Comparison

Soundwaves vs VAPolyBass

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

Head to head
About

Soundwaves

This app connects your iOS device to your Subsonic music server, allowing you to stream audio and video content. It supports various audio formats and can also play movies, making it ideal for home theater setups or car audio systems.

Highlights
  • Connects to Subsonic music servers
  • Streams audio and video content
  • Supports FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis
  • Plays movies from server
  • Works with other Subsonic API servers
  • Adjustable max bit rate for limited connections
Features
Read full description

Soundwaves is a client for the Subsonic music server. Soundwaves focuses on simplicity, making it the ideal client to connect your iPad or iPhone to your home theater setup. Optionally setting a suitable max bit rate, enables Soundwaves to work well even over a bandwidth limited connection (e.g. a mobile connection). It will also play nicely with your car radio, connected via USB, Bluetooth or CarPlay. In addition to audio formats natively supported by iOS (e.g. mp3, AAC), Soundwaves can also play FLAC, Opus and Ogg Vorbis content. Soundwaves can also play movies from your Subsonic server, as long as they are in a supported format (.mov, .mp4, .mpv, .3gp) or a proper transcoding has been configured on the server. Soundwaves works with other media servers which implement the same Subsonic API's, such as Madsonic, Airsonic, Supysonic, LMS or Ampache. Note about privacy: tracking only happens when using the free, ad-supported version. Removing ads via the in-app purchase also stops tracking and data collection.

About

VAPolyBass

This app is a polyphonic synthesizer with a transistor ladder low pass filter, designed for use with a step sequencer. It offers multiple oscillators, effects, and MIDI support, functioning as a standalone application or an AudioUnit Extension.

Highlights
  • Polyphonic synthesizer
  • Transistor ladder low pass filter
  • Analog style step sequencer
  • Multiple oscillators and LFOs
  • Built-in effects (delay, chorus, reverb, etc.)
  • AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) support
  • MIDI 2.0 and Ableton Link support
Features
Read full description

VAPolyBass features -24 dB per octave transistor ladder low pass filter and it is designed for playing with step sequencer. This polyphonic synthesizer consists of three oscillators, resonant low pass filter resonant high pass filter, amplifier, ADSR envelope and five LFOs. VAPolyBass operates as a stand alone or as an AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Stand Alone supports Ableton Link, MIDI and audio file export. Built-in Effects include delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, eq and compressor. Project files can be saved in iCloud Drive, so that the project can be accessed from iPhone, iPad or Mac. Main Features - Polyphonic Synthesizer. - Lowpass filter modeled on -24dB per oct transistor ladder filter. - Analog style step sequencer. - Maximum 8 voice polyphony. it depends on performance of the device it is running. - Built-in effects and piano roll sequencer. - Audio Export. Linear PCM format (AIFF, WAV and CAF) and compressed format (AAC) - Support Audio Unit Extension (AUv3). - Support MIDI 2.0. Support Foot Pedal. - Support Ableton Link, Bluetooth MIDI, MIDI In / Out. - Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Support iCloud Drive to share project files between the platforms. - Factory Preset: 128, Effects: 40 Improvements - Support MIDI Foot Pedal (CC#11, CC#64) - MIDI CC Settings are saved. It will be recovered when the app launched in the next time. - UI Color can be selected from black, navy, gray or steel. System Requirements - iOS 17.0 or later - Devices with Apple Silicon are recommended. A13 Fusion or above is highly recommended. - AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) requires host application which support AudioUnit Extension. - AudioUnit Extension is supported by Apple Logic and Apple Garage Band on iOS and macOS. For any other DAW, it depends on the application and some of them don’t support AudioUnit Extension. - Sound may be distorted if CPU of the device doesn't have enough power. If it happens reduce number of voices.

Screenshots

Soundwaves1 screens
VAPolyBass4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Soundwaves at $3.99 against VAPolyBass's $14.99. Soundwaves also leads on ratings volume (12 vs 1). VAPolyBass's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (100% vs 60%). On update cadence, ads, monetization model and device support 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

Soundwaves costs $3.99 and VAPolyBass $14.99 up front. Soundwaves sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. VAPolyBass asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

VAPolyBass holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Soundwaves has 12 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Soundwaves's written reviews are positive against 100% of VAPolyBass's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Soundwaves versus VAPolyBass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoundwavesVAPolyBass
Price$3.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.1 (12 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimone TelliniRyo Togawa

Customer experience

Soundwaves

All ratings12 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive60.4%
Neutral12.5%
Negative27.1%

VAPolyBass

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Soundwaves

One-time1
  • Ads-free Edition$3.99
None

VAPolyBass

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Soundwaves free?
Soundwaves costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is VAPolyBass free?
VAPolyBass costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Soundwaves or VAPolyBass?
VAPolyBass is rated higher. Soundwaves averages 4.1 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while VAPolyBass averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Soundwaves or VAPolyBass have ads?
Neither Soundwaves nor VAPolyBass shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Soundwaves or VAPolyBass?
Soundwaves ships an update every 2 months, and VAPolyBass every 2 months. Most recently, Soundwaves was updated on November 9, 2026 and VAPolyBass on November 5, 2026.

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