Soundwaves vs VAPolyBass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Soundwaves | VAPolyBass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (12 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Simone Tellini | Ryo Togawa |
Customer experience
Soundwaves
VAPolyBass
In-app purchases
Soundwaves
- Ads-free Edition$3.99
VAPolyBass
No in-app purchases









