. FOCUSED ON BASS & GUITARS The effect was specially developed to respond to the frequency response and transient peaks of electric guitars and basses. Every pluck, pop, or pick attack re-triggers the phase sweep, effectively turning your rhythmic timing into the "engine" of the effect. USING LOOPS? BREAK THEM OPEN Add various resonant effects like growls, or vintage bark / quacks "after the fact." This unlocks a level of control usually lost the moment a loop is bounced. Instead of being stuck with locked-in sound design, you can now reshape the envelope of any pre-recorded sample, breathing new life into your loop library. FOR SYNTHS & SOUND DESIGN: INPUT DEPENDENT Soft signals like pads or heavy/layered effects can produce wild, unpredictable responses. While such use is outside the plugin's core design, the smoothing feature can tame these re-triggers, yielding a flow that can feel organic and physical in its instability when operating beyond the plugin’s transient-focused comfort zone. MOVING BEYOND ENVELOPE FILTERS The plugin uses low-latency note detection paired with its own envelope generator and LFO, allowing sculpting and even reshaping each note’s modulation profile or filter envelope. It even detects notes that hide under a consistent signal amplitude when using a traditional envelope follower. BASE FEATURES: - Built around a versatile preset from the Pro version to suit a wide variety of applications - Controls: feedback & panoramic position, attack & hold timings, LFO Rate - Smoothing: from envelope shaping to creating a weighted, fluid response, giving note sequences a sense of physical momentum - Low-latency engine: preserves natural playing feel when used as a real-time effect PRO FEATURES - Requires Pro Edition Upgrade (In‑App Purchase): - Additional envelope parameters, several envelope flavors with pre-mapped control subsets - Pro presets encompassing both strong and milder effects, including the quintessential rubber bass - Enhanced stereo phaser modes & internal stereo re-imaging modulator (for formant-like effects and more) - Vintage-style phaser feedback that can optionally build or ramp with each note onset (non-rampable in the base version) - Instant visual feedback via an audio scope with dual-channel envelopes overlaid on the input waveform TECHNICAL NOTES: - Place before creative effects (unless experimenting). It can be used before or after harmonic processing (saturation, amp sims) depending on your preference - Response may vary on sustained notes with shifting harmonic content - Not optimized for upright bass due to its reliance on sharp signal transients - Note detection involves statistical signal processing and confidence intervals. Weak transients and phantom notes could lead to a loss of output determinism, i.e. sensitivity to changes in certain project settings - While it offers multiple layers of real-time control, Melthaven operates primarily as an automatic effect; for full manual filter manipulation, please refer to RealPhase, a separate app PLEASE NOTE: • The Pro Edition Upgrade is offered as a one‑time In‑App Purchase • An AUv3-compatible host is required to use this app • Suported sampling rates: 44.1, 48, 96 kHz
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: TubeSound at Free against Melthaven's $2.99. TubeSound also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
TubeSound is free to download; Melthaven costs $2.99 up front. TubeSound sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Melthaven sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TubeSound ships an update weekly, Melthaven every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TubeSound | Melthaven |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bartosz Paprzycki | quantovox |
Customer experience
TubeSound
Melthaven
In-app purchases
TubeSound
- Unlock Full Version$19.99
Melthaven
- Melthaven Pro$4.99









