Comparison

Synesthesia Synth vs LuSID Synthesizer

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

Head to head
About

Synesthesia Synth

An experimental audio-visual instrument that allows users to sculpt evolving spatial audio by manipulating floating capsules. Position, rotation, and pulse changes affect tone, texture, and synchronized particle generation. It's a visual synthesizer, not a game.

Highlights
  • Experimental audio-visual instrument
  • Sculpt evolving spatial audio
  • Manipulate floating capsules
  • Control tone, texture, and particles
  • Visual synthesizer
Read full description

Synthaestesia is a free experimental audio-visual instrument. Three capsules float in space. Every contraction produces sound. Move them, rotate them, reshape their pulse — and sculpt evolving spatial audio. Position changes tone. Rotation alters texture. Delay generates synchronized particles. This is not a game. It’s a spatial synth you can see.

About

LuSID Synthesizer

Create synthwave music with a powerful, intuitive synthesizer. Features a multi-voice engine, versatile filter, built-in sequencer, and a range of effects. Record and share your creations easily.

Highlights
  • Eight-voice polyphony with unison
  • Audio-rate filter envelope
  • Built-in 4-64 step sequencer
  • Tape-style delay, chorus, distortion, reverb
  • Neon Liquid-Glass interface
  • Record and share WAV files
Features
Read full description

LuSID Synthesizer — a SID-inspired SwiftUI synth with a synthwave heart. Eight-voice polyphony with detune-and-spread unison, audio-rate filter envelope, classic SID-flavoured ring modulation and pulse-width modulation, plus a built-in 4 to 64-step sequencer and tape-style delay, chorus, distortion, and lush reverb. Wrapped in a neon Liquid-Glass interface that matches what's playing — magenta sequencer steps that bloom lime when active, a gradient cyan oscilloscope that traces your output in real time, and a synthwave horizon that rolls under the step grid. FOUR TABS SYNTH — oscillator (triangle, sawtooth, square, noise) with PolyBLEP anti-aliasing. Custom Cytomic state-variable filter (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, notch) with drive and self-oscillating resonance. Audio-rate filter envelope. LFO with pitch, cutoff, PWM, and pan destinations. Ring modulation. Distortion (lo-fi, broken, cubed, bitcrush, mangled). Chorus. Delay. Reverb (plate, room, hall, cathedral). Big rotary knobs, all the modulation routing visible. SEQUENCER — 4 to 64 steps. Tap-to-place notes with the chromatic note picker. Per-step ratchets (1x, 2x, 3x) and held-legato notes for gate-length variation. Tempo from 60 to 440 BPM, gate length 5 to 150 percent of step. KEYBOARD — two-octave touch piano with multi-touch chords and slide-to-play, velocity slider, octave switcher (C2 to C6). RECORD — capture everything you hear (filter, drive, delay, reverb, the full chain) to a WAV file in the app's Documents folder, then share via the iOS share sheet. 5 to 60 seconds per take. LuSID is built for the moments when you want to make sound, not learn software. No menus, no preset hunting, no tutorials. Tap a step, sweep a knob, hold a key. The app treats every parameter as performance. NO ACCOUNTS. NO ANALYTICS. NO TRACKING. NO ADS. LuSID does not collect any data, make any network requests, or contain any third-party SDKs. Recordings stay on your device until you choose to share them.

Screenshots

Synesthesia Synth2 screens
LuSID Synthesizer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Synesthesia Synth at every 10 days against LuSID Synthesizer's every 2 months. Synesthesia Synth also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.4). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Synesthesia Synth against 5.0 for LuSID Synthesizer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Synesthesia Synth ships an update every 10 days, LuSID Synthesizer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Synesthesia Synth versus LuSID Synthesizer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSynesthesia SynthLuSID Synthesizer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMICHELE ZACCAGNINILukasz Pomianek

In-app purchases

None

Synesthesia Synth

No in-app purchases

None

LuSID Synthesizer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Synesthesia Synth free?
Synesthesia Synth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LuSID Synthesizer free?
LuSID Synthesizer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Synesthesia Synth or LuSID Synthesizer?
Synesthesia Synth and LuSID Synthesizer are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Synesthesia Synth or LuSID Synthesizer have ads?
Neither Synesthesia Synth nor LuSID Synthesizer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Synesthesia Synth or LuSID Synthesizer?
Synesthesia Synth ships an update every 10 days, and LuSID Synthesizer every 2 months. Most recently, Synesthesia Synth was updated on September 19, 2026 and LuSID Synthesizer on August 13, 2026.

Other comparisons