User Scale vs Spectral Hold
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
User Scale
This iPad application allows musicians to control the tuning scale of their Roland instruments. It enables real-time adjustments to key tunings, applying consistent values across notes of the same name during performances.
- Control tuning scale with iPad
- Change instrument key tunings
- Apply consistent tuning values
- Real-time performance control
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This software application for iPad lets you change the tuning scale of your Roland musical instrument. When using User Scale you can: • Play your Roland musical instrument while controlling the tuning scale of your performance with your iPad • Change the tuning of your musical instrument’s keys. Apply the same values to all notes of the same name App requires: - Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (camera connectors made by Apple Inc.) and USB cable (type A–male to type B–male, commercially available) -or- - Roland musical instrument that supports the wireless LAN function
Spectral Hold
This audio processor analyzes sound in real-time, allowing you to tilt the frequency spectrum or freeze a moment into a sustained drone. Shape your audio with adjustable gain and pivot frequencies.
- Spectral tilt EQ
- Spectral freeze effect
- Adjustable pivot frequency
- Real-time audio analysis
- Dry/wet mix control
- Delay compensation
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SPECTRAL HOLD A spectral processor that combines a frequency-domain tilt EQ with a spectral freeze. Audio is analyzed with a short-time Fourier transform (1024-point FFT, 75% overlap, Hann window). Each frame's bins can be tilted around a pivot frequency, and the most recent frame can be frozen and held indefinitely, turning any moment of the input into a sustained spectral drone. ------ CONTROLS TILT Applies a spectral tilt around the pivot frequency. The gain of each bin is scaled by tilt * 3 dB per octave of distance from the pivot. Negative values darken the sound by attenuating highs and boosting lows; positive values brighten it by boosting highs and attenuating lows. At 0 the spectrum passes unchanged. Range: -1.00 to +1.00 (so +/-3 dB/octave at the extremes). PIVOT Sets the frequency around which the tilt rotates. Bins above the pivot are affected in one direction and bins below in the other; the pivot itself is left at unity gain. Lower the pivot to pivot the tilt around the low end, raise it to rotate around the highs. Range: 20 Hz to 20 kHz (exponential), automatically clamped below the host Nyquist frequency. FREEZE Captures and holds the most recently analyzed spectral frame. While engaged, the stored magnitude and phase of every bin are replayed on each hop instead of the live input, producing a continuous frozen texture. Tilt and pivot remain active on the held spectrum, so the frozen sound can still be shaped. Disengage to return to live processing. DRY/WET Blends the unprocessed (dry) input with the processed (wet) output. At 0% only the dry signal is heard; at 100% only the wet. The dry path is internally delay compensated so it stays time- and phase-aligned with the wet path at every mix setting, with no comb filtering. Useful for layering a frozen pad underneath the live signal, or easing in a tilt. ------ NOTE Because the effect works frame by frame, it reports a latency of one FFT frame (1024 samples, about 21 ms at 48 kHz) to the host for accurate delay compensation.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: User Scale at Free against Spectral Hold's $1.99. User Scale also leads on iOS requirement (8.1 vs 17.0). Spectral Hold's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.5). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases 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
User Scale is free to download; Spectral Hold costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Spectral Hold holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.
| Parameter | User Scale | Spectral Hold |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roland Corporation | Callback Audio, LLC |
Customer experience
User Scale
Spectral Hold
In-app purchases
User Scale
No in-app purchases
Spectral Hold
No in-app purchases









