Comparison

CVOsc vs The Orb

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

Head to head
About

CVOsc

Features
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Connect an Expert Sleepers ES-9, ES-8, or any class-compliant DC-coupled interface to your iOS Device, and visualize up to sixteen simultaneous channels of Control Voltage and audio โ€” no laptop, no patch cables to a computer. See your patch โ€ข Up to 16 simultaneous channels in a paged, responsive grid โ€ข Three display modes: All (every channel), Selected (just the channels you tag), and Overlay (selected traces superimposed on a single canvas for phase and correlation work) โ€ข Per-channel range, offset, and time base, in volts for CV and normalized units for audio โ€ข Auto-trigger on zero crossing for rock-steady waveforms โ€ข Auto-fit to waveform when you just want the trace centered โ€ข Independent CV vs Audio mode per channel, with renameable identities ("VCO 1", "LFO Slow", etc.) Listen in โ€ข Built-in live monitor: route any input channel to any physical output of the interface โ€ข Monitor multiple channels simultaneously, each to its own output โ€ข Output assignments persist across sessions โ€ข Hot-plug aware โ€” disconnect and reconnect, and CVOsc rebinds automatically Pro features (auto-renewing annual subscriptions) โ€ข Tuner โ€” pitch detection that works on both CV pitch signals and audio. See note name and cents offset live in the pane. โ€ข Record & Playback โ€” capture every selected channel to its own WAV file, then play recordings back through the interface. CV recordings are routed only to DC-coupled outputs; the app warns you if you try otherwise. Live monitoring and playback share the same USB pipeline, so you can play recordings while monitoring live channels at the same time. โ€ข Saved Channel Settings โ€” every channel comes back exactly the way you left it on the next launch. โ€ข Presets โ€” save and recall whole-rig configurations: channel names, signal types, all scale settings, monitor routings โ€” under a single name. Each subscription is independent. Restore Purchases in Settings re-entitles anything you've previously bought on this Google account. Cancel anytime; cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period. Hardware requirements CVOsc requires a class-compliant USB audio interface and a USB-C OTG cable. To visualize CV signals (not just audio), the interface must be DC-coupled. A powered USB hub is recommended for tablets that don't supply enough bus power. Supported DC Coupled USB Sound Cards Expert Sleepers - ES-9 (14 ch) - ES-8 (8 ch) - ES-3 (8 ch) - ES-40 (8 ch) Solid State Logic - SSL 2 MKII (2 ch) - SSL 2+ MKII (4 ch) - SSL 12 (4 ch) - SSL 18 (10 ch) - SSL ALPHA 8 (8 ch) MOTU - M2 / M4 / M6 (2 / 4 / 6 ch) - UltraLite-mk5 (10 ch), UltraLite AVB (8 ch) - 624 (6 ch), 8A (8 ch), 8M (8 ch), 10pre (8 ch), 16A (16 ch), 24Ao (24 ch) - 1248 (8 ch), 828 (8 ch), 828es (8 ch), 848 (12 ch) RME - Fireface UCX II (6 ch) Universal Audio - Apollo Twin / Twin MkII / Twin X / Twin USB / Twin X USB (4 ch) - Apollo x4 (6 ch), x6 (8 ch), x8 (10 ch), x8p (10 ch), x16 (18 ch) Native Instruments - Komplete Audio 6 MK2 (4 ch) Non-DC Coupled interfaces still work for audio I/O; they just won't pass the validator's DC-coupling check for CV playback. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://cvosc.com/privacy.html

About

The Orb

Features
Read full description

The Orb is a formant filter plugin that simulates the characteristics of the human voice. Featuring a set of three band pass filters, The Orb can transform any sound into a vowel-like formant-filtered sound. With the three LFOs you can modulate the Vowel, the Emphasis/Resonance of the formants, and the Drift, which can shift up or down the frequencies of each formant. You can also create your own set of vowels by changing the name and frequency for each vowel/formant.

Screenshots

CVOsc1 screens
The Orb1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: CVOsc at Free against The Orb's $7.99. The Orb's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.4). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

CVOsc is free to download; The Orb costs $7.99 up front. CVOsc sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year. The Orb asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
CVOsc versus The Orb: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCVOscThe Orb
PriceFree โ€” better$7.99
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.414.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAleph Void LLCAudioThing Ltd.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

CVOsc

Subscriptions4
  • CVOsc Annual Tuner$0.991 Year
  • CVOsc Annual Recording$0.991 Year
  • CVOsc Preset Annual$0.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • CVOsc Annual Convert To Gate$0.991 Year
None

The Orb

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CVOsc free?
CVOsc is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Orb free?
The Orb costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do CVOsc or The Orb have ads?
Neither CVOsc nor The Orb shows ads.

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