Comparison

Audio Spectrum Analyzer vs Decibel Meter Ultra

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

Head to head
About

Audio Spectrum Analyzer

Transform your iOS device into a powerful audio spectrum analyzer. Visualize frequencies up to 20 kHz with customizable display options including frequency span, FFT size, and logarithmic views. Enhance analysis with filtering, peak hold, and adjustable decay rates.

Highlights
  • Frequency analysis up to 20 kHz
  • Adjustable frequency span and FFT size
  • Logarithmic frequency display
  • Graph fill mode toggle
  • Up to five frequency markers
  • Spectrum filtering and averaging
  • Peak hold with adjustable decay rate
Features
Read full description

Spectrum Pad turns your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch into an audio spectrum analyzer. Frequencies up to 20 kHz can be displayed. You can control the displayed frequency span, as well as the FFT size, from 1024 to 262144 bins. A logarithmic display of the entire 10 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range is available, and the graph fill mode can be turned on and off, as well as the display of up to five frequency markers. Filtering (averaging) can be applied to the spectrum, to smooth out variations. You can turn on the Peak Hold to make it easier to see transient events, as well as adjust the decay rate. Swiping with two fingers lets you adjust the brightness of the spectrum or the graticule grid overlay. Tapping three times with two fingers will save a screenshot to your Photos. One of several user selectable window functions can be used: Rectangular Hanning Hamming Tukey Cosine Lanczos Blackman

About

Decibel Meter Ultra

Measure, record, and analyze sound levels in your environment. This app offers precision metering, noise elimination tools, hearing protection features, and home audio calibration. It provides detailed reports and can be used with device microphones or external ones.

Highlights
  • Precision sound level metering
  • Noise logging and reporting
  • Hearing protection dosimeter
  • Fractional octave band analysis
  • Real-time analyzer
  • External microphone support
Features
Read full description

Measure, record and track sound levels in your environment with Decibel Meter Ultra, the all-in-one sound level meter, dosimeter and real-time analyzer. From monitoring sound levels at home, noise levels in the workplace, to calibrating the speakers of your hi-fi, Decibel Meter Ultra makes it easy to get the information that you need. Precision Metering For Sound: Get accurate sound level readings using industry standard measurement methodologies, selectable A, C and Z frequency weighting curves, fast and slow time-weightings, plus concurrent peak level measurement. Choose from the built-in microphones on your device or connect an external microphone* for an even broader dynamic range. Eliminate Nuisance Noise: Getting proof is as simple as tapping a button. Catch and log problem noise as it occurs. Overlay live video with sound levels, or create comprehensive acoustic analysis reports that you can share easily via PDF. Visualize sound levels over time and gather the evidence that you need to take decisive action. Safeguard Your Hearing: Stay aware of noise levels in the workplace and compare against industry-mandated safe levels using the built-in dosimeter. Select from default measurement profiles based on published recommendations from NIOSH and OSHA, or if you’re working against a different specification, create your own. Elevate Your Home Audio: Get the best from your home audio system with powerful fractional octave band analysis. Fine-tune your equipment using up to twelfth octave-band resolution, variable time weightings and peak level indicators so that you can enjoy music and movies like never before. Download now and take advantage of our free plan which includes our built-in metering profile and up to two-minute recording durations. Or choose one of our PRO plans and gain access to everything the app has to offer, including our full suite of professional metering options, custom meter profiles, analysis charts, PDF reports, background recording, unlimited recording durations and more. *External microphones require calibration against a reference sound level source The data provided by Decibel Meter Ultra is for educational and informational purposes only. Please refer to the disclaimer in the Terms of Use for further information. Terms of Use: https://decibelmeterultra.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://decibelmeterultra.com/privacy

Screenshots

Audio Spectrum Analyzer4 screens
Decibel Meter Ultra4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Decibel Meter Ultra at Free against Audio Spectrum Analyzer's $3.99. Decibel Meter Ultra also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.9) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 7 months). Audio Spectrum Analyzer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and review sentiment (54% vs 43%). On ads 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

Decibel Meter Ultra is free to download; Audio Spectrum Analyzer costs $3.99 up front. Decibel Meter Ultra sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Audio Spectrum Analyzer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Decibel Meter Ultra holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Decibel Meter Ultra has 2.6K ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of Audio Spectrum Analyzer's written reviews are positive against 43% of Decibel Meter Ultra's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Audio Spectrum Analyzer ships an update every 7 months, Decibel Meter Ultra every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Audio Spectrum Analyzer versus Decibel Meter Ultra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAudio Spectrum AnalyzerDecibel Meter Ultra
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (53 ratings)4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.4% of reviews — better43.3% of reviews
Number of ratings532.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS6.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB92 MB
Age rating4++12
DeveloperBlack Cat SystemsUltrafine

Customer experience

Audio Spectrum Analyzer

All ratings52 ratings
Positive69.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative21.2%
Written reviews68 reviews
Positive54.4%
Neutral10.3%
Negative35.3%

Decibel Meter Ultra

All ratings2,557 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive43.3%
Neutral1.9%
Negative54.8%

User reviews

Audio Spectrum Analyzer

From 53 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Handy for recording studio
  • 👍 Excellent for analyzing noise
  • 👍 Intuitive and simple
  • 👍 Great for tuning
  • 👍 Accurate on iPad mini

Room to improve

  • 👎 Does not work with newer iPhones
  • 👎 Not updated in years
  • 👎 Stopped working quickly
  • 👎 Sold with false pretenses
  • 👎 Extremely slow on iPhone 7

Decibel Meter Ultra

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
  • 🔍 Useful noise monitoring features
  • 🔍 Ability to collect noise evidence

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription pricing
  • 🚫 Misleading free trial claims
  • 🚫 Difficult to cancel subscription
  • 🔍 Inconsistent noise level readings

Bugs and requests

Audio Spectrum Analyzer

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • No way to exit on iPhones without Home button
  • Doesn't work with iPhone XR
  • Stopped working after about 3 minutes
  • Zooming sometimes doesn't work
  • Resuming app makes it not display frequency data
Show 9 more
  • Cannot pinch to zoom in frequency domain
  • Peak hold feature is unnecessary/freezes
  • Graph disappears
  • Screen update is slow
  • White screen only on iPad 1
  • Vertical volume scale incorrect
  • Laggy controls
  • Cannot see entered text
  • Fatal, doesn't work, jerky

Requested features

19 requests
  • Running average of spectrums
  • Ability to exit on iPhones without Home button
  • Ability to reset peak hold with a tap
  • Go to 40 kHz
  • Expand instructions for filtering window
Show 14 more
  • Zoom on Y axis (amplitude)
  • Freeze spectrum and save/email
  • Isolate portions of the spectrum
  • Apple Watch port
  • More detailed grid
  • Linear vertical axis
  • More control over FFT parameters
  • Waterfall display
  • Sliding cursor/zoom window
  • Manually place markers
  • Pause, peak hold, save functions
  • Waterfall view
  • Configurable averaging
  • More functions

Decibel Meter Ultra

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Subscription charges continue after cancellation
  • Subscription cancellation page doesn't load

Requested features

2 requests
  • Lower subscription pricing
  • Improve subscription cancellation process

In-app purchases

None

Audio Spectrum Analyzer

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Decibel Meter Ultra

Subscriptions4
  • PRO Access7 Days trial2 variants$7.997 Days
  • PRO Access2 variants$11.991 Month
  • PRO Access3 Days trial$39.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • PRO Access2 variants$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Audio Spectrum Analyzer free?
Audio Spectrum Analyzer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Decibel Meter Ultra free?
Decibel Meter Ultra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Audio Spectrum Analyzer or Decibel Meter Ultra?
Decibel Meter Ultra is rated higher. Audio Spectrum Analyzer averages 3.9 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Decibel Meter Ultra averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.
Do Audio Spectrum Analyzer or Decibel Meter Ultra have ads?
Neither Audio Spectrum Analyzer nor Decibel Meter Ultra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Audio Spectrum Analyzer or Decibel Meter Ultra?
Audio Spectrum Analyzer ships an update every 7 months, and Decibel Meter Ultra every 10 days. Most recently, Audio Spectrum Analyzer was updated on November 10, 2026 and Decibel Meter Ultra on November 7, 2026.

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