Comparison

e vs PaSSBot

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

Head to head
About

e

Create retro-style music with a sampling keyboard featuring tempo-based looping. Record, manipulate, and play back samples with various effects and flexible playback modes. Integrate with other audio apps and control parameters via MIDI.

Highlights
  • Retro sampling keyboard
  • Tempo-based looping
  • Reverb, bit crusher, resonant filter
  • Multiple loop and start/stop modes
  • MIDI control and Core MIDI support
  • AUv3, Audiobus, Inter App Audio integration
Features
Read full description

Elsa is a retro style sampling keyboard with tempo based looping. Record, save, load, reverse samples with a multi octave on screen keyboard or plug in your core midi device of choice, soft- or hardware. Elsa comes with three built in effects, a reverb, a resonant filter and a sample rate/bit crusher. Samples are looped in three different modes, one off, forward and/or forward-reverse. The start and end of playback also comes in three modes, one set of start and stop for all, one set per note and/or one set per octave, allowing for many different types of samples. Additionally at playback time, sample length can also be controlled by a set of sample dividers, 1-8. Elsa supports connections with AudioCopy, AudioBus, Inter App Audio and AUv3. Plus all audio parameters can be modulated by MIDI. +++ Sample keyboard +++ Tempo based looping +++ ADSR +++ Bit/sample crush +++ Reverb +++ Resonant filter: low, band or high pass +++ Record, trim, normalise, reverse, zoom +++ Chromatic and scale keyboard +++ 3 loop modes (one off, forward, forward-reverse) +++ 3 start/stop modes (one for all, one per note, one per octave) +++ Playback length dividers (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) +++ Arpeggiator +++ Presets: save/load settings +++ Audio connections: AUv3, Audiobus, Inter App Audio +++ Midi: Core Midi, Bluetooth Midi, AUv3 Midi +++ Ableton Link

About

PaSSBot

This app is a stochastic filter bank audio processor for iPad, offering advanced sound manipulation with various filter types and powerful stochastic generators. It allows for precise control over filter parameters and harmonic distribution, ideal for creating complex audio textures.

Highlights
  • Stochastic filter bank audio processor
  • Multiple filter types (Biquad, Ladder, SEM, Resonators)
  • Up to 64 filters in stereo
  • Powerful stochastic generators
  • Individual filter parameter control
  • Harmonic distribution options
  • Precision DSP rendering (<1ms control rate)
Read full description

PaSSBot is a unique stochastic filter bank audio processor. The desktop VST/AU version of PaSSbot has already arrived in February 2020 and this iOS version is equivalent to the latest version 2.1. PaSSBot filter types are Biquad, StateVariableFilter, Ladder, SEM and Resonators. With behaviors of bandpass, Lo + Hipass, Notch and up to 64 of them in true stereo ! The user can set values of center frequency, gain and resonance of the each filter, which will be then eloborated with powerful stochastic generators ( 4 independent GENs for each filter ) with continuous or discrete probabilistic distributions but also with standard waveforms. One can set each filter parameters individually, but also distribute them in harmonic order, again the harmonic spread ratio can be set by the user or even can be modulated by a GEN. Precision DSP rendering, less than 1milisec. control rate precision. The filters can run continuously or be triggered manually. In that case, each filter will be applied an independent AR envelope with configurable random duration. Important notes : - A recent iPAD model is being recommended and also setting the host buffer size to 128 or higher greatly helps to the CPU needs which also heavily depends on the number of parallel filters being used. - The resonators can be sensitive to input signal level. - The PaSSBot manual can be found at this link. https://www.sonic-lab.com/PaSSBot_files/PassBot_manual.pdf sonicLAB PaSSBot youtube playlist : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0cOkraQHDYUoMG6BETTN1eGm-Kq5z0T

Screenshots

e4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: e at $5.99 against PaSSBot's $34.99. e also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and device support (3 vs 1). PaSSBot's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 87%). 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

e costs $5.99 and PaSSBot $34.99 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 — 4.9 for e against 5.0 for PaSSBot. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 8 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of e's written reviews are positive against 100% of PaSSBot's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

e ships an update every 3 weeks, PaSSBot every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
e versus PaSSBot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterePaSSBot
Price$5.99 — better$34.99
Rating4.9 (31 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings31 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS11.011.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperErik SigthSonicPlanet Audio Video Teknolojileri Anonim Sti.

Customer experience

e

All ratings31 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive87.1%
Neutral12.9%
Negative0.0%

PaSSBot

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

e

No in-app purchases

None

PaSSBot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is e free?
e costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PaSSBot free?
PaSSBot costs $34.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, e or PaSSBot?
PaSSBot is rated higher. e averages 4.9 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while PaSSBot averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do e or PaSSBot have ads?
Neither e nor PaSSBot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, e or PaSSBot?
e ships an update every 3 weeks, and PaSSBot every 4 months. Most recently, e was updated on September 30, 2026 and PaSSBot on October 5, 2026.

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