Comparison

ScaleGen vs PhaseII

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

Head to head
About

ScaleGen

Generate and edit musical scales with intricate detail. Explore traditional and experimental tunings, audition your creations, and export them as MIDI files or to other applications. Ideal for composers and students seeking to expand their musical horizons.

Highlights
  • Generate and manipulate musical scales
  • Detailed scale definition and editing
  • Audition scales within the app
  • Export as MIDI or to Gestrument
  • Predefined scales from various traditions
  • Explore microtonal and experimental tunings
Read full description

ScaleGen - the ultimate scale generator and editor! Generate and manipulate musical scales in any way you can imagine. You think you know what a scale is - think again. In ScaleGen you can do all that you would traditionally imagine when it comes to scales and pitch organisation, and then much, much more. Define or change scales in the most detailed and intricate way. Audition the scales you make from within the app or export it as a MIDI file or to our app Gestrument - the revolutionary gesture-instrument. This is the tool for anyone who wants to go beyond the traditional tonalities in whichever genre. ScaleGen comes with predefined scales of all kinds - from the traditional western scales and early music (Baroque/Renaissance) scales to asian scales from India, Indonesia and elsewhere as well as more conceptual scales based in the classical contemporary music. This is the ultimate tool for experimental composers in any genre as well as for musicians who want to explore new ways of thinking about music. The educational aspects of how pitches can be organised makes ScaleGen a must have for serious music students. But the directness of the app makes the learning both fun and artistically developing. What is a scale? For most people it is a collection of pitches within one octave, with equal temperament (all half tone steps equally long) or with microtonal intonation. That kind of scales are of course possible to make and edit in ScaleGen which gives you a keyboard with complete control of up to 24 pitches within one octave. But the most interesting things with ScaleGen is when you start to think of a scale as something more open. Consider these questions: What if your scale was different in every octave? Why must a scale always go from down to up? What if you could use a variation of the overtone series as a scale? How does it sound if you divide the octave in five steps instead of twelve? In ScaleGen we define a scale as any list of MIDI pitches that you can manipulate in many ways. You can start with a keyboard to input pitches, you can use the concept of the overtone series with multiplication of frequencies, you can define the number and size of the steps in the scale or you can import MIDI files and use them as scales. Then you can fine-tune your scale in a matrix with a number of tools. You can then try and play your scale directly in the app, using built-in sounds or control your favorite external synthesizer/app through MIDI. If you want to try and play on your newly created scales in another way we recommend you open them in the app Gestrument - the revolutionary gesture-instrument. But you can also save the scales as text, Scala, or MIDI files and open them in another program.

About

PhaseII

This audio effect plugin offers a dual stereo phaser with a vintage sound. It allows for independent phasing engines in parallel or series, with selectable modes for subtle to extreme effects. Controls include rate, depth, width, drive, and mix for versatile sound shaping.

Highlights
  • Dual stereo phasing engines
  • Parallel and series processing modes
  • Selectable effect modes (subtle to extreme)
  • Adjustable rate, depth, and width
  • Optional drive for analog warmth
  • Soft limiting to prevent clipping
  • Mix control for wet/dry balance
Read full description

PhaseII Dual Stereo Phaser Plugin (AUv3) PhaseII is an audio effect plugin that can run standalone, or in any AU compatible host application such as Logic Pro, GarageBand or AUM. Overview PhaseII is a dual stereo phasing machine with a vintage vibe! As well as traditional super-wide stereo phasing effects, PhaseII can also produce all manner of swirly modulated goodness by running the independent phasing engines in parallel or series. Selectable modes allow quick access to finely-tuned settings under the hood that "just work", from subtle to extreme - just the thing if you find some phasers to be overly complex with too many parameters! Set Rate and Depth to taste, adjust the stereo Width, then you can even add some gritty Drive for some "analog" warmth. Controls Active - Bypasses the effect (Off) or selects one of the following processing modes: Stereo - Two independent phasers for the left and right channel, with LFOs 90 degrees out of phase for a stereo effect, determined by the Width control. Parallel - Two independent stereo phasers for the incoming audio, which are then summed together at the output stage. The LFOs for each of the four phasers are 90 degrees out of phase for a stereo effect, determined by the Width control. Series - Two independent stereo phasers with Phase I processing incoming audio, which is then passed on to Phase II for a double-helping of phasey goodness at the output stage! This is potentially the most dramatic phasing effect, especially with the Width set to maximum as each of the four phaser LFOs are 90 degrees out of phase. The following controls apply to each phase stage, referred to as Phase I or Phase II: Phase I/II - Toggles the Phase I or Phase II processing engine On or Off. Rate - Sets the rate of the phaser LFO in Hz. Depth - Sets the depth of the phase effect. Mode - Selects one of four different modes. Each mode configures several "under the hood" settings - think of each mode as a mini preset for internal parameters. Modes range from subtle (I) to extreme! (IV). The following controls are global: Width - Adjusts the stereo width from super-wide to monophonic. Note this only adjusts the "wet" phased sound so your original stereo image remains intact for the "dry" signal. Drive - Applies an optional amount of warm overdrive to the phaser processing only, for a bit of a vintage vibe! Mix - Balances the processed audio with the incoming / dry signal. At zero, the output is totally dry, and at 100%, the output is totally wet and phased to the max! The phasing effect can sometimes create loud resonant frequency peaks that could result in clipping. To protect against this, soft limiting is applied at both the phasing processing stage and at the final summed output. If the input levels are high, this can add to the "analog" like sound of PhaseII when compression and saturation occurs. About The UI Not everyone likes the UIs of my latest (2025) plugins - I get it. However, the simplistic and generic approach allows me to (a) 99% focus on the DSP, sound quality and CPU performance, and (b) significantly reduce the development (and potential maintenance) time, which is reflected in my pricing. For more info and support please visit: www.waverley-instruments.com/robjackson

Screenshots

PhaseII4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PhaseII at every 9 days against ScaleGen's every 29 months. PhaseII also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). ScaleGen's advantage is ratings volume (12 vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

ScaleGen costs $3.99 and PhaseII $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PhaseII holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ScaleGen has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of ScaleGen's written reviews are positive against 100% of PhaseII's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScaleGen ships an update every 29 months, PhaseII every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
ScaleGen versus PhaseII: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScaleGenPhaseII
Price$3.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.7 (12 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGestrument ABRob Jackson

Customer experience

ScaleGen

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive70.6%
Neutral17.6%
Negative11.8%

PhaseII

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ScaleGen

No in-app purchases

None

PhaseII

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ScaleGen free?
ScaleGen costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PhaseII free?
PhaseII costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ScaleGen or PhaseII?
PhaseII is rated higher. ScaleGen averages 4.7 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while PhaseII averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do ScaleGen or PhaseII have ads?
Neither ScaleGen nor PhaseII shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScaleGen or PhaseII?
ScaleGen ships an update every 29 months, and PhaseII every 9 days. Most recently, ScaleGen was updated on November 13, 2026 and PhaseII on November 5, 2026.

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