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Sparkle, iPulsaret, or Stria?
I’m trying to decide on one of these to get, I already have iDensity and looking to see which one would be most different from iDensity because they all appear to be pretty similar to me but I don’t know enough to make that judgement. I know there are bundles but I can only get one of them for now
Comments
They're all pretty different from anything else.
Sparkle does cross-synthesis, which can create sounds like nothing else. I'd say it is the most sonically different.
Stria looks really neat but I don't know it. It seems the most different in terms of its controller.
I actually haven't dived into ipulsaret at all. Stria and Sparkle are as different as it's possible to be! Stria is great, it's deep, check out the video I did on it maybe. You need at least a basic grasp of music theory to enjoy using it though, I'd say. Sparkle is pretty interesting but I need to spend more time with it, haven't used it much so far.
@Gavinski that was a really great video, Stria looks incredible. I’ve been wanting to do more drone type stuff and experimenting with harmonies I don’t often use and this looks perfect for that. Thankfully I know quite a lot of theory so this is spot on what I’m looking for
@mojozart I really like what Sparkle can do after looking into it more, it’s really unique and would be awesome for sound design
I’ll probably end up going from just getting one to getting the rest of the apesoft apps I don’t have lol
I think the apesoft apps are all no-brainer purchases, as long as you have the time and patience to learn how to use them. What a dev!
... get Möbius Lab? …
The answer to you question for me is “and” rather than or. Different enough from each other and must haves if you dig iDensity.
Yeah, just get everything ape and Amazing Noises related!
SamplR and Sparkle are still my (personal) top scorers of iconic IOS sound design tools.
Sparkle becomes challenging when a tonal (scaled musical) result is intended, but it's highly inspiring and rewarding.
Another vote for Sparkle in terms of difference. Of course, this is all academic. You will get all eventually.
It’s inevitable...
Whoops, I only need to get iPulsaret and ape delay, and the reverb from amazing noises now. Oh and the accordion, which I’ll definitely buy. Stria and Sparkle are absolutely nuts!
+1 on the thought that each of the three are different from anything else – including iDensity. I would suggest looking at your question through the lens of what unique strengths they would each bring to your setup.
Here are the things that most often make me reach for each:
iPulsaret: advanced granular techniques (far beyond all the other iOS granular synths), makes it easy to sculpt extremely complex evolving timbres (with all the different kinds of granular textures) . Extremely powerful when working with samples and live input, but also fantastic with the different built-in oscillators. IMO it's the most flexible of the bunch, but YMMV.
Stria: Advanced FM (and additive synthesis) techniques (of a kind that you can't easily achieve with any other iOS FM synth — and can be hard to replicate even in fully modular environments.) It brings a unique and extremely powerful workflow to sculpting really complex spectrum full of unusual overtones that constantly evolve. I especially like it for drones that have really unusual, evolving overtones. (It gets my vote for best iOS experimental drone synth.)
Sparkle: Cross synthesis. This one is to experiment with creating hybrids out of the spectrum of different sound sources. It's a bit (to simplify) like a super high resolution vocoder that uses samples (or live input) as both carrier and modulator.
Really good explanations, thank you. Those apps are so complex and I’m a bit of a noob still so that helped a lot. I did end up getting Sparkle and Stria so far and they’re both incredible and I’m sure I’ll end up with iPulsaret by tonight. Seriously one of the best developers on iOS, once I got over being so intimidated by the apps I already had I’m starting to really get some crazy unique stuff out of everything. Even mood does shit I could never get happening on my hardware Model D
I have and love them all, they're all completely different. If you're making a choice between those three apps then you have to consider your usage scenario. I'm primarily interested in live input processing. As @ohwell mentioned, iPulsaret is the only one of the three that will do that. Sparkle will work on recorded audio; Stria will not. I use iPulsaret the most...
I wouldn’t mind an in depth video of Sparkle (not looking at anyone @Gavinski )
The ones on YT are a bit limited IMO.
I'm sure I will at some point! @despego
@Gavinski plz a video, thread got me interested
@rcf Sparkle does process life audio input (selectable for the screen left section), just the 'modulating' part is based on an audio file (with selectable area).
Ah, thanks for that correction; I'd forgotten.
🙏
Forgive me for bumping an old thread, but how do these (and iDensity) stack up in 2023 with all 4 of them being AUs now?
They’re all pretty amazing, though I’ve not really delved into Sparkle and iPulsaret (time, mostly). I’ve spent more time with Stria, and love the kind of things it produces. That said, I’ve watched @Gavinski ’s video at least twice, maybe more, and I still don’t really know what I’m doing with it.
iDensity is the one I use most, particularly because it gets me into similar territory to Morphagene (Eurorack module). Not identical, obviously, and mainly the granular stuff - Morphagene does slicing etc as well. But way cheaper!
How are they as AUs? I'm going to be using them in GarageBand
I’m not sure how well they’d work in GB. Hopefully someone with some experience of them in that context will show up soon! I use them in AUM. I’ve just checked and they all work with MIDI input
One thing to note about iDensity is that the AU is one instance, unlike the stand-alone which allows 6 to run at once. Of course you can just run multiple instances of the AUv3 if you want.
Yeah, I'd be running multiple instances anyway so no biggie. Sparkle and Stria both seem hella interesting . I love Apesoft all around, as I REALLY vibe with the interface. Them, Bram, and Iceworks all get used a bunch in my band's music along with BLEASS Omega.
I would suggest getting 1/2 now and waiting on a sale for the rest if you can. ApeSoft usually do a winter sale every year I believe.
From the ones you mentioned, Stria and iDensity are also my 2 favorites.
"+ Up to 240 Frequency Modulation Oscillators or simple Wavetable Additive"
Ok Stria has to be one of them!!!!
From looking into it , Stria and Sparkle are going to be the two I’ll get for the end of month sale ApeSoft does every year . It’ll be as good a time as any to return to my experimental roots.
I wonder when (or if…) we’ll get more ApeSoft apps. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything , like 3 or so years . Them and Iceworks are the ones I’m awaiting the most ( and Bram but thankfully he’s quite active so no worries there)
I don’t think there will be any new apesoft apps. The developer joined. forces with a couple of other devs to form a new company
https://aqusmatiq.com/
Yeah I remember seeing that a while back and kind assumed Apesoft may just go into maintenance mode. I just hope they haven’t abandoned iOS as a platform altogether. Those and the Amazing Noises apps still get updated and they’re still responsive to questions which is a good sign.