Comparison

SoundMess Lab vs DFTM Audio Tools

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

Head to head
About

SoundMess Lab

Features
Read full description

SoundMess Lab is a careful, offline sound measurement tool for iPhone and iPad. Built for musicians, producers, podcasters, acoustic enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to understand what they're hearing. WHAT IT MEASURES • SPL meter — A/C/Z weighting, Fast/Slow/Impulse time weighting, Leq, L10, L90, Lmax, Lmin, Lpeak, with one-tap session reset • Real-time analyser — 1/3 to 1/24 octave bands with peak hold • FFT — Hann, Hamming, Blackman, Blackman-Harris windows, sizes up to 65,536, exponential averaging • Spectrogram — a 3D waterfall you can turn with a drag, or the classic 2D live and rolling view, with six tuned colour palettes (Pro) • RT60 — per-octave-band reverberation time, ISO 3382-2 T20 method with interrupted pink noise (Pro) • Signal generator — sine, pink, white, swept sine (Pro) • Reference-tone calibration — trim every reading against a known 94 dB source (Pro) SOUND IN 3D The 3D waterfall turns each moment of sound into a ridge line, with frequency across and time stepping back, so room resonances and slow decays stand out at a glance. Drag to change the viewing angle. Free users see an animated preview on the Spectrogram tab; Pro unlocks the full, live view. SIX THEMES, TWO LAYOUTS Five themes are free: Studio Cyan, Aurora, Solar Flare, Graphite Safety and Arctic Cobalt, three dark and two light. Pro adds Tactical Violet, a dark console theme with its own layout for every screen, Japanese labels and small English captions. Preview it for 15 seconds from Settings → Appearance. Turn your iPhone sideways for a landscape layout that gives the chart room. On iPad it works in any orientation and in multiple windows. BUILT CAREFULLY SoundMess Lab implements the IEC 61672 A/C/Z weighting curves with published coefficients to 10 decimals, Paul Kellett pink noise, and ISO 3382-2 T20 linear regression for RT60 fitting. Every reading shows a confidence indicator so you know which frequencies you can trust — built-in iPhone microphones have known hardware limits below 500 Hz and above 8 kHz, and we don't pretend otherwise. HONEST ABOUT LIMITS Every phone microphone has physical constraints. SoundMess Lab shows you where it can be trusted and where it can't. It's a serious listening tool for creative work — not a replacement for a calibrated measurement microphone in professional field acoustics or compliance settings. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Nothing you measure ever leaves your device. No account, no analytics, no ads, no cloud. Audio is only written to disk when you start a recording, and those files stay in your app sandbox until you choose to share them. FREE INCLUDES SPL meter (with L10 / L90 / session reset), 1/3-octave RTA, FFT (4096 Ā· Hann), peak hold, Freeze, five themes, a preview of the 3D waterfall, and a short try of Tactical Violet. PRO UNLOCKS Spectrogram (3D waterfall, plus 2D live + rolling), RT60 room-acoustics measurement, fractional RTA (1/6, 1/12, 1/24), advanced FFT (sizes up to 65,536, Hamming / Blackman / Blackman-Harris windows, exponential averaging), signal generator (sine / pink / white / sweep), recording history with notes / tags / baselines and RTA / FFT A/B comparison, PNG / CSV / PDF export and WAV sharing, automatic device compensation, reference-tone calibration, external mic calibration-curve import (.txt / .frd), and the Tactical Violet theme with its own console layout. PRICING • One-time Lifetime purchase Ā· Family Sharing supported No subscription, no auto-renew. BUILT FOR THE WORK Most sound apps optimise for the spike — big colourful needles and "how loud is a rock concert" trivia. SoundMess Lab is built for the work: reading a room, shaping a mix, checking a speaker, measuring a decay, teaching acoustics. Careful DSP, calm UI, no noise.

About

DFTM Audio Tools

Features
Read full description

Dog From The Moon Audio Tools is a professional live audio toolkit built for touring engineers, festival crews, monitor engineers, and system techs who need fast, reliable tools in the field. Whether you are ringing out a PA, prepping IEMs, building a patch sheet, or running a show from the monitor desk, everything lives in one dark, stage-friendly interface designed for real-world use. CRITICAL MEASUREMENT TOOLS • RTA / Spectrum Analyzer — real-time frequency analysis with input level control and peak identification • Feedback Detector — find ringing frequencies fast and hold the most recent hits for quick EQ decisions • Sound Level Meter — calibrated SPL measurement using your iPhone microphone • Polarity Checker — verify speaker and line polarity in the field IEM LAB • IEM Hearing Curve — professional-style per-ear hearing test with automatic progression, pulsed tones, and PDF export • IEM Response Test — measure left and right IEM/headphone response with mic compensation and confidence reporting • Tuner — pitch and cents detection from the microphone • Signal Generator — sine, pink, and white noise for testing and alignment SHOW PRODUCTION • Patch Sheet Builder — create input and output patch sheets with stereo routing, rack numbers, and color grouping • Rig Weight Estimator — plan line array hangs, subs, delays, and outfills with hoist load calculations and PDF export • Monitors — save artist profiles, pack details, wedge notes, and mix priorities • Setlists — build show setlists with timecode, track triggers, mixing notes, drag-and-drop order, and Play Mode for live show calling TIME & SYNC • Timecode — LTC generator and reader with transport controls, manual time entry, cues, and optional audio output • Visual / Audio Sync — flash and click tools for A/V alignment • Tap Tempo — live BPM with delay subdivisions • Tempo Calculator — convert BPM to milliseconds FAST CALCULATORS • Delay — distance to time alignment with temperature compensation • Wavelength — frequency to physical length • dB — voltage, power, and SPL ratio calculations BUILT FOR THE ROAD • Dark pro-audio interface designed for low-light environments • Dashboard command center with quick access to every tool • Local-first data storage — your rigs, patch sheets, setlists, and test results stay on your device • Optional iCloud sync — manually upload or download your data when you want it across devices • English and Spanish language support From FOH to monitors to system tech prep, Dog From The Moon Audio Tools puts the measurements, show data, and production tools you actually use on tour into one app. Note: Microphone-based tools require access to your device microphone. Hearing and IEM response tests are intended for professional monitoring workflows and are not a substitute for clinical medical evaluation.

Screenshots

SoundMess Lab4 screens
DFTM Audio Tools3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DFTM Audio Tools at none against SoundMess Lab's 1. SoundMess Lab's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.5). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. SoundMess Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. DFTM Audio Tools asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
SoundMess Lab versus DFTM Audio Tools: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoundMess LabDFTM Audio Tools
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChih Han LinDog From The Moon LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SoundMess Lab

One-time1
  • SoundMess Lab Pro (Lifetime)$5.99
None

DFTM Audio Tools

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SoundMess Lab free?
SoundMess Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DFTM Audio Tools free?
DFTM Audio Tools is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SoundMess Lab or DFTM Audio Tools have ads?
Neither SoundMess Lab nor DFTM Audio Tools shows ads.

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