It’s easy to tell this app has … seniority, to use a polite term. It faithfully recreates the look, feel, and functions of the web version, bringing the powerful sound triggering and mixing and editing capabilities to my phone. My soundsets and campaigns are synced well, and it’s impressive how much flexibility is packed into this small form factor. But in the end, I can’t use it. Whatever system APIs they had to contort and bend to make all of this sound engineering go are either not modern or not standard. Sound does not persist in the background; pulling down my control center or locking the screen unceremoniously cuts off whatever is playing. More crucially, sound is not routed in such a way to let iOS know anything is actually playing, meaning I can’t AirPlay my soundscapes to my TV / sound system, or cast them to my DM’s chromecast, or punt them over to a bluetooth speaker. And there’s no Apple TV app on offer, so in the end there’s no way to get these lovely noises to my speakers. While running this system on a phone is impressive and neat, actually using it in a real world setting is not something I can do right now.
The app is interesting, but the ui and ux is terrible. This things needs a redesign and a way to register and manage your account from within the mobile app itself. The website is also not mobile friendly and totally breaks when viewing on a mobile device, making registration (and doing anything else on a mobile browser) nearly impossible. Having to jump through hoops to set up a subscription via the web app is also annoying. Let me manage my account and services all in one place! Finally, the organization of the audio sound sets is bogus. I had to figure out that each sound set uses the abbreviation of the adventure module before the name of the sound set. This should be much better organized (maybe by category like the web app?) and the filter needs to be cleaned up. I can’t recommend this unless this app is entirely rebuilt using modern software architecture approaches. I shouldn’t have to jump between two different apps to use this product.
So while I enjoy the desktop version of Syrinscapes, at least the iOS phone app is so glitchy it won’t even work. The screen is not designed for the size of the phone screen so trying to adjust the volume closes the app and names are partially cut off on the left side of the screens (shrinking the size in setting helped a bit but even at its lowest you don’t have great functionality). Pair that with the fact that half the time I couldn’t even get the sounds to actually play and I just can’t recommend this version of the app until it is better designed for iOS. But do by all means use the desktop version. That one works much better.
Awesome app. Love that each sound can be individually adjusted for volume to create custom moods. Also really cool to have a few free sound sets to give users a sample and a feel for the app. Great for GM’s who want to easily set the mood in their campaigns. A couple things that would make this app more user friendly and would increase to 4 or even 5 stars. 1. The app doesn’t run in the background, so music and sounds stop when switching between other apps. Forcing me to use multiple devices to run games as I use other apps for notes, NPCs, initiative tracking etc. 2. The app has an extensive list of ALL the sound sets offered, and no way to filter that list. If you have purchased a sound set that appears at the bottom of the list you have to scroll all the way through every time. Would be great to have a filter to narrow the list making sets easier to find in game. 3. If using the app on your iPhone, make sure your silence switch is turned to the ringer position, otherwise you can’t hear anything, and turn on do not disturb mode. Admittedly this isn’t that big of a deal but took me awhile to figure out. I always have my phone on silent mode.
I've been using Syrinscape for 2 years now for my weekly Pathfinder game. The atmospheric sounds are absolutely amazing. Players walk in to a quiet tavern and the sound of a crackling fire, a hushed conversation and a chair being moved fills the air. The local drunk shoots off his mouth and at the click of a button the bar brawl sounds erupt and swords start flying. Using the Windows version of the app has one major advantage over the iPhone in that the iPhone doesn't support surround sound. That of course is not the fault of the developer. Having the app on my phone is great for any pickup game or at next Convention.
Nothing like having a app crash when trying to download your product over 100 soundsets that are now useless to me . And all the tech support can say is buy a new iPad or use a computer must be nice to make such statements when the world is in a pandemic not to hard to make a realistic compatibility chart of devices if you decide to buy and not do the subscription service make sure it will really work with your device. It’s beyond frustrating to have a smart phone loose sound if you want to use your phone to look up rules or change led lights during games I guess the makers think everyone can afford multiple devices to run a sound app I love the sound and potential of this yet ghe customer service of there lack off has left a bad after taste in my mouth
Great App for those that want to add some immersion to their Fantasy Tabletop RPG games. Great looping sound clips, can add or diminish sounds per desired environment, and can even switch from 1 Sound Set to another without a break in what is already playing to add sounds as it pertains to "world" . Give it a 4 out of 5, only in that it would be cool to be able to integrate your own sound bytes...perhaps even adding something like GarageBand to make your own and import. Also is easy to use but could use bit of fixes to interface for those needing descriptors etc on how to work it. Overall, excellent App and concept...wonder if Wil Wheaton might use on Tabletop sometime! :)
There is no way to register in the app! You can submit fake log in info at which time the app asks if you have registered. How? There is no option. I did find if you go to App Store and click on the problem with the app link it takes you to a website in which you can register. Not user friendly, especially if the developers are trying to make some $. Downloading free content? Fine. Want to buy something? Jump through hoops that are not readily visable.
The app is great and is amazing for creating ambiance during gameplay. However my biggest frustration is that when I am running it on my iPhone X or iPad Pro, the volume control is right where the home screen swipe bar is. I can mitigate this a little by increasing the view size, but it’s still right there and because the sounds close when you leave the app, creates irritating moments of the sounds stopping. Please update to add a full screen setting that will disable the home screen bar and the app will be perfect. :)
It's okay. Mostly due to the limited audio output of the device, although the soundtracks themselves could use a bit more volume. I just got the app free today, it had two 'soundtracks' which are pretty nice and customizable. It does appear that you'll have to order the other tracks to build up your library... I didn't have any issues with the email registration (just confirms the email address) then downloaded the free tracks. Took a while with my connection to download everything. After connecting to an external speaker it's not too bad.
Their best app yet! Perfect for new or old ttrpg players! Whether your running a game as the GM/DM, or just wanting to bring a bit of spice to the table as a player, this app is such a valuable tool! Yes you do have to make an account, but it’s so that you can keep up with your sounds across the platform! There’s enough free options for a basic ttrpg session, and there’s a plethora of other downloadable options at a decent price! The account is free! You have no reason not to use this app!
I think that this app is great, it is so much easier to create a fitting ambiance than making 10 different playlists and hoping they work for every nuanced scenario. One thing I think they could do to improve this app would be allowing the music to play in the background when the app isn’t open, like relax melodies does. I often keep a lot of my info for my campaign on my iPad and as this app stand I can’t switch over to reference something without the music pausing.
This app is simply not optimized for an iphone, maybe other devices are better suited but the display doesn't format correctly to fit my screen. The devs seem to have attempted to force the format of the browser player into a mobile app but the proportions get skewed to the point unuseability. Secondly, the app does not continue playing in background so you cannot close the app or have autolock on without risking death to your party's immersion. These fixes will drastically improve the app. Looking at other reviews it seems that this has been an issue for years that has not been addressed. *** Additional info: I prefer the app to running syrinscape off my laptop because the stereo speakers I use (JBL partyboost) only work on a phone. This is another product review I'm about to write... :(
I run games constantly, and a I play games all the time. I will use this app for both. Not only can I use this app to skyrocket the immersion/emotion/tension of a scene, but I can add sound effects as events happen, and even bring sound effects for when I play to inject more fun into the adventure. Sound does amazing things for gaming, and I think everyone who loves to game can only enhance their game with this.
Just downloaded this app as I am a HUGE boardgame fan and have quite a collection on the go between my partner and I, the only thing that ever lacks though is a great soundtrack to play in the background. So 1 hour now after downloading this app and I am STILL trying to enter my login details to access the app but it keeps on freezing up. Even tried clicking on the "Not now" option which took me to a download progress bar, but alas, it has frozen on the as well. Please dev team. Take a look at this and fix it please. Would really like to give this app a go. Looking forward to your reply.
Only a good app for DMs too lazy to put any of their own work into creating a soundboard. Yes, if you take the creative cloud subscription, it may be good for using custom music (because honestly their preset things are pretty bad) but otherwise it’s useless. I’d personally just customize my own soundboard and use that since music is really all you need to create a good atmosphere for a tabletop RPG. Overall, if you want to spend a fortune on your D&D music for something that’s relatively easy to manually make? Have fun? But as for me, I’ll just stick with the AudioBoard app and use my own music and soundboard without a need for a subscription.
Very simply, this is the best soundboard out there for Fantasy RPGs. In many cases you can click one button and not have to look at it again for the whole scene unless something major happens. Many of the latest Pathfinder and D&D adventures have pre-set soundsets so that this is very easy to use. My players love the sounds and it really does take our game to the next level.
It amazes me that, after all these years, the interface for this app is still so horribly designed. Many of the controls are located right on the edge of the screen, some are even cut off by the edge. Attempting to use these controls is difficult at best, often activating some of the iOS gestures. How has Syrinscape not kept up with this App as newer phones and iOS updates have released? It’s inexcusable.
The UI for this app is terrible. Menus getting stuck, endless scrolling to find anything, no way to manage download queue. Even the website on mobile doesn’t respond to screen size of the phone. I’ll find another way to add audible ambience to my games.
With all the apps and tools available to a DM it’s wild to me that you would insist on the sound effects and music only playing while the app is open. I have spells to look up, I have hp to track and notes to find. I can’t use this very well done app and be a useful DM at the same time. If it could continue to play in the background it would really change everything in my game. Other than that, you guys desperately need to update for iPhone X. Please consider allowing the sounds to play in the background.
Just downloaded and tested it. It seems to be a pretty good app. The only problem I have is the font size. It's too small to easily read. I'm currently in a well lit area so I imagine that if I tried to use it where I play, where the lighting isn't ideal, the app text would be impossible to read. If you make the font size readable to my old eyes I'll give you five stars.
The sound effects that Syrinscape offers are great. However, the app that delivers them is deeply flawed. Major issues include: - Tiny font and buttons, positioned near the edge of the screen, making them hard to reliably activate. - No background playback or integration with system wide audio controls. Audio playback is the app’s primary function. How can the developers not have enabled standard playback controls? - No support for split screen or multitasking. If you want to use your device for Syrinscape, that’s the only thing you can do with it. Change to another app, and audio playback stops. Turn your screen off, audio stops. I signed up for a subscription with them to access various sound packs, but will be cancelling after the first month due to poor implementation.
I liked this app, but stopped using it after a couple of games I DM. The reason is I use Lion’s Den Fight Club with Apple TV to project characters to a TV, and want to stream the audio as well. This app doesn’t support background audio (that I can tell) so the audio stops if it’s not the front most app. I now use Table Top audio via Safari because it works the way I need.
I’ve really liked this program…until now. First issues came about when the only form of purchasing a sound set was through PayPal (a horrible thieving company). Now, I just reloaded the app after iOS 17 (doing a clean phone restart) and found many sounds have been removed from the app!?! Some were free from prior years others from purchases packs. I’m really saddened that this is the direction this company is going.
This tool would be great if all of the sound-sets weren’t exorbitantly expensive. For most of them you will be paying $5 for roughly a dozen audio clips that may or may not already be contained in already owned sound-sets, most of which, you probably won’t use. If the SoundSets were $1, or even $2, I would happily give this app five stars. As it is, it’s highway robbery and just not worth the money that you would need to spend to have a decent selection of audio clips.
This app is a great idea and functions well. It's also aesthetically pleasing in its art. The only problem is the actual sounds and music. They're kind of mediocre. The spell sounds are great, but rather long, and the music is mostly just a bunch of growls and roars. It would've been nice to have more music types for various settings one might find in an RPG, such as a tavern, town, forest, and dungeon.
Ben - another request for allowing music to play when the screen locks :) probably harder to do than we all think but a worthy goal none the less! Still I do have a 6 ft power cord for the iPad and use it most sessions and enjoy the added immersion it provides.
While the sound effects are ok, the app itself is difficult to even scroll through. The awkward and clunky interface takes a lot of time to fiddle with even when it’s the only thing I’m trying to do, it would be impossible to run a game of D&D and use this app. If it gets a little more polished in the future, I’d love to give this another chance. But for now it’s a hard pass.
Used this last night for D&D and it has to be one of the best mobile soundboards I've used. Having to register on my laptop is a minor inconvenience, not worth docking any stars for though.
It won’t open the side panel to let me access other sound sets. It starts to slide open but only goes a little bit and closes back up every time I try. It only worked once. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard their sounds and they’re great, but what good is it if I can’t access 99% of it’s content?
There's no button to click to register within the app. Maybe there was when you first launch it after downloading but there is definitely none after that. There is only login. This is a huge oversight and should prob be fixed.
Good fun to use and immersive but changing tabs on the phone is to hard and unreliable I have to click and drag to swipe right hold my finger down and do it four more times in order to change atmosphere would love to see its sinsitivity toned better.
Great idea, crams a lot of content in. The most recent update has added every sound set to the sidebar, including ones I don't own. This means I have to scroll through a ton of content to find the stuff I've purchased. Cluttered and annoying. It'd be a 4 star app if it wasn't for that. Huge drawback.
I would really love to use this application, but there doesn't seem to be any way to sign up to get any more moods be on the initial two that you get. I tried looking in other places and nothing seems to give me any hints on how to use it on the iPad
There is no option for me to create an account to use the app, if I click not now, the app crashes. Also the page is too big for my screen so I can’t see some of the apps content at the top of the page. Was really hoping to use this app for DND
This is a brilliant application. I'm so excited using this in my gaming. But I also use this when I'm working or just around the house doing chores and I cannot pay attention to news or Audible content. It's fun listening to the tavern noises or listening to the town or traveling down a river. This has so many uses. I love it
I think this app is great for immersion in tabletop games. I like all the settings you can change like volume and toggle buttons. The UI is a little bit weird and kind of finnicky but otherwise great app.
This app is currently useless on the iPhone. I can’t hit play or start or adjust the volume. They are too far at the edge of the screen so the screen just swipes but not the volume. Great program and have to go back to using my laptop, but this app is broken!
Sound is great, selection is great, UI is horrible
Subject says it all. The user interface feels like it came from a 1998 Gameboy. If they update the interface then I’ll give this a 5. But for now it’s just not usable.
I really wanted to give this app a chance, so I went through the completely unnecessary and time-wasting sign up process, and clicked on the email link. But the app would not accept my new sign-in information. Then I remembered I did not need to let my time be wasted by clueless developers, so I deleted the app.
This adds sooo much to our pathfinder games! I love that there are built in sets for different adventure paths! Just wish there was one for Curse of the Crimson Throne...
Navigation on the iPhone is practically impossible. I can’t get to the sets I’ve purchased. I can never figure out how to get the right sounds to play when I get lucky either.
I can’t have the app playing in the background and use anything else to actually run the game. So every time i switch screens sound stops. This makes the app un-usable for me.
I LOVE this idea but it needs work. No sound on my iPad at all, plays on my galaxy but I can’t login. I try to reset my password and it does but it won’t tell me what the new password is. Hopefully they read this and fix it.
A great idea poorly executed the user interface is so finicky I couldn’t even navigate the sounds. Gave up after a few minute of just trying to swipe open the sidebar menu.
The soundtrack to your gaming world, Syrinscape creates immersive sound design and a movie-like soundtrack for tabletop games. Transform your next role-playing or tabletop gaming session. Syrinscape is a revolutionary sound design app created in Australia by tabletop role-playing aficionados. The app conjures every aural landscape imaginable, from ethereal forests or dank, vermin-filled dungeons to the spooky depths of the underworld. Unlike other soundboard-style apps, Syrinscape uses adaptable libraries of sound files – SoundSets – to improvise soundscapes, allowing users a great degree of control over what they are hearing, while requiring almost no interaction while the app runs. The Syrinscape Fantasy Player app is optimized for iPad, giving users the ability to playback Syrinscape SoundSets with a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. All the fantasy SoundSets you buy from the Syrinscape Store are available across all your devices, so you can pick up whichever device is to hand and immerse yourself in whatever sound world you desire. Plug this into some big speakers at your next game and blow your player's minds!