Comparison

Use Your Ear vs Microtonal Lab

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

Head to head
About

Use Your Ear

Features
Read full description

The 9 pivot points: · **50 Hz** — Depth & Weight · **100 Hz** — Warmth & Punch · **200 Hz** — Thickness & Mud · **500 Hz** — Boxy & Gargle · **1 kHz** — Nasal & Knock · **2 kHz** — Edge & Clarity · **5 kHz** — Presence & Bite · **10 kHz** — Sizzle & Snap · **20 kHz** — Air & Plastic Each pivot mapped to perceptual adjectives — so you don't just memorize numbers, you learn what they SOUND like. Four training modes: EQ Workbench — Interactive 9-band parametric. Drag nodes vertically for gain, scroll wheel for Q, double-click to reset. Frequencies are locked to the pivot points (that's the whole point). Quiz — Blind pivot trainer. The app boosts or cuts a random pivot on pink noise at Easy / Medium / Hard difficulty. A/B between processed and bypass, then pick the frequency + direction. Scoring tracks your accuracy over time. Listen — A/B reference mode. Set gain and Q on a single pivot, toggle A/B against bypass, and read the "Boost to..." / "Cut to..." cheat sheet. Train your ear by hearing the same EQ move at multiple frequencies. Sweep — Manual sine tone across the spectrum, plus an automatic logarithmic sweep from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with the nearest-pivot readout. Hear the spectrum, build the mental map. Sources: · Pink noise (Paul Kellet generator, 4-second loopable buffer) · Sine tone · Log sweep · Your own audio file · Live microphone (with feedback warning) Hearing safety built in: Three independent ways to instantly stop audio: 1. Mute button — instant silence, playback can resume 2. Stop button — tears down the audio source completely 3. Always: keep your master volume LOW, use headphones at safe levels Sine tones and sweeps are internally attenuated to 15% of full scale. Why is it free? Tomorrow's working sound engineers are today's audio students. We want you to learn properly — not paywalled, not gated, not crippled. No ads. No data harvesting. Just a real tool. Where next? · Surviving Audio — Plan and design PA systems before the show · Soundtools Pro — Real-time tools during the show Three apps, one story: train, plan, execute.

About

Microtonal Lab

Explore music beyond the traditional 12-note scale with this comprehensive microtonal studio. Create custom scales, play a microtonal keyboard, sequence patterns, and perform live with a launchpad. Export your creations as MIDI files for further production.

Highlights
  • Harmonic Galaxy visualizer
  • Microtonal keyboard with custom scales
  • 32-step sequencer with FX
  • Launchpad for live performance
  • Extensive world scale library
  • Multiple tuning systems support
  • MIDI export for DAWs
Features
Read full description

Microtonal Lab is a complete microtonal music studio for iOS. Break free from the 12-note octave and explore the infinite space between the notes. AUv3 PLUGIN Use MicrotonalLab as a plugin inside GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, and any AUv3-compatible host. The full step sequencer, tuning system, and SF2 instruments are available directly in your DAW. Record sequences as MIDI regions with automatic tempo sync. HARMONIC GALAXY Discover musical intervals as a visual universe. Every dot is an interval above the root — its size shows consonance, its color shows its position in the octave, and its number shows the exact distance in cents. Pinch to zoom and new microtones emerge from the depths. Build custom scales by tapping intervals and save them to your library. MICROTONAL KEYBOARD A fully playable keyboard with exact microtonal tuning. Choose from piano, strings, marimba, vibes, bass, pad, flute, or synthesized waveforms. Activate any scale from the library and the keyboard reconfigures to show precisely those notes. Supports glide between notes for expressive playing. STEP SEQUENCER A 16-step sequencer with microtonal note assignment per step, velocity, gate, and swing control. Syncs to the host tempo in AUv3 mode. LAUNCHPAD A grid-based launchpad for live performance. Rows correspond to scale degrees, columns to time — tap to toggle notes and play your patterns in real time. SCALE LIBRARY Browse world scales from dozens of musical traditions, including Arabic maqam, Indian ragas, Persian dastgah, Javanese gamelan, and many more. Preview any scale, then activate it across all views with one tap. TUNING SYSTEMS Switch between 12-TET, 19-TET, 24-TET, 31-TET, and 53-TET. Full access to all scale degrees in the sequencer for every tuning system. MIDI EXPORT Export your sequences to standard MIDI files with full microtonal pitch bend on each channel. Import directly into any DAW for further production. FX Filter (low-pass with cutoff and resonance), reverb (from small room to cathedral), and delay — all controllable via XY pads in real time during playback. Microtonal Lab is built for composers, sound designers, music theorists, and anyone curious about the music that lives between the keys.

Screenshots

Use Your Ear4 screens
Microtonal Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Use Your Ear at Free against Microtonal Lab's $6.99. Use Your Ear also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Use Your Ear is free to download; Microtonal Lab costs $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Use Your Ear versus Microtonal Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUse Your EarMicrotonal Lab
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating—1.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Every 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB90 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJuerg AndresMartin Adler

In-app purchases

None

Use Your Ear

No in-app purchases

None

Microtonal Lab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Use Your Ear free?
Use Your Ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Microtonal Lab free?
Microtonal Lab costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Use Your Ear or Microtonal Lab have ads?
Neither Use Your Ear nor Microtonal Lab shows ads.

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