Here is a long sound demo where you can hear KASPAR Synthesizer.
Conclusion for this new app from Yonac is mostly positive: KASPAR is an excellent sounding new iOS Synthesizer with a lot of sound design options. Especially the direct Audio Unit support gives you far more freedom how often and how you want to use KASPAR in your tracks. The multi-timbral 8 Synthesizer engine is in my opinion nothing completely new but deep enough to get a lot of new sounds of it. Even here some FM features are missing, the wide range of oscillator waveforms and filter types gives you a lot of sonic possibilities compared to more classical virtual analog synths.
I must admit here that I really like the design language of the Yonac team in this app because it’s very clever, intuitive and easy designed without having to much fear of the menus. KASPAR is a very deep and menu based synth but the interface is so good design that I doesn’t had big problems with it. The onboard effects have a good sound quality and gives you a lot of ways to refine your sounds. With a simple swipe to the left or right, you can change the routing of the effects very easy and the interface invite you to create big effects chains.
Not negative but some points where the app can be improved is the CPU consumption. The CPU consumption is quite high compared to other Synthesizers and this is why Yonac recommend the app only to users of an iPad Air , iPad Pro, iPad Mini 2 or newer. When, I play 4 notes on my iPad Air 2, the CPU bar goes from 35% to 50% but this depends very on the chosen patch. Also as mention already I would like to see FM features and more modulation options to absolutely confirm that this is a massive SuperSynthesizer for iOS. Even if I felt in love with the interface design, I would like to see in future a little helpful GUI for the EQ.
In summary, I can say that KASPAR Synthesizer is a very deep and versatile new multi-timbral Synthesizer for iOS. With an easy-to-use interface, it invite you to create multi-layered sounds in a very intuitive way. Even if KASPAR is announced as SuperSynthesizer, it is in my opinion not yet this absolute best monster Synth on iOS. If the developer will add some more features to this synth in future, it’s possible that KASPAR becomes one of the best synths on iOS. Let’s see what they bring to it in future.
Check out here the KASPAR video review with additional sounds
Available here: Yonac KASPAR Synthesizer
Just picked it up. Hoping for FM and MPE support in future.
Hope also 🙂 Thanks for your input 🙂
This seems to be a very similar model to the Layr synth. Is there a lot of overlap, or do they occupy unique territory?
The interface is in my opinion easier made here than in LayR. Not the biggest fan of the interface of LayR. On the synthesis side, LayR is deeper but KASPAR offers a wide range of waveforms and filters which can be used also for new sounds.