Comparison

Track8 vs Spectral Hold

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

Head to head
About

Track8

This app offers a focused 8-track audio and MIDI recorder for mobile devices and Mac. It provides essential recording, arranging, editing, and mixing tools without the complexity of a full DAW. Projects are compatible with dedicated hardware.

Highlights
  • 8 audio and 8 MIDI tracks
  • Looping and punch in/out
  • Markers for arrangement
  • Audio and MIDI editing
  • Clipboard Modifier tools
  • Track and master effects
  • AUv3 hosting
Features
Read full description

Track8 is a focused 8-track recorder for iPad, iPhone and Mac: press record, play, done. It is the same software that runs on the Track8 hardware recorder, so it works as a complete recorder on its own, and it opens the hardware's projects unchanged if you own one. No timeline to arrange, no plug-in chains to manage before you can record. Eight audio tracks and eight MIDI tracks, a loop, punch in and out, markers for structure, and a mixer with track and master effects. Every control has one job and sits on the panel in front of you: tap the buttons, drag the encoders, and use the screen in the middle for editing, exactly as on the hardware. What you can do - Record audio and MIDI on eight tracks each, with loop, punch, count-in and a metronome - Arrange with markers: jump, loop, copy and move whole sections - Edit audio and MIDI on the device, with undo - Reshape recordings with the Clipboard Modifier: time, pitch, granular, spectral, filter and voice tools, for audio and for MIDI - Mix with track and master effects, sends and automation - Host AUv3 instruments and effects as outboard gear, wired like a hardware synth or pedal - Use any audio interface, including multi-channel ones, with low latency on recent iPads and iPhones - Map USB, Bluetooth and network MIDI controllers with MIDI Learn - Export mixes and stems to a folder of your choice With or without the hardware Projects are plain files that move between the app and the Track8 hardware in both directions. Record on the go, finish on the desk, or use the app as your only recorder. Track8 is not a DAW and does not try to be one. It is a recording instrument: immediate, obvious and fast, so the idea gets recorded while it is still an idea.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Spectral tilt EQ
  • Spectral freeze effect
  • Adjustable pivot frequency
  • Real-time audio analysis
  • Dry/wet mix control
  • Delay compensation
Features
Read full description

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

Track83 screens
Spectral Hold4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spectral Hold at $1.99 against Track8's $8.99. On rating, 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

Track8 costs $8.99 and Spectral Hold $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Track8 against 5.0 for Spectral Hold. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Track8 versus Spectral Hold: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrack8Spectral Hold
Price$8.99$1.99 — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThingstone GmbHCallback Audio, LLC

Customer experience

Track8

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Spectral Hold

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Track8

No in-app purchases

None

Spectral Hold

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Track8 free?
Track8 costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spectral Hold free?
Spectral Hold costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Track8 or Spectral Hold?
Track8 and Spectral Hold are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Track8 or Spectral Hold have ads?
Neither Track8 nor Spectral Hold shows ads.

Other comparisons