Plugin comparison
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
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Contenders
Sugar Bytes Graindad is a real-time granular effect that records incoming audio and rebuilds it from up to 64 grains, driven by transients, clock or MIDI.
Portal is a granular synthesis FX plugin from Output that transforms any audio input into playable, musical granular effects.
Technical matrix
| Signal | Sugar Bytes Graindad | Portal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €99 | $149 |
| Dubspot Score | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Formats | AU, VST2, VST3, AAX, Standalone, AUv3 (iPadOS) | VST, VST3, AU, AAX |
| Type | Real-time granular effect | — |
| Grain engine | Up to 64 simultaneous grains, 12 main controllers | — |
| Grain actions | Loop, stutter, time-stretch, pitch-shift, reverse, harmonize | — |
| Triggering | Host clock, MIDI note, or transient detection | — |
| Modulation | Harvester system, step sequencers, LFO, envelope, wide randomization | Scale-based pitch modulation, Time Stretch, Pitch Shift, and Humanize controls |
| Effects | Filters (LP/BP/HP/band-reject), reverbs (HQ, spring, shimmer), delay, chorus, flanger | — |
| macOS formats (64-bit) | AU, VST2, VST3, AAX, standalone (Intel and Apple Silicon) | — |
| Windows formats (64-bit) | VST2, VST3, AAX, standalone | — |
| iPadOS | AUv3 | — |
| Operating system | macOS 10.13 or later; Windows 7 or later | — |
| Presets | — | 250+ presets for instant playability |
| Control | — | Circular XY control linked to granular parameters |
| Built-in FX | — | 7 built-in FX plus a master compressor and filter |
| Time manipulation | — | Powerful time manipulation engine with tempo-synced grain delay |
| Apple Silicon | — | Native Apple Silicon compatibility (M1, M2 and beyond) as of v1.2.0 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.