Comparison

RTA vs Audio RTA

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

Audio RTA

This application provides a real-time octave RTA analyzer, visualizing acoustic signals. It's useful for measuring audio equipment frequency response and analyzing musical instrument sounds. Features include various band resolutions, SPL metering, and FFT analysis.

Highlights
  • Octave RTA analyzer with multiple band resolutions
  • SPL Meter (dBFS) with dBZ weighting
  • Fast real-time response
  • Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis
  • Zoom and pan functionality
  • Chart sharing and PNG export
Read full description

Audio RTA is a real-time octave RTA analyzer. It gives you a visual representation of an acoustic signal. It can be used to measure the frequency response of audio equipment or to analyze the sounds of musical instruments. Features - Octave RTA analyzer: bands - full, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12 (RMS values) - SPL Meter (dBFS) - Fast real-time response - Sampling rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz* - Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) - Window sizes: 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536 - Max/min values - Zoom and pan - Measure values - Audio input can be supplied via the built-in microphone and an external microphone (via the USB camera adapter or through the iPhone/iPad dock connector – Core Audio compliant devices) - Sharing charts (through mail, social networks, clipboard) - Exporting image charts (png) to the iOS 11 Document Browser (supports iCloud) - SPL meter weighting: dBZ - linear *For 96kHz analysis use an external microphone with such capabilities through a USB camera adapter or through the iPhone/iPad dock connector.

Screenshots

RTA4 screens
Audio RTA3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Audio RTA at none against RTA's 2. Audio 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 14 months) and chart position (#173 vs unranked). On ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

RTA costs $4.99 and Audio RTA $3.99 up front. RTA sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Audio RTA asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Audio RTA holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 25 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of RTA's written reviews are positive against 81% of Audio RTA's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RTA ships an update every 3 months, Audio RTA every 14 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
RTA versus Audio RTA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRTAAudio RTA
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.0 (27 ratings)4.4 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews81.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27 — better25
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 14 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#173 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew SmithDEXUS Pawel Krzywdzinski

Customer experience

RTA

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

Audio RTA

All ratings25 ratings
Positive88.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral6.3%
Negative12.5%

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

Audio RTA

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
None

Audio RTA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RTA free?
RTA costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Audio RTA free?
Audio RTA costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RTA or Audio RTA?
Audio RTA is rated higher. RTA averages 4.0 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Audio RTA averages 4.4 from 25 ratings.
Do RTA or Audio RTA have ads?
Neither RTA nor Audio RTA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RTA or Audio RTA?
RTA ships an update every 3 months, and Audio RTA every 14 months. Most recently, RTA was updated on October 26, 2026 and Audio RTA on October 23, 2026.

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