RTA vs Octave RTA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Octave RTA
This real-time audio analysis app provides precision measurement and visualization for sound. It's designed for musicians and recording engineers, but useful for anyone interested in sound, especially for room or speaker tuning.
- Full, 1/3, and 1/6 Octave analysis
- Adjustable FFT Size
- Fast, Slow, and Infinite Averaging
- Flat, A, and C weighted modes
- Snapshot overlay for comparison
- Lock mode for peak band tracking
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***** "I use this app when sound checking, does the job, nice & simple to use, can't fault it." - Colin Challinor Octave RTA is a powerful real-time audio analysis app. Designed with musicians and recording engineers in mind, it can also be used by anyone interested in the world of sound. Ideal for room tuning or speaker tuning, the app enables portable, precision audio measurement and visualization. Feature Highlights: ● Full, 1/3 and 1/6 Octave ● FFT Size (2048 to 16384 points) ● Fast, Slow (exponential) and Infinite Averaging ● Toggle between Flat, A and C weighted modes ● Snapshot overlay for quick comparison ● Lock mode to auto track peak band ● Pan to adjust visible dB range ● iPhone X ready Audio credits: "Basement Floor" and "Enchanted Journey" by Kevin MacLeod
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Octave RTA at none against RTA's 2. Octave RTA also leads on rating (4.4 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (81% vs 61%). RTA's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 17 months) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). On ads and device support 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
RTA costs $4.99 and Octave RTA $9.99 up front. RTA sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Octave RTA asks for nothing beyond the download.
Octave RTA holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Octave RTA has 154 ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of RTA's written reviews are positive against 81% of Octave RTA's.
RTA ships an update every 3 months, Octave RTA every 17 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | RTA | Octave RTA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (27 ratings) | 4.4 (154 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.0% of reviews | 80.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 27 | 154 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Andrew Smith | ONYX Apps |
Customer experience
RTA
Octave RTA
User reviews
RTA
From 27 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Good for quick analysis
- 👍 Accurate for price
- 👍 Useful for tuning
- 👍 Professional tool
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Freezes often
- 🐛 Incompatible with iOS updates
- 🐛 Screen display issues
- 🐛 Battery drain
Octave RTA
From 154 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Accurate and precise measurements
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 💡 Great tool for sound engineers
- 💰 Good value for money
- ✅ Works well for feedback detection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Screen flashing/blinking issue
- 🐛 Gain adjustment not working
- 🐛 Microphone permission issues
- 🐛 Lack of advanced features
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance across devices
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
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- 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 moreShow fewer
- Add zoom functionality for frequencies
- Improve calibration for external mics
- Add pink noise output
Octave RTA
Reported bugs
7 issues- Screen flashing/blinking on iPads
- Gain slider not working on some devices
- Microphone permission not appearing in settings
- App not working on iOS 14.2
- Display unstable and flashes wildly
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Screen flashing when iPad is flipped 180 degrees
- App flickering after updates
Requested features
22 requests- Increase graph resolution (e.g., to 3dB)
- Alternative input sound sources (e.g., lightning audio)
- Standalone Mac app
- Alternative input sound sources (e.g., line in)
- Ability to switch to line input
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Save and manage frequency graphs as snapshots
- Add a simple sine wave tone generator
- Screen grab feature for graphs
- Ability to record or save data with descriptions
- Option to change display colors
- More advanced features
- Signal generator function
- 1/12th octave resolution
- Ability to work with a higher range of dB
- Zoom functionality for graphs
- 12th and 24th Oct smoothing
- Ability to choose between line and mic inputs on external sound cards
- Gain parameter control
- Normalization or sensitivity adjustment
- Higher resolution (e.g., 1/12 octave)
- Save and manage held frequency graphs
- Text description for screenshots
In-app purchases
RTA
- STC -- Transmission Loss$9.99
- Reference Curve Files$9.99
Octave RTA
No in-app purchases








