Comparison

Melthaven vs SetClass

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

About

SetClass

Features
Read full description

Explore the building blocks of modern harmony. This app lets you see, hear and manipulate pitch class sets, the foundation of post-tonal and atonal music theory. EXPLORE • Tap notes on the pitch wheel to build any chord or scale. • See the Forte number, prime form, normal form and interval vector. • Check transpositional and inversional symmetry. • Open the K/Kh complex of any set to see which set classes include it or its complement. FIND • Tap notes on a keyboard, or type a Forte number (3-11, 6-Z44) or pitch-class numbers (0 4 7). • Browse all 224 Forte set classes, with Z-relations, filtered by size. TRANSFORM • Transpose, invert and multiply (M5, M7) any set. • Morph smoothly from one set to another. CREATE • Generate sets by cardinality, symmetry and density. • Arrange sets into rhythmic sequences using P, T, I, R and RI operations, with every inversion level. • Build a serial matrix from rows of 2 to 12 notes. • See each set as geometry in tonal space, with symmetry axes. • Export to MIDI and MusicXML. LEARN • A built-in theory guide. • Analysis examples from Debussy, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Berg, Messiaen and more, with links to scores. Built for students, composers and theorists, from first-time learners to advanced analysis.

Screenshots

Melthaven3 screens
SetClass4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SetClass at none against Melthaven's 1. Melthaven's advantage is chart position (#188 vs unranked) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Melthaven costs $2.99 and SetClass $4.99 up front. Melthaven sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SetClass asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Melthaven ships an update every 6 weeks, SetClass every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Melthaven versus SetClass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMelthavenSetClass
Price$2.99 — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#188 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperquantovoxMartin Adler

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Melthaven

One-time1
  • Melthaven Pro$4.99
None

SetClass

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Melthaven free?
Melthaven costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SetClass free?
SetClass costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Melthaven or SetClass have ads?
Neither Melthaven nor SetClass shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Melthaven or SetClass?
Melthaven ships an update every 6 weeks, and SetClass every 2 months. Most recently, Melthaven was updated on October 6, 2026 and SetClass on October 13, 2026.

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