Music Spectrograph vs VariSpeed
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Music Spectrograph
Visually reverse engineer sound and music in real-time with a live MIDI piano roll displaying pitch and frequency. Slow down or stop audio to analyze musical patterns, aiding in music transcription and learning.
- Real-time MIDI piano roll
- Pitch and frequency visualization
- Slow down and stop audio
- Music transcription aid
- Adjustable playback speed
- Color-coded pitch graph
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Music Spectrograph allows you to visually reverse engineer sound and music, in real-time. See a live MIDI piano roll showing pitch and frequency. When playing music files, you can slow down, and even stop sound in time. Music Spectrograph is being using in college music programs to aid in learning music transcription. The Hotpaw Music Spectrograph presents a high-resolution scrolling spectrogram as you listen, so that you can see these patterns in sound and music, as well as how sound corresponds to notes on a piano keyboard. This piano alignment makes it far easier to spot which frequencies in sounds correspond to which musical notes. Features include: - 12th-octave MIDI-pitch-centered spectrograph (also called a sonogram) - Usable with live audio, tunes from your iOS device's music library, or a file downloaded via a URL (web address) - Records up to a 4 minute spectrograph history you can stop, scroll back and review - Slow Down music files by up to 8X, or speed music up by 3X to skip sections faster - Stop music in time, and still hear the music frequencies present via re-synthesis (scroll back a little in time to bring up the ReSynth switch). - Play tunes in mono, left or right channel only, or with center-panned vocals reduced - Color the pitch graph to see if notes are in-tune or out-of-tune - Color the spectrograph for loudness, or graph in black-and-white or with Pastel colors - Mid-pitch filtering to remove some of the higher overtones Use the Input? button to select a tune from your library (DRM protected iTunes files not supported). Use the Gear button to select among several viewing modes. There's a volume control to manually set the sensitivity threshold. Stop playing or recording to scroll back and review or resynthesize sound. Touch the keyboard during resynthesis to isolate one note. For many musical sounds, this app will show you many overtones and harmonics, not just the fundamental pitch of notes. Some musical experience is required to tell musical notes from their overtones and harmonic frequencies.
VariSpeed
This app simulates a classic tape echo machine, replicating the functionality of a specific vintage hardware unit. It allows for variable delay times by altering the speed of the tape mechanism.
- Classic tape echo simulation
- Variable delay time
- AUv3 plugin compatibility
- Replicates vintage hardware
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Please note: this is an AUv3 plugin that can be used with compatible host Apps. GSi VariSpeed is a simulation of the WEM Copicat IC-400 Belt Drive VariSpeed model, the first tape echo machine made by WEM with a DC capstan motor capable of changing speed, thus varying the delay time. GSi VariSpeed replicates the hardware instrument “as is” with all its pros and cons, without any additional feature. This can be considered as the second chapter of a tribute to the genius of Mr. Charlie Watkins that GSi began back in 2008 with the release of the freeware "WatKat", which was a simulation of the "Custom Copicat".
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: VariSpeed at 100% against Music Spectrograph's 50%. VariSpeed also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.5). Music Spectrograph's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 41 months) and price ($9.99 vs $11.99). 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
Music Spectrograph costs $9.99 and VariSpeed $11.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
VariSpeed holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Music Spectrograph's written reviews are positive against 100% of VariSpeed's.
Music Spectrograph ships an update every 6 weeks, VariSpeed every 41 months. The most recent releases landed on September 6, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Music Spectrograph | VariSpeed |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (4 ratings) | 4.9 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 41 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HotPaw Productions | Genuine Soundware |
Customer experience
Music Spectrograph
VariSpeed
In-app purchases
Music Spectrograph
No in-app purchases
VariSpeed
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Music Spectrograph free?
Is VariSpeed free?
Which has better reviews, Music Spectrograph or VariSpeed?
Do Music Spectrograph or VariSpeed have ads?
Which is updated more often, Music Spectrograph or VariSpeed?
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