Comparison

AD vs Vaporloop

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

Head to head
About

AD

This app emulates a classic 1983 micro synthesizer with modern enhancements like MPE and eight-voice polyphony. It offers a rich sound engine with multiple oscillators, filters, and a comprehensive drive section for unique sonic textures. Enjoy extensive modulation options and a built-in keyboard for immediate creativity.

Highlights
  • Eight-voice polyphony
  • MPE support
  • Classic four-pole lowpass filter
  • Comprehensive drive section
  • AUv3 and standalone operation
  • Preset manager with favorites
  • Built-in chicklet keyboard
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

We rebuilt the legendary micro composer of 1983, then gave it everything the original owners wished for: eight voices, MPE, a sequencer worthy of the name, and a couple of new dirty tricks. The voice is the one you know: a single fat oscillator with sawtooth and pulse (manual, LFO, or envelope PWM), a three-mode sub oscillator, and a noise source, mixed and driven into a classic four-pole lowpass filter. One snappy ADSR, switchable env/gate VCA, and an LFO with triangle, square, stepped random, and noise shapes, complete with onset delay, tempo sync, and retrigger. Portamento with the proper on/auto/off modes, and gate, gate+trig, and LFO trigger modes, exactly like the hardware. And the a sequencer: eight patterns of up to 64 steps, drawn right on the panel, with accent, slide, and octave per step, follow actions and repeats, swing, and tools to randomize in a key and scale, mutate, copy, and rotate. Play a pattern from a held key, transpose it from the keyboard, lock it while you browse presets, and run it from its own clock, the host transport, or an Ableton Link session in the standalone. Sequences save with your presets. • Eight-voice polyphony, or the original mono behavior with the flip of a switch • MPE support with per-note pitch bend and pressure, four aftertouch destinations (VCO mod, VCF mod, filter freq, LFO rate), and adjustable pressure smoothing • MTS-ESP microtonal tuning, retuned continuously while notes sound • SPREAD for stereo voice panning, and AGE, which drifts each voice like forty-year-old components • A full drive section: pre-filter saturation, filter drive, post-VCA distortion, and a tilt EQ • Velocity to filter and amp • A chicklet keyboard with latch and octave shift, playable right on the panel • Full preset manager with favorites and a factory bank • Five faceplate colors, including one for console cowboys • AUv3 and standalone, with an interface that fills whatever window your host hands it AD-202 works everywhere iOS makes noise: AUM, apeMatrix, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Cubasis, and any other AUv3 host, plus a standalone app with its own audio and MIDI settings, Ableton Link, and background audio. No subscriptions. No accounts. No nonsense. Buy it once, own it forever.

About

Vaporloop

Transform any audio into a unique generative instrument. Manipulate sound with granular time-stretching, independent pitch and tempo control, and a suite of character and mixing effects. Record and export your creations in various high-quality formats.

Highlights
  • Granular time-stretch engine
  • Independent pitch and tempo control
  • Tape wear and warble effects
  • Pitch and speed LFOs
  • Parametric EQ and reverb
  • Delay with tap tempo
  • Import various audio/video formats
  • Export WAV, MP3, AIFF
Features
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VAPORLOOP turns your audio into a generative instrument. Drop in a song, a voice memo, a field recording, or anything you screen-record — then set a loop and start mangling it. Built around a granular time-stretch engine, VAPORLOOP lets you slow a loop to a crawl without dropping the pitch, or shift the pitch two octaves without touching the tempo. The two are completely independent. When it finally sounds like something, hit record. VAPORLOOP captures the live performance — every knob move included — and saves it as WAV, MP3, or AIFF. THE ENGINE - Granular time-stretch — speed from 10% to 300%, pitch ±24 semitones, fully independent - Grain controls — size, density, interval rate, spray, and stereo spread - A/B loop points set by tap or dragged by hand, with pinch-to-zoom for fine editing - Reverse playback THE CHARACTER - Tape wear — jitter, mechanical noise, dirt, and dropouts - Warble — independent wow and flutter, each with rate and depth - Pitch LFO — sine, triangle, saw, square, and sample & hold - Speed LFO — sweep playback rate without touching pitch THE MIX - Four-band parametric EQ with a drag-to-shape response curve - Reverb with decay and size, up to cathedral-scale tails - Delay with tap tempo, note divisions, self-oscillating feedback, and its own time LFO WORKING - Import MP3, WAV, AIFF, M4A, FLAC, MOV, and MP4 - Share audio straight in

Screenshots

AD4 screens
Vaporloop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Vaporloop at $1.99 against AD's $6.99. Vaporloop also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). AD's advantage is chart position (#135 vs unranked) and ratings volume (12 vs 2). On update cadence, 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

AD costs $6.99 and Vaporloop $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vaporloop holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AD has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AD ships an update every 3 weeks, Vaporloop every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
AD versus Vaporloop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterADVaporloop
Price$6.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.7 (12 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#135 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAudio Damage, Inc.Scott Hsiung

Customer experience

AD

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Vaporloop

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

In-app purchases

None

AD

No in-app purchases

None

Vaporloop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AD free?
AD costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vaporloop free?
Vaporloop costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AD or Vaporloop?
Vaporloop is rated higher. AD averages 4.7 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Vaporloop averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do AD or Vaporloop have ads?
Neither AD nor Vaporloop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AD or Vaporloop?
AD ships an update every 3 weeks, and Vaporloop every 2 weeks. Most recently, AD was updated on October 3, 2026 and Vaporloop on October 1, 2026.

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