Comparison

MESA Synth AUv3 vs PolyQuad

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

PolyQuad

Create complex analog-style synthesizer sounds using four independent voices. Design each voice with its own oscillator, filter, and envelopes, then combine them in various modes for massive layered textures, polyphonic chords, or unique stereo arrangements. Explore a vast library of presets or build your own from scratch.

Highlights
  • Four independent analog-style voices
  • Multiple oscillator and filter types per voice
  • Dual envelope generators per voice
  • Three voice combination modes (UNI, POLY, 2x2)
  • Extensive LFO modulation capabilities
  • Integrated effects unit (reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, drive)
  • 160 factory presets and user preset management
Features
Read full description

PolyQuad is one synthesizer built from four complete voices — and the instrument is what they make together. Each of the four channels is a full analog-style voice: its own oscillator, its own resonant filter, its own envelopes, its own amplifier, its own place in the stereo field. Design each channel for a role — a sub, a body, a sparkle, a slow swell — then play them as one. Three voice modes decide how they combine. UNI stacks all four on every note for one massive layered sound. POLY spreads chords across the channels, so every note of a chord lands on its own instrument. 2×2 plays note pairs on matched couples. Add glide, retrigger control and detune spread on top. THE CHANNELS - Four oscillators: triangle, sawtooth, pulse with PWM, sine — per channel, with octave and fine tune - Four resonant filters with envelope amount and FM depth per channel - Two envelopes per channel (filter and amp), each with three time ranges from snappy to minutes-long - Per-channel VCA with velocity amount and curve, level, pan, AUX send, solo and mute - Per-channel oscilloscope displays, and keys that light up with the voice that took them MOTION - Four LFOs with five shapes, routed to pitch, pulse width, filter FM, resonance, amplitude, pan or send - Each channel decides how much modulation to accept — one LFO can wobble one channel and leave another still - One effect unit — reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, drive — fed by per-channel AUX sends with a master return PRESETS - 160 factory presets in eight categories: Pads, Keys, Strings, Bass, Lead, Drone, Texture, Percussion - Every preset uses the four channels as four different instruments — layered stacks, rotating timbres, per-drum kits - Channel presets: capture one channel's design and load it into any channel of any patch - Your presets are plain JSON files in the Files app — back them up, share them, drop new ones in IN THE STUDIO - AUv3 instrument for AUM, Drambo, Logic Pro, GarageBand and other hosts - MIDI 2.0 with 16-bit velocity; MIDI 1.0 hosts are translated automatically - Every knob on the panel is a host parameter — full automation and session recall - Standalone app with keyboard, so it plays on its own too No account, no ads, no tracking, no network. Your sounds stay on your device.

Screenshots

MESA Synth AUv34 screens
PolyQuad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PolyQuad at weekly against MESA Synth AUv3's every 2 months. PolyQuad also leads on price ($4.99 vs $8.99) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On rating, 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 PolyQuad $4.99 up front. 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 MESA Synth AUv3 against 5.0 for PolyQuad. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MESA Synth AUv3 ships an update every 2 months, PolyQuad weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MESA Synth AUv3 versus PolyQuad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMESA Synth AUv3PolyQuad
Price$8.99$4.99 — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.417.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJuan MaguidLASZLO DOBROVOLSZKI

Customer experience

MESA Synth AUv3

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

PolyQuad

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

MESA Synth AUv3

No in-app purchases

None

PolyQuad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MESA Synth AUv3 free?
MESA Synth AUv3 costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PolyQuad free?
PolyQuad costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MESA Synth AUv3 or PolyQuad?
MESA Synth AUv3 and PolyQuad are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do MESA Synth AUv3 or PolyQuad have ads?
Neither MESA Synth AUv3 nor PolyQuad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MESA Synth AUv3 or PolyQuad?
MESA Synth AUv3 ships an update every 2 months, and PolyQuad weekly. Most recently, MESA Synth AUv3 was updated on October 13, 2026 and PolyQuad on October 2, 2026.

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