Comparison

ZX Plectrum vs PhaseII

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

Head to head
About

ZX Plectrum

Transform your iPhone or iPad into a musical instrument by recreating the iconic loading sounds of the ZX Spectrum. Customize phase and pitch to generate unique audio and visuals, and integrate with AUv3 hosts for advanced music production.

Highlights
  • ZX Spectrum loading sound recreation
  • Adjustable phase and pitch
  • Visual customization
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Live performance integration
Features
Read full description

Play the ZX Spectrum loading sounds as a musical instrument on your iPhone or iPad! Relive the crisp sounds of your youth! Change the loading sounds (and visuals) phase and pitch to make some weird, wonderful and familiar sounds! Plugin to your favourite AUv3 host and make unique music unlike anything else. BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeBOP!! "As seen on TV" on Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit Used by multi-Platinum band Placebo in their live envents. "ZX Plectrum lets you make music Spectrum style on your iPhone" pocket-lint.com "Utterly pointless but also utterly engaging" bamm.tv "For Nostlagia lovers of a very specific demographic this will sound like heaven" calmdowntom.com "The Greatest iPad App of ALL TIME" conoroneill.net

About

PhaseII

This audio effect plugin offers a dual stereo phaser with a vintage sound. It allows for independent phasing engines in parallel or series, with selectable modes for subtle to extreme effects. Controls include rate, depth, width, drive, and mix for versatile sound shaping.

Highlights
  • Dual stereo phasing engines
  • Parallel and series processing modes
  • Selectable effect modes (subtle to extreme)
  • Adjustable rate, depth, and width
  • Optional drive for analog warmth
  • Soft limiting to prevent clipping
  • Mix control for wet/dry balance
Read full description

PhaseII Dual Stereo Phaser Plugin (AUv3) PhaseII is an audio effect plugin that can run standalone, or in any AU compatible host application such as Logic Pro, GarageBand or AUM. Overview PhaseII is a dual stereo phasing machine with a vintage vibe! As well as traditional super-wide stereo phasing effects, PhaseII can also produce all manner of swirly modulated goodness by running the independent phasing engines in parallel or series. Selectable modes allow quick access to finely-tuned settings under the hood that "just work", from subtle to extreme - just the thing if you find some phasers to be overly complex with too many parameters! Set Rate and Depth to taste, adjust the stereo Width, then you can even add some gritty Drive for some "analog" warmth. Controls Active - Bypasses the effect (Off) or selects one of the following processing modes: Stereo - Two independent phasers for the left and right channel, with LFOs 90 degrees out of phase for a stereo effect, determined by the Width control. Parallel - Two independent stereo phasers for the incoming audio, which are then summed together at the output stage. The LFOs for each of the four phasers are 90 degrees out of phase for a stereo effect, determined by the Width control. Series - Two independent stereo phasers with Phase I processing incoming audio, which is then passed on to Phase II for a double-helping of phasey goodness at the output stage! This is potentially the most dramatic phasing effect, especially with the Width set to maximum as each of the four phaser LFOs are 90 degrees out of phase. The following controls apply to each phase stage, referred to as Phase I or Phase II: Phase I/II - Toggles the Phase I or Phase II processing engine On or Off. Rate - Sets the rate of the phaser LFO in Hz. Depth - Sets the depth of the phase effect. Mode - Selects one of four different modes. Each mode configures several "under the hood" settings - think of each mode as a mini preset for internal parameters. Modes range from subtle (I) to extreme! (IV). The following controls are global: Width - Adjusts the stereo width from super-wide to monophonic. Note this only adjusts the "wet" phased sound so your original stereo image remains intact for the "dry" signal. Drive - Applies an optional amount of warm overdrive to the phaser processing only, for a bit of a vintage vibe! Mix - Balances the processed audio with the incoming / dry signal. At zero, the output is totally dry, and at 100%, the output is totally wet and phased to the max! The phasing effect can sometimes create loud resonant frequency peaks that could result in clipping. To protect against this, soft limiting is applied at both the phasing processing stage and at the final summed output. If the input levels are high, this can add to the "analog" like sound of PhaseII when compression and saturation occurs. About The UI Not everyone likes the UIs of my latest (2025) plugins - I get it. However, the simplistic and generic approach allows me to (a) 99% focus on the DSP, sound quality and CPU performance, and (b) significantly reduce the development (and potential maintenance) time, which is reflected in my pricing. For more info and support please visit: www.waverley-instruments.com/robjackson

Screenshots

ZX Plectrum4 screens
PhaseII4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PhaseII at 5.0 against ZX Plectrum's 4.2. PhaseII also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 76%). ZX Plectrum's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 2). On 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

ZX Plectrum costs $3.99 and PhaseII $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PhaseII holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of ZX Plectrum's written reviews are positive against 100% of PhaseII's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZX Plectrum ships an update every 4 months, PhaseII every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
ZX Plectrum versus PhaseII: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZX PlectrumPhaseII
Price$3.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.2 (6 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDave Sapien Ltd.Rob Jackson

Customer experience

ZX Plectrum

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative16.0%

PhaseII

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ZX Plectrum

No in-app purchases

None

PhaseII

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZX Plectrum free?
ZX Plectrum costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PhaseII free?
PhaseII costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ZX Plectrum or PhaseII?
PhaseII is rated higher. ZX Plectrum averages 4.2 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while PhaseII averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do ZX Plectrum or PhaseII have ads?
Neither ZX Plectrum nor PhaseII shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZX Plectrum or PhaseII?
ZX Plectrum ships an update every 4 months, and PhaseII every 9 days. Most recently, ZX Plectrum was updated on October 22, 2026 and PhaseII on October 15, 2026.

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