Raven Synth vs Melthaven
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Raven Synth
This powerful wavetable synthesizer allows musicians to draw custom waveforms and morph between them. Sculpt evolving textures with a deep effects chain and performance-ready interface for sound design and live playing.
- Dual drawable oscillators with wavetable morphing
- Utility oscillator with sub, ring mod, FM, noise, and harmonics
- Classic ladder filter with 12/24dB slope
- Dual ADSR envelopes for filter and amp
- Dual LFOs with drawable waveforms and modulation slots
- Full effects chain including delay, reverb, chorus, and distortion
- AUv3 instrument and MIDI support
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RAVEN - Wavetable Morphing Synth RAVEN is a deep, expressive wavetable-morphing synthesizer designed for evolving textures and sculpted sound on iOS. Built for musicians, producers, and sound designers, Raven delivers drawable waveforms, real-time morphing, and a full effects chain in a clean, performance-ready interface - whether you're crafting pads, designing sounds, or playing live. Key Features: Dual drawable oscillators with wavetable morphing Utility oscillator (sub, ring mod, FM, noise, harmonics) Classic ladder filter with 12/24dB slope Dual ADSR envelopes (Filter + Amp) Dual LFOs with drawable waveforms, fade-in (up to 20s), and flexible modulation slots 12-band parametric EQ Delay, reverb, chorus, and distortion FX 56 factory presets with QR code sharing Touch-optimized performance controls AUv3 instrument support CoreMIDI & Bluetooth MIDI Designed for iPhone and iPad Raven is intentionally deep - every control shapes the sound. Draw your waveforms. Morph between them. Sculpt everything in between. Designed for exploration. Built for expression.
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 in-app purchases: Raven Synth at none against Melthaven's 1. Raven Synth also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks). Melthaven's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $6.99). 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
Raven Synth costs $6.99 and Melthaven $2.99 up front. Melthaven sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Raven Synth asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Raven Synth against 5.0 for Melthaven. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 4 respectively.
Raven Synth ships an update every 4 days, Melthaven every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Raven Synth | Melthaven |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Steffen Mølgaard Larsen | quantovox |
Customer experience
Raven Synth
Melthaven
In-app purchases
Raven Synth
No in-app purchases
Melthaven
- Melthaven Pro$4.99









