GranSample vs Kombinat4
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GranSample
This app offers a 16-pad sampler with a powerful granular engine for sculpting unique audio textures and sequencing patterns. It functions as a standalone application and an AUv3 plugin for popular DAWs. Unlock advanced features with a one-time purchase.
- 16-pad granular sampler
- AUv3 plugin support
- Step sequencer
- Modulation matrix
- Sample chopping
- Kit sharing
- Per-pad effects
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A 16-pad sampler with a granular engine underneath. Standalone app + AUv3 plugin for GarageBand / Logic / AUM / Drambo / Loopy Pro. Tap pads, sculpt textures, sequence patterns, chain songs. Same engine either way. Free to try. One purchase unlocks GranSample Pro — everything listed at the bottom. No subscription, no ads, no telemetry. NEW IN 1.6 TRACKS: every track's steps in one grid, in place of the pads. INT SEQ switch: turn a project's sequencer off and let MIDI play the pads. Background Audio: patterns and MIDI keep playing in other apps. Off by default, free; no clock sync. Factory sounds at their true pitch. PATTERN BANK & SONG MODE Eight patterns per project (A–H). Switch live; the change waits for the bar end. Then chain them into a song with repeats per section, looped or played once (song mode is Pro). Patterns, song and BPM save with the project. MODULATION MATRIX (PRO) LFO + ADSR envelope on 8 destinations per pad: grain position / size / pitch / density, volume, pan, pitch, playback start. Depth per lane, host-automatable in AUv3. SAMPLE CHOP (PRO) Slice any sample across the pads — equal grid, transient detection, or manual markers you drag. Audition before you commit. KIT SHARING Export any kit as a single .gskit file — samples, settings, effects, patterns. Importing is free for everyone; exporting is Pro. PAD NAMES, COLORS & CHOKE GROUPS Name your pads, pick from 8 colors, set one of 8 choke groups. AUv3 PLUGIN Load "nono.audio: GranSample" under AU Instruments in any AUv3 host. Same grid and engine, 10 factory kits, Sound, Grain and Sequence tabs. 900 host-automatable parameters. Load your own samples without leaving the host. Sequencer locks to host transport; everything persists in the host project. LIBRARY Factory Kits + your Projects in one place — load, tweak, save. GRANULAR ENGINE Eight knobs per pad. Position scans the sample; grain size + density set the texture from pebbles to glass. Pitch + jitter, spray + stereo spread, four window shapes, an ADSR cloud envelope, Freeze for infinite sustain. 128 grains per voice. CHROMATIC MODE Any pad becomes the root; the grid plays chromatically. STEP SEQUENCER Per-pad patterns at 16/32/64 steps, per-step velocity, drag-to-paint, swing. TRACKS shows every track in one grid; tracks 9–16 need Pro. SAMPLE EDITOR Waveform view — drag the grain region, trim playback range, loop, reverse, normalize per pad. LINEAR or GRAN preview. Trim works in the plugin too. EFFECTS Per-pad AND master bus. Reverb, Delay, Distortion, EQ, Compressor, Chorus, Filter — up to 8 per chain. Hand-tuned presets; save your own in the app. IPAD Pads bigger than an MPC; recorder, properties and sequencer get their own column. MIDI USB, Bluetooth (built-in browser), or virtual MIDI. MIDI Learn on every knob standalone, per-pad channel routing. The plugin routes MIDI in through the host and emits MIDI out for pad taps. RECORDING 60 seconds from the mic straight into a pad with a live waveform. Resample the master onto a pad, free or locked to 1–8 bars (Pro). Master bounces to WAV/M4A (Pro). 10 FACTORY KITS, 16 SAMPLES Late Night Room, Outer Space, Neon City, Midnight Dub, Tape Machine, Crystal Cave, and more — each with bespoke granular settings. FREE TIER Pads 1–8 — drums and melody, enough to finish a track — with the full granular engine, effects, pattern bank, mixer, MIDI in/out. Free pads work in AUv3 too. Kit import (.gskit) is free as well. GRANSAMPLE PRO — ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION All 16 pads and tracks unlocked everywhere — standalone AND AUv3 plugin Song mode — chain patterns into an arrangement Modulation matrix — LFO + envelope on 8 destinations per pad Sample chop to pads Resample to pads Kit export (.gskit) Per-pad ADSR envelope editor Custom backgrounds — wallpapers or your own photo, with dim and pad-opacity WAV / M4A export Made by one person who wanted a granular beat pad that fit on a phone — and in their DAW.
Kombinat4
This audio plugin allows users to split sounds into up to eight frequency bands and apply one of 38 distortion engines to each. It offers parallel multiband processing or serial chaining of distortion effects for complex sound design. Includes a comprehensive output section with filters, compression, and feedback.
- Up to eight frequency bands
- 38 distinct distortion engines
- Multiband and serial processing modes
- Advanced output filter section
- Built-in compressor with sidechain
- Global feedback path with envelope
- AUv3 plugin and standalone app
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KOMBINAT4 is Audio Damage's fourth-generation flagship distortion. Take any sound, split it into up to eight frequency bands, and assign one of 38 distortion engines to each band. Or flip to Serial mode and chain those eight engines end-to-end for stacked, cascading mayhem. THIRTY-EIGHT DISTORTION ENGINES The complete roster from Kombinat Tri returns: Fuzz, Saturate, Distort, Clip, Warp, Degrade, Ring Mod, X Noise, Octaver, Wavy, Rectify, Tube Clip, and the famously unhinged Nerd Rage. Joining them is the entire engine set from our Grind distortion: Tanh, Asym Tanh, Overdrive, Polynomial, Linear Distort, Sine Drive, Var Hard Clip, Gloubi Boulga, MXR, Soft Clip, and Cubic NLD. Plus thirteen brand-new algorithms built specifically for Kombinat4: Wavefold, Chebyshev, Bitwise, Slew Limit, Comparator, Diode Clip, Feedback FM, Fractal, Dropout, Shapeshift, Phase Distortion, Stutter, and Erosion. Every engine has up to three custom-labeled controls plus per-band gain and solo. Pick a different engine for each band and design distortion tones that simply weren't available before. EIGHT BANDS, TWO MODES In Multiband mode, the input is split by Linkwitz-Riley crossovers into up to eight parallel bands. Each band gets its own engine and gain stage, and everything recombines at the output. Drop to two bands for classic low/high splits, push to eight for full-spectrum surgical distortion design, and solo any band to dial it in cleanly. In Serial mode, those same eight slots become a chain — every engine processes the full-bandwidth signal in turn, for layered drive structures impossible to achieve with a single algorithm. OUTPUT SECTION A dedicated output filter with twelve types: 2-pole and 4-pole low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass shapes, a notch, three OTA-style filters, a 914-style ladder bandpass, our Filterpod, and bypass. Built-in Rough Rider compressor at the output with sidechain HPF and external sidechain input. Global feedback path with attack and decay envelope for self-oscillating screams and slow-blooming sustain. Optional AGC for level-matched A/B comparisons across heavy distortion settings. DC blocker. 2x and 4x oversampling for clean high-frequency content. PRESETS AND WORKFLOW Factory preset library covering subtle saturation, mix-bus enhancement, mid-range fattening, lead guitar tones, low-end mangling, full-on industrial destruction, and everything in between. Folder-based user preset browser with favorites and import/export of single presets or full folders as ZIP. XML preset compatibility with the desktop edition — your iOS presets work in your DAW and vice versa. AUv3 plugin for iOS hosts including GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, AUM, Cubasis, Loopy Pro, Audiobus, drambo, BeatMaker 3, and others. Standalone app included. Tooltips on every control. Animated band display with realtime spectrum overlay. No DRM, no account, no online activation.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: GranSample at Free against Kombinat4's $7.99. Kombinat4's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On 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
GranSample is free to download; Kombinat4 costs $7.99 up front. GranSample sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Kombinat4 asks for nothing beyond the download.
Kombinat4 holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of GranSample's written reviews are positive against 67% of Kombinat4's.
GranSample ships an update every 6 days, Kombinat4 every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GranSample | Kombinat4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (16 ratings) | 5.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chih Han Lin | Audio Damage, Inc. |
Customer experience
GranSample
Kombinat4
In-app purchases
GranSample
- GranSample Pro$3.99
Kombinat4
No in-app purchases









