Stylus Tracker vs Deadwax
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stylus Tracker
This app helps vinyl enthusiasts track their turntable stylus lifespan to maintain optimal sound quality and protect their record collection. Log listening sessions, view history, and know exactly when to replace your stylus to prevent damage and ensure perfect playback.
- Log listening sessions
- Track accumulated stylus hours
- View and edit listening history
- Prevent accidental date changes
- Vinyl-inspired design
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Stylus Tracker is the essential app for serious vinyl collectors who want to maintain optimal sound quality and protect their precious record collection. This elegant, intuitive tracker helps you monitor the lifespan of your turntable stylus to ensure perfect playback every time. FEATURES Simple Hour Tracking: Easily log listening sessions with just a few taps Beautiful Vinyl-Inspired Design: Enjoy a sleek interface that celebrates vinyl culture Detailed History: View and edit your complete listening history by date Running Total: Keep track of accumulated hours on your current stylus Date Locking: Prevent accidental changes to your tracking start date WHY TRACK YOUR STYLUS? Most styli have a recommended lifespan between 500-1000 hours of play. Using a worn stylus can permanently damage your vinyl collection and compromise sound quality. Stylus Tracker helps you know exactly when it's time for a replacement. Perfect for audiophiles, vinyl collectors, and anyone who values their analog music experience. Keep your records sounding their best with Stylus Tracker – where precision meets passion. "For the love of vinyl, track your stylus."
Deadwax
This app helps vinyl collectors identify the best pressings of albums in their Discogs collection. It provides detailed insights into mastering engineers, audiophile labels, and forum-recommended versions to help you find and keep the highest-quality records.
- Discogs collection integration
- Pressing Intelligence for audiophile versions
- Mastering engineer and label insights
- Forum and shootout video references
- Curated discovery surface
- Wantlist with pressing focus
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Most record apps tell you what albums you own. Connect to your Discogs collection, and Deadwax shows you which pressings you own, and whether they’re the ones worth keeping. Deadwax brings the pressing research collectors already do: audiophile versions, notable mastering engineers, forum favorites, and shootout results into one app. Deadwax. I have bought the same album three times, not on purpose. The first was a deal that did not sound right. The second came from a record fair - a dealer I trusted, a sleeve that looked right, a runout I could not quite read. It was not the one either. The third time, I had done the research. Read the threads. Cross-referenced the matrix markings. I paid more than I wanted to. The needle dropped, and I finally understood what all the fuss was about. The pressing makes the record. The same master, cut by a different engineer at a different plant, sounds like a different record. Most of us have been flying blind, or searching through forums and watching shootout videos to find the best pressing. A familiar scenario for any record collector. Deadwax changes that by doing the heavy lifting and research for you and bringing those insights to your fingertips with Pressing Intelligence. No marketplace noise - just the data that separates one copy from another to help you find the pressing to own. PRESSING INTELLIGENCE Every release in your collection gets a pressing-level breakdown: notable mastering engineers, audiophile and audiophile adjacent labels, best pressings from popular forums, and shootout video winners from creators we trust. PI badges flag full pressing Intelligence. AP badges surface the audiophile pressings you may not have known you owned. With a tap, you are directed to review forums and launched into a shootout video reference. YOUR COLLECTION A clean visual grid of your Discogs collection. PI and AP badges surface what matters. Tap any release for full pressing detail. No more cross-referencing different pressings across your browser tabs and reading decade-old forum threads. WANTLIST WITH PURPOSE Add a release directly from Deadwax. Syncs with Discogs. No double-entry, no marketplace upsell - just the pressings you are still hunting. Built around the specific pressing, not just the title. DISCOVER, CURATED A discovery surface organized around mastering engineers, audiophile labels, and the people who actually own these records - curated lists, not algorithmic filler. In the record shop, quickly type in the matrix from the deadwax and know instantly you’re holding a great-sounding pressing. If you have ever bought the same album twice chasing a better pressing - Deadwax was built for you. If you have ever squinted at a runout etching, trying to decode whether it says A2 or B2, Deadwax was built for you. If you have ever wondered whether the copy on your shelf is the one to keep, you already know the answer. Deadwax shows it to you.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Deadwax at Free against Stylus Tracker's $3.99. Deadwax also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 8 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Deadwax is free to download; Stylus Tracker costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Deadwax holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 14 respectively.
Stylus Tracker ships an update every 8 months, Deadwax every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stylus Tracker | Deadwax |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.9 (14 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rick DeCost | Jason Means |
Customer experience
Stylus Tracker
Deadwax
In-app purchases
Stylus Tracker
No in-app purchases
Deadwax
No in-app purchases









