Comparison

RTA vs EQ550

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

Head to head
About

RTA

Analyze audio frequencies, test speakers, and tune rooms with this professional-grade acoustical analysis tool. It offers octave and 1/3 octave modes, peak hold, and averaging, with automatic microphone compensation for accurate results.

Highlights
  • Real-time acoustical analysis
  • Octave and 1/3 Octave modes
  • Peak Hold and Average modes
  • Automatic microphone compensation
  • Save, recall, and export graphs
  • Interactive touch GUI
  • Noise curve overlays
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A Real Time Analyzer for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Test your speakers, tune your room, do acoustical analysis work or just have a better understanding of audio frequencies. RTA is a professional-grade acoustical analysis tool. All filters meet or exceed ANSI and IEC Class 1 specifications. Includes Octave and 1/3 Octave modes, with selectable decay times, as well as Peak Hold and true linear Average mode. *** iOS Microphones We have analyzied every iOS device, including all of the iPads, all iPhones, and iPod touches, and have created microphone compensation files that are applied automatically. You can trust the results you are getting, often within just a few dB of a far more expensive analyzer. Calibration is updated regularly, automatically, from our cloud-based calibration database. Upgrade to our iTestMic or iAudioInterface2 to bring your system up to full professional specs. *** Save and Recall Graphs You can save and recall graphs, marked with the GPS location, date & time, and your comment, as well as store the image to your photo roll. Export the data as an XLS formatted file to your computer for inclusion in reports or further analysis. *** Max and Min Bars You can also turn on resettable Max/Min bars (see image #4) to capture peaks. Double-tap to reset the bars. *** Specifications and Devices The internal iPhone mic has a noise floor near 30 dB, and if your are running iOS 6, clips around 120 dB. *** Touch GUI Fully interactive touch GUI features includes scroll up/down, pinch to zoom or compress the vertical dB scale, or swipe horizontally to get a cursor that reads out the exact dB level and frequency across the screen. To make the cursor disappear, swipe it off the graph to the left. The landscape-mode display flips 180 degrees so that you can face the internal mic in either direction. *** Overlay Curves Also included are optional noise curve overlays, in NCB, RC, PNC, NC, X-Curve and NR mode. See picture #2 for an example. Use this feature to get a quick reading on the noise levels in a room. Also includes the cinema large-room X-curve overlay. *** Calibration RTA can be fully calibrated, whether you are using it with the internal iOS microphone, or one of our professional test & measurement mic solutions. And, if you are using iTestMic, the mic calibration is transmitted directly to the app, so you are always calibrated. *** RTA or FFT? If you are wondering if you should download this app or our FFT app, check out our website, we have a page devoted to this topic. See our other acoustics and audio apps, including AudioTools.

About

EQ550

This audio effect plugin emulates classic American EQs from the late 1960s, offering precise control over equalization with unique Proportional Q technology. It functions as a standalone app or an AUv3 plugin for compatible hosts, providing a flexible and characterful sound shaping experience.

Highlights
  • Standalone and AUv3 plugin
  • 3 bands of classic American equalization
  • Proportional Q filter bandwidth
  • Stereo, Mid, or Side EQ modes
  • Undo/Redo and A/B comparison
  • Scalable GUI
Read full description

EQ550 AUv3 plug-in — comes as time-limited Demo-version for you to try. It gives you 5 minutes of Free play time. (You can reload the EQ550 AUv3 plug-in as many times as you want, thereby you get the Demo period again and again.) Unlimited version of EQ550 AUv3 plug-in comes as In-App Purchase. The EQ550 faithfully captures the punch, low-frequency transparency, and ultra-tight imaging of iconic American EQs of the late 1960’s. Making use of Proportional Q intuitively widens the filter bandwidth at minimal settings and narrows it at higher settings without the need for additional bandwidth controls. This unique feature minimizes the «phase-shift» sound found in many equalizers. Features: • Standalone and AUv3 plug-in; • 3 bands of classic American equalization; • Each band offers 7 selected frequency centers; • Maximum 15dB of boost/cut per band; • EQ Band 1 and 3 offer shelf/peak switching; • Proportional Q narrows filter Q at extremes; • Stereo (Mono), Mid or Side EQ modes; • Undo/Redo; • A/B comparison; • 2x/4x/8x Upsampling; • Macro controllers; • Built-in Gain Match; • Scalable GUI. The EQ550 provides reciprocal equalization at 21 points in 5 steps of boost to a maximum of 15dB of gain at each point. The twenty one equalization points are divided into three overlapping ranges. The high and low frequency ranges are individually selectable as either peaking or shelving, and a band-pass filter may be inserted independently of all other selected equalization settings. Frequency ranges and boost/cut are selected by switches, and a pushbutton «IN» switch allows the EQ to be silently introduced to the signal path. A small toggle switch is used to insert the band-pass filter into the EQ550. The EQ550 extends the features of the original hardware and joins the flexibility of the digital world to the character of the analog processing. Allows you to choose between equalizer modes (Stereo, Mid, Side) and remove analogue saturation from the processing circuit to deliver pure digital sound. To use EQ550 as a plug-in, you need an AUv3-compatible host app like GarageBand, Auria, AUM, Cubasis and more — EQ550 will appear in the list of Audio Unit extensions for effect plug-ins in the host app.

Screenshots

RTA4 screens
EQ5504 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: EQ550 at Free against RTA's $4.99. EQ550 also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). RTA's advantage is review sentiment (61% vs 33%) and chart position (#118 vs unranked). 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

EQ550 is free to download; RTA costs $4.99 up front. RTA sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and EQ550 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EQ550 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 11 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 61% of RTA's written reviews are positive against 33% of EQ550's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RTA ships an update every 3 months, EQ550 monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RTA versus EQ550: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRTAEQ550
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (27 ratings)4.5 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings27 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#118 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew SmithRRS, OOO

Customer experience

RTA

All ratings26 ratings
Positive73.1%
Neutral11.5%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive61.0%
Neutral11.0%
Negative28.0%

EQ550

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

RTA

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • App crashes after iOS updates (iOS 13, 15, 16, 17, 18)
  • App freezes or crashes on startup
  • App only displays half the screen
  • App does not save analysis readings to photo roll
  • App stops working on older iPads after updates
Show 13 more
  • Accessory found/removed loop with iTestMic 2
  • App continues to run in background, draining battery
  • Calibration not supported for specific iPad models
  • App not installing after purchase/update
  • App not opening on iPhone 4 after update
  • dB/input level is useless after update
  • Screen not expanding after updates
  • App not compatible with iOS 7
  • App crashes when saving screen
  • App not working with iMM-6 microphone
  • App overcompensates for low frequencies
  • App crashes on 3G S after update
  • Low frequency response cut due to voice recognition

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add German language support
  • Add NC and NR curves
  • Make background mode optional
  • Improve compatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Add option to overlay readings
Show 3 more
  • Add zoom functionality for frequencies
  • Improve calibration for external mics
  • Add pink noise output

EQ550

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

RTA

One-time2
  • STC -- Transmission Loss$9.99
  • Reference Curve Files$9.99
1 purchases

EQ550

One-time1
  • RRS EQ550 Unlimited$4.99

Questions

Is RTA free?
RTA costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is EQ550 free?
EQ550 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RTA or EQ550?
EQ550 is rated higher. RTA averages 4.0 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while EQ550 averages 4.5 from 11 ratings.
Do RTA or EQ550 have ads?
Neither RTA nor EQ550 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RTA or EQ550?
RTA ships an update every 3 months, and EQ550 monthly. Most recently, RTA was updated on October 27, 2026 and EQ550 on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons