Comparison

RealPhase vs spectwhirl

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

Head to head
About

RealPhase

This app faithfully reproduces the sound of a legendary analog phaser pedal. It offers advanced modulation options, including barberpole effects and MIDI sync, for creating complex and rhythmic phasing sounds. Visualize real-time frequency response and enjoy exceptional multirate performance.

Highlights
  • Faithful reproduction of legendary phaser pedal
  • Composite LFOs and parallel phaser structures
  • Barberpole/Shepard phasing
  • Rhythmic pattern creation with LFO ratios
  • Mid-Side modes for stereo phasing
  • Real-time notch filter frequency visualization
  • MIDI note event reception for sync
Features
Read full description

Do you remember the single most iconic phaser you've ever heard? For the first time, there's a good chance of finding that exact sound captured in a plugin. FEATURES: • Faithful reproduction of a legendary 4-stage phaser pedal from the late 70's - early 80's • Complex effects can be built using composite LFO's, parallel phaser structures, as well as an independent modulation system for the sweep range • Barberpole or "Shepard" phaser included: infinitely rising / falling modulation that can optionally be combined with sweep range modulation • Strong, rhythmic / syncopated patterns can be created by configuring different LFO frequency ratios within the various modulation sources • Mid-Side modes allow adding special phasing effects to stereo sounds • Exact visualization of the notch filters' real-time frequency response, with different stereo options • Exceptional multirate performance: results are less sampling rate-dependent than what's currently available with most digital phasers (even from major manufacturers) • Designed to be an anthology app extensible with additional hardware-based or synthetic analog models in future MIDI NOTE EVENT RECEPTION: RealPhase can accept MIDI note messages, syncing an envelope-based modulation source to note on and off events. This makes it easy to use RealPhase as a powerful analog modeling OTA-based resonant notch filter with any synth or sampler. PLEASE NOTE: • An Audio Unit v3 compatible host app is required to use this plugin • Supported sampling rates: 44.1, 48, 96 kHz

About

spectwhirl

This audio effect app transforms input sound into new textures and bell-like tones by extracting and manipulating sinewave components. It offers advanced control over delay lines, frequency shifting, and filtering, with gesture recording for parameter automation.

Highlights
  • Sinewave component extraction and grouping
  • Delay lines with feedback
  • Frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects
  • Configurable filtering
  • Gesture recording for automation
  • Scene saving and management
Features
Read full description

"bells and whistles, literally" spectwhirl is a hybrid spectral audio effect. It can extract and rearrange sinewave components from input signal to make new sound textures and bell-like sounds. * input sound is converted to sinewave components that are divided into 4 groups: harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and other * each component is fed into a delay line with feedback * there is a group of frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects before and after delay lines * each set of sinewave components can be filtered * all the parameters can be instantly automated with gesture recording !!! Please note that this effect consumes much CPU and requires a modern device. ====================== Quick Start: Top row of controls enables different parts of user interface: scenes editor ("scene"), controls switch ("edit") and "zoom" controls When "edit" is switch on, you can show or hide various controls (marked as "ctrl") and switch gesture recording automation for some of them (marked with ">") Main control surface displays sonogram with tracked elements. Colors are set accordingly to the group they are assigned (red-orange-green-blue are for harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and others). Each "lane" contains delay time controls. * Triangle facing left is for the start locator, it determines initial delay time * Square moves both start and end locators together * When left locator is first moved you can see the right locator with the same triangle. It shows the end of the selected region, the secondary delay time is determined by the difference between left and right locators * if you drag over the area of the region in a lane, the four-dotted/one circle indicator will change its appearance; this changes the arpeggio mode of the region. If set to leftmost position (one circle) the components go in-sync; if set to maximum value (shown as diagonal line with circles) - components are played sequentially * all settings can be stored as "scene" and multiple scenes can be switched sequentially; there is a set of button to move, add and delete scenes. All scenes will be stored as machine state; it can be exported / imported as a single file or as separate file with current scene in the "setup" view The standalone version always starts with output level set to -70 dB to avoid feedback

Screenshots

RealPhase2 screens
spectwhirl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RealPhase at 100% against spectwhirl's 33%. RealPhase also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0). spectwhirl's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $14.99) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 14 months). On ratings volume, 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

RealPhase costs $14.99 and spectwhirl $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RealPhase holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of RealPhase's written reviews are positive against 33% of spectwhirl's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RealPhase ships an update every 14 months, spectwhirl every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
RealPhase versus spectwhirl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRealPhasespectwhirl
Price$14.99$4.99 — better
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings55
Update frequencyEvery 14 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperquantovoxAlexey Nadzharov

Customer experience

RealPhase

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

spectwhirl

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

RealPhase

No in-app purchases

None

spectwhirl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RealPhase free?
RealPhase costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is spectwhirl free?
spectwhirl costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RealPhase or spectwhirl?
RealPhase is rated higher. RealPhase averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while spectwhirl averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do RealPhase or spectwhirl have ads?
Neither RealPhase nor spectwhirl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RealPhase or spectwhirl?
RealPhase ships an update every 14 months, and spectwhirl every 5 weeks. Most recently, RealPhase was updated on September 15, 2026 and spectwhirl on September 24, 2026.

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