Phasetable vs Sean's Strange Box
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Phasetable
This app is a powerful wavetable synthesizer that allows users to import and shape their own sound sources. It offers extensive modulation capabilities, built-in effects, and MPE support for expressive performances and detailed production.
- Four independent wavetable oscillators
- Import and shape custom WAV files
- Extensive modulation matrix
- Tempo-synced motion lanes
- Ladder-filter responses
- MPE and MIDI 2.0 support
- AUv3 plugin compatibility
Read full descriptionHide full description
Four oscillators. Your own wavetables. Import a WAV, shape it while it plays, then put every detail in motion with MPE. Phasetable is a precision wavetable instrument for immediate exploration and serious production. Start with 54 factory banks or bring in your own WAVs. Open the standalone app or load the AUv3 inside a compatible host, touch a key, and hear motion before you reach for a manual—then go as deep as the session demands. BUILD THE SOURCE • Four independent wavetable oscillators with frame scan, coarse and fine tuning, equal-power pan, phase control and individual filter routing • 12 phase-warp modes, including PWM, Sync, Formant, Quantize and FM Self • Up to four unison copies per oscillator, plus phase or ring cross-modulation • Automatic band-limiting keeps movement clean across pitch, unison, Warp Mode and Cross Mod MAKE IT MOVE • Four wavetable-shaped motion lanes, free-running or tempo-synced from 1/32 to 4 Bars • Lanes that run globally, retrigger per note, or start every note from a random phase • 12 modulation sources, 36 destinations and 328 valid modulation routes • Dedicated Amp and Filter envelopes plus two velocity-sensitive envelopes that can loop per voice—all four route through the matrix • Velocity, key tracking, pressure and timbre as playable modulation sources • Envelope following that can steer lane depth, rate or frame from the dynamics of a performance SCULPT THE SIGNAL • Eight ladder-filter responses with drive, resonance, key tracking and a dedicated envelope • Per-voice noise for breath, impact and texture • Dirt for wavefolding and harmonic excitation • Tape for wow, flutter, feedback and stereo instability • Tempo-aware Echo and a four-line Space reverb IMPORT, BUILD AND EXPORT YOUR OWN WAVETABLES Bring your own wavetables into Phasetable. Import common PCM and floating-point WAV files as single cycles or multi-frame banks. Compatible cycle metadata finds frame boundaries automatically; unmarked files can be treated as one cycle or sliced into 2,048-sample frames. Multichannel files are mixed to mono, and every cycle is precisely resampled. Draw freehand or by line while the sound plays. Normalize, center, invert, reverse, smooth or reduce seam discontinuities. Add, duplicate, delete and reorder frames with 64 levels of undo and redo. A bank can hold up to 256 frames at 2,048 samples each. Save imported or drawn banks with complete presets, synchronize them through iCloud Drive, and embed them in project state. Export standard 32-bit floating-point mono WAV files for exchange with other compatible tools. PERFORM AND PRODUCE • Poly, Mono and Legato modes with glide and adaptive polyphony up to 16 voices • MIDI 1.0, MIDI 2.0 and MPE with per-note bend, pressure and timbre • MIDI Learn, controller feedback, assignable CCs and reliable host automation • A responsive 25-key performance surface with octave, sustain, velocity and panic controls • Live displays for envelopes, filter response, lane phase and every effect • Standalone sample rate, buffer size and MIDI input selection, plus output device choice on Mac START FAST. FINISH YOUR WAY. Explore 54 factory banks across nine spectral families and 34 factory presets spanning essentials, basses, keys, plucks, leads, pads, sequences, textures and effects. Search by category. User banks and presets can synchronize through iCloud Drive. Host automation and project recall remain attached to the same controls across compatible versions. Project state carries the tables it uses, so the sound you designed is the sound the session recalls. An integrated guided tutorial and detailed manual make the same instrument approachable on day one and transparent under expert scrutiny. Phasetable is built for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.
Sean's Strange Box
Read full descriptionHide full description
Sean's Strange Box is a polyphonic house synth with a step sequencer that jacks. Part of Time2Jack's Architect Series, it brings hands-on sound design, pattern writing and live performance to iPhone and iPad. THE SOUND Two oscillators with SHAPE, DEFORM and SYMMETRY, a sub and noise, and up to four-voice UNISON with DETUNE and stereo SPREAD. Shape the sound with LP12, LP24, high-pass and band-pass filters, two ADSR envelopes and three LFOs, including Lorenz and Rössler chaos. A twelve-slot modulation matrix connects the LFOs, envelope, velocity, XY pad, pressure and tilt to your sound. Chorus, phaser, ping-pong delay, reverb and a three-band EQ run in the order you choose. Sixteen-voice polyphony. STRANGE AND BENT STRANGE moves from subtle instability, filter motion and stereo drift into deformation, deeper modulation, effects movement and rhythmic variation. BENT focuses on timbre. Variations evolve every bar, and the same gesture produces a repeatable performance. FREEZE and REPEAT add momentary delay and rhythmic effects. THE SEQUENCER Build patterns up to 64 steps long with velocity, accent, probability, ratchets, ties and slides. Put up to five notes on a step, or let CHORDS generate a progression in your key and scale. Record four automation lanes. Eight scenes, A to H, change on the bar line, and CHAIN plays them in the order you choose. GENERATE offers a new house bassline when you need a starting point. JAM AND PERFORM JAM gives you a note matrix, two octaves of keys, a metronome and recording into the sequencer. Lock your key and scale to stay in tune. PERFORM brings the XY pad, macros and effects together for live playing. EZ AND PRO Two control surfaces share the same instrument. EZ groups sound design into SOURCE, TONE, SHAPE, MOTION and SOUND, plus STRANGE. PRO opens the full set of controls. Switching surfaces preserves your sound, pattern and playback. 58 FACTORY SOUNDS Explore house basses, acoustic-inspired instruments, unison and chaos sounds. Search, tag and audition presets, or HYBRIDIZE two sounds into something new. PLAY TOGETHER Use Ableton Link, DJ SYNC and MIDI input to play in time with other gear. MIDI Learn connects controls to your controller. The included AUv3 instrument runs in compatible iPad music hosts. Save a complete sound, modulation matrix and all eight scenes in a .strange project. Runs on iPhone and iPad. No account, subscription, ads or in-app purchases. Make music offline; enable local-network sync when you want to play together.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sean's Strange Box at $4.99 against Phasetable's $14.99. Sean's Strange Box also leads on chart position (#196 vs unranked). Phasetable's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Phasetable costs $14.99 and Sean's Strange Box $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Phasetable | Sean's Strange Box |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | — | #196 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christian Thompson | Irwin Eberhart |
In-app purchases
Phasetable
No in-app purchases
Sean's Strange Box
No in-app purchases









