MESA Synth AUv3 vs Velvet Vocoder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MESA Synth AUv3
This music creation tool transforms visuals into sound by rendering shaders and images into wavetables. It offers a powerful synthesis engine, extensive sound-shaping capabilities, and a full effects rack, all controllable through light and visual input.
- Visual-to-audio wavetable synthesis
- Unison oscillator stack with sub-oscillator
- Zero-delay-feedback filter
- Vision panel for sound shaping with light
- 26 stackable visual modifiers as audio effects
- 8-stage stereo FX rack
- Sampler mode with auto pitch-tracking
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MESA is a wavetable synthesizer unlike any other — it turns visuals into sound. Drop in a shader or a .vkograph and MESA renders it offscreen, reads the light across the image, and turns that into a wavetable you play. The picture literally becomes the oscillator — and the same visual keeps living behind your keys, reacting to every note. No other synth works like this. Behind the magic is a complete, serious instrument: THE ENGINE • 64-frame wavetables, FFT mip-banked for clean, alias-free playback everywhere • Unison oscillator stack with detune, spread, and a sub-oscillator • Zero-delay-feedback filter — cutoff, resonance, drive, self-oscillating • Full ADSR envelope, portamento glide, and a dedicated pitch envelope SHAPE THE SOUND WITH LIGHT • Vision panel: choose the scanline, weight color channels, bend the brightness curve, sweep time — one shader, a thousand timbres • 33 color palettes that reshape the tone, not just the look • VFX chain: 26 stackable visual modifiers, each one also an audio effect A FULL STUDIO • 3-slot modulation matrix with 2 LFOs, velocity, and mod wheel • 8-stage stereo FX rack: tape, wow & flutter, chorus, delay, reverb, lo-fi, tape-stop • Sampler mode — load any audio, auto pitch-tracked across the keys • Arpeggiator, Ableton Link, and MIDI Learn on nearly every control BUILT FOR YOUR WORKFLOW • AUv3 plug-in AND standalone app — one purchase, iOS + macOS • iCloud sync — build a patch on your Mac, it's ready on your iPhone • Categorized preset browser with import/export and full patch recall
Velvet Vocoder
This app transforms your device into a real-time vocal studio, offering auto-tune, harmony generation, and vocoder effects. It allows for pitch correction, adding multiple in-key voices, and controlling vocal tuning with a MIDI keyboard.
- Real-time auto-tune
- Automatic diatonic harmonies
- Vocode mode with MIDI control
- Classic vocoder synth layer
- Adjustable key and scale
- Vocal FX suite
- AUv3 plugin support
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VV17 turns your iPhone and iPad into a real-time vocal studio — auto-tune, harmony, and vocoder in one app. Sing or speak into your device and VV17 corrects your pitch to any key and scale as you go. Turn on harmony and it stacks up to four in-key voices under your lead, TC-Helicon style. Switch to Vocode mode and play a MIDI keyboard to drive the tuning by hand — your lead locks to the nearest held note while the others become live harmonies. FEATURES • Real-time auto-tune with adjustable correction amount and speed, from natural to hard-tuned • Automatic diatonic harmonies — stacked in-key thirds, 1 to 4 voices • Infinite mode swaps the harmony stack for a shimmering harmonic series • Vocode mode: control the tuner live from held MIDI notes • Classic vocoder / talkbox synth layer driven by your voice • Choose your key and scale, or explore just-intonation temperaments • Vocal FX: spread, humanize, sibilance, and response controls • Presets to get you started, including lush choir and modern hard-tune rigs • Works standalone or as an Audio Unit (AUv3) plugin inside GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, and other hosts All processing happens on your device. No account, no sign-up, no data collection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: MESA Synth AUv3 at $8.99 against Velvet Vocoder's $24.99. Velvet Vocoder's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.0) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.4). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
MESA Synth AUv3 costs $8.99 and Velvet Vocoder $24.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Velvet Vocoder holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.
| Parameter | MESA Synth AUv3 | Velvet Vocoder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 — better | $24.99 |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.4 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Juan Maguid | Paul Wand |
Customer experience
MESA Synth AUv3
Velvet Vocoder
In-app purchases
MESA Synth AUv3
No in-app purchases
Velvet Vocoder
No in-app purchases









