Comparison

True Pan vs spectwhirl

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

Head to head
About

True Pan

This audio plugin allows for lossless repositioning of stereo recordings, preserving the stereo field's geometry. It enables fully reversible panoramic rotations without compressing the stereo image and supports advanced transformations and modulation effects for creative sound design.

Highlights
  • Lossless stereo field repositioning
  • Fully reversible panoramic rotations
  • Advanced transformations and modulation
  • Preserves spatial information in ambience/reverb
  • Tempo-synced LFOs for rhythmic motion
  • Dynamic stereo spread controls
Features
Read full description

True Pan makes it possible to reposition stereo recordings while perfectly preserving the geometry of the stereo field. This allows for lossless, fully reversible panoramic rotations that don't compress the stereo image. The plugin also supports more intense transformations and modulation effects. True Pan can be used to: • Pan sounds that are rich in ambience or reverb without diminishing spatial information • Adjust stereo field recordings, freely rotate the entire sound field (e.g. to change what's in front) • Easily shift sonic perspectives of fx-rich, layered stereo instrument patches • Explore a new dimension of positional reverberation • Add subtle motion to, or "liven up" omnidirectional sounds (can also be used as a special chorus effect at higher rates) • Add a dynamic spatial quality to arpeggiated or rhythmic passages using the tempo sync feature with different LFO types • Apply stronger modulation for sound design and creative uses (creating warble, flutter or stereo tremolo and glitch effects) • Aid and speed up workflows for multi-mic setups When used as a post-processor for reverbs, True Pan can provide higher temporal density and smoothness than what pre-panned reverb inputs would allow. This directly translates to a better quality, but can also be viewed as a different physical setup of the sound source and the listener in relationship to the boundaries of the acoustic space. Thus it opens up additional degrees of freedom in positioning. The plugin's approach to quality preservation is best demonstrated by its ability to transform processed audio back to its original state, by applying a reverse rotation. The included stereo spread controls incorporate features that aim to minimize volume fluctuations by adapting to the actual input signal and its M/S gain distribution, including a fully dynamic adaptive mode, and a snapshot-based one. PLEASE NOTE: • An Audio Unit v3 compatible host app is required to use this plugin • Dual mono inputs from two microphones need to be converted to a single stereo signal in order to be processable

About

spectwhirl

This audio effect app transforms input sound into new textures and bell-like tones by extracting and manipulating sinewave components. It offers advanced control over delay lines, frequency shifting, and filtering, with gesture recording for parameter automation.

Highlights
  • Sinewave component extraction and grouping
  • Delay lines with feedback
  • Frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects
  • Configurable filtering
  • Gesture recording for automation
  • Scene saving and management
Features
Read full description

"bells and whistles, literally" spectwhirl is a hybrid spectral audio effect. It can extract and rearrange sinewave components from input signal to make new sound textures and bell-like sounds. * input sound is converted to sinewave components that are divided into 4 groups: harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and other * each component is fed into a delay line with feedback * there is a group of frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects before and after delay lines * each set of sinewave components can be filtered * all the parameters can be instantly automated with gesture recording !!! Please note that this effect consumes much CPU and requires a modern device. ====================== Quick Start: Top row of controls enables different parts of user interface: scenes editor ("scene"), controls switch ("edit") and "zoom" controls When "edit" is switch on, you can show or hide various controls (marked as "ctrl") and switch gesture recording automation for some of them (marked with ">") Main control surface displays sonogram with tracked elements. Colors are set accordingly to the group they are assigned (red-orange-green-blue are for harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and others). Each "lane" contains delay time controls. * Triangle facing left is for the start locator, it determines initial delay time * Square moves both start and end locators together * When left locator is first moved you can see the right locator with the same triangle. It shows the end of the selected region, the secondary delay time is determined by the difference between left and right locators * if you drag over the area of the region in a lane, the four-dotted/one circle indicator will change its appearance; this changes the arpeggio mode of the region. If set to leftmost position (one circle) the components go in-sync; if set to maximum value (shown as diagonal line with circles) - components are played sequentially * all settings can be stored as "scene" and multiple scenes can be switched sequentially; there is a set of button to move, add and delete scenes. All scenes will be stored as machine state; it can be exported / imported as a single file or as separate file with current scene in the "setup" view The standalone version always starts with output level set to -70 dB to avoid feedback

Screenshots

True Pan2 screens
spectwhirl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: True Pan at 100% against spectwhirl's 33%. True Pan also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0). spectwhirl's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 17 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

True Pan costs $4.99 and spectwhirl $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

True Pan holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of True Pan's written reviews are positive against 33% of spectwhirl's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

True Pan ships an update every 17 months, spectwhirl every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
True Pan versus spectwhirl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrue Panspectwhirl
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings8 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 17 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperquantovoxAlexey Nadzharov

Customer experience

True Pan

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

spectwhirl

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

True Pan

No in-app purchases

None

spectwhirl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is True Pan free?
True Pan costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is spectwhirl free?
spectwhirl costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, True Pan or spectwhirl?
True Pan is rated higher. True Pan averages 5.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while spectwhirl averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do True Pan or spectwhirl have ads?
Neither True Pan nor spectwhirl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, True Pan or spectwhirl?
True Pan ships an update every 17 months, and spectwhirl every 5 weeks. Most recently, True Pan was updated on October 22, 2026 and spectwhirl on October 24, 2026.

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