Comparison

Raven Synth vs SpellSynth

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

SpellSynth

This app recreates a classic 1978 spelling toy with four engaging game modes. It allows users to type any word or phrase and hear it spoken aloud using vintage synthesized voices. Explore different speech synthesis eras and even play the keypad with a MIDI keyboard.

Highlights
  • Type and hear any word spoken
  • Four game modes (Free Play, Spell, Mystery Word, Say It)
  • Three distinct vintage voice characters
  • MIDI keyboard support
  • Export audio to WAV
  • Adjustable gap between words
Features
Read full description

SpellSynth is a playable love-letter to the 1978 spelling toy that taught a generation to read — rebuilt for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in English and French, with five modes, a crunchy VFD display, and three vintage voice characters across two decades of speech-synthesis history. Tap a letter and it speaks. Type ANY word — your name, this week's vocabulary list — and SpellSynth speaks it back. EVERY WORD SPEAKS The 500+ bundled words across 20+ themes use a hand-recorded retro voice. Anything else — a name, your kid's spelling list — falls back to the system engine through your chosen voice, cached so the second tap is instant. • FREE PLAY — type any word, a whole phrase, or a number and hear it spoken. Tap SPACE to build a sentence; it's read back word by word as the VFD cycles. Numbers ("2" becomes "two") and contractions ("don't") speak too. A GAP control tunes the pause between words (50–500 ms), and a RECENT row keeps this session. • SEQ — a 16-step sequencer that speaks a word per step, locked to your tempo. Type four words, get a robot vocal loop. Put a single letter on a step and it says the letter name on the beat instead. FIT stretches each word to fill its step, so words pitch up as the tempo climbs. • SPELL — SpellSynth says a word. You spell it. Three mistakes and you get the answer, then try a new one. HINT reveals a letter when you're stuck. • MYSTERY WORD — the classic hidden-word game. You get the category and first letter free; pick letters until it reveals itself. Six wrong guesses ends it. • SAY IT — listen-and-repeat practice. SpellSynth spells the word letter by letter, then says it whole. REPEAT to hear it again, NEXT for a new one. • SHARE — render any word or phrase to a WAV and send it to Files, AirDrop, or your DAW. EN FRANÇAIS Pick Français in Settings and SpellSynth speaks French: 360+ words, French game screens and an apostrophe key, after the 1981 French edition. The AUv3 speaks French too. THREE VINTAGE VOICES Pick a voice character in Settings. Each one draws from a different era of speech-synthesis history, applied to every word you hear: • 1968 ODYSSEY — calm, deep-baritone monotone with a deliberately slow cadence. Aesthetic homage to the late-60s sci-fi AI voices. • 1978 LPC — the original Speak & Spell character. A 10-pole LPC vocoder driven by the actual TMS5220 chirp ROM, the same speech algorithm Texas Instruments shipped in the toy. Buzzy, granular, unmistakable. • 1986 DECTALK STYLE — fixed-pitch impulse train through formants extracted from your input. Modelled on the Klatt-style synthesis that defined Hawking's iconic computer voice. Deliberate, monotone, emphatically computery. • DEFAULT — clean system speech, no extra processing, for when you just want clear pronunciation. PLAY WITH A MIDI KEYBOARD Connect a USB, Bluetooth, or Network MIDI keyboard and the keypad plays from real keys. MIDI notes 60–85 (C4–C#6) trigger letters A–Z. BUNDLED AUDIO UNIT (AUv3) SpellSynth ships an AUv3 instrument extension, so the same voice engine loads inside GarageBand, AUM, Loopy Pro, Cubasis, Logic Pro for iPad, and any AUv3 host on iPhone or iPad. Type a word and it speaks. Twenty-four parameters cover pitch, speed, bit-crush, sample-rate reduction, filter, envelope, LFO, stutter, the step sequencer, MIDI shaping, language, and voice character. Ten factory presets; all four voices play in your DAW. A serious MIDI surface for performers: sustain pedal (CC 64) for hold-and-release phrasing, Channel Pressure (aftertouch) routable to any parameter, three velocity curves (Soft / Linear / Hard), a pitch-bend range from ±0 to ±12 semitones, and 14 MIDI Learn targets covering every performance knob — bound CCs ride along with the preset. Stutter locks to the host tempo (1/4, 1/8, 1/16), and a Letter Map mode maps A–Z onto MIDI notes 60–85 so you can sequence spelling right in your DAW. Perfect for producers chasing that Kraftwerk / Stereolab / Broadcast sound.

Screenshots

Raven Synth4 screens
SpellSynth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Raven Synth at 100% against SpellSynth's 50%. Raven Synth also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.2). SpellSynth's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $6.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Raven Synth costs $6.99 and SpellSynth $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Raven Synth holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Raven Synth's written reviews are positive against 50% of SpellSynth's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Raven Synth ships an update every 4 days, SpellSynth every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Raven Synth versus SpellSynth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRaven SynthSpellSynth
Price$6.99$2.99 — better
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better3.2 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings511 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB112 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSteffen Mølgaard LarsenChih Han Lin

Customer experience

Raven Synth

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SpellSynth

All ratings11 ratings
Positive54.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative45.5%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Raven Synth

No in-app purchases

None

SpellSynth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Raven Synth free?
Raven Synth costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SpellSynth free?
SpellSynth costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Raven Synth or SpellSynth?
Raven Synth is rated higher. Raven Synth averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while SpellSynth averages 3.2 from 11 ratings.
Do Raven Synth or SpellSynth have ads?
Neither Raven Synth nor SpellSynth shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Raven Synth or SpellSynth?
Raven Synth ships an update every 4 days, and SpellSynth every 6 days. Most recently, Raven Synth was updated on October 24, 2026 and SpellSynth on October 24, 2026.

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