Comparison

MESA Synth AUv3 vs Velvet Vocoder

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

MESA Synth AUv34 screens
Velvet Vocoder3 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MESA Synth AUv3 versus Velvet Vocoder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMESA Synth AUv3Velvet Vocoder
Price$8.99 — better$24.99
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.412.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJuan MaguidPaul Wand

Customer experience

MESA Synth AUv3

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Velvet Vocoder

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

MESA Synth AUv3

No in-app purchases

None

Velvet Vocoder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MESA Synth AUv3 free?
MESA Synth AUv3 costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Velvet Vocoder free?
Velvet Vocoder costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MESA Synth AUv3 or Velvet Vocoder?
Velvet Vocoder is rated higher. MESA Synth AUv3 averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Velvet Vocoder averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do MESA Synth AUv3 or Velvet Vocoder have ads?
Neither MESA Synth AUv3 nor Velvet Vocoder shows ads.

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