SpectralScan Spectrum Analyser App

[gorogoro]

I tried to look for a spectral analyzer app but did not find one that I liked and did not have subscription model so I made one myself as I'm a software engineer anyway.

The app is both for android and iphone. Would love some feedback from audio people on how to improve the app!

SpectralScan Audio Analyzer App - App Store

Download SpectralScan Audio Analyzer by Otsukare AB on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like SpectralScan Audio…

apps.apple.com

SpectralScan Audio Analyzer - Apps on Google Play

Spectrum Analyser: FFT, RTA, dB & SPL Meter, Acoustics, Spectrogram, Microphone

play.google.com

 

[Jiminkent]

It looks really smooth. The graphical display is very nice. I haven't actually used it for anything. If it had a peak/average db meter on it i would use it to check my music isn't too loud when my son is in the room.

 

[Jiminkent]

You could also make the app release the microphone when it is in background.
I switched from this to gemini and it wouldn't access the mic because this app was still using the mic.

 

[EERecordist]

I tried to look for a spectral analyzer app but did not find one that I liked and did not have subscription model so I made one myself as I'm a software engineer anyway.

The app is both for android and iphone. Would love some feedback from audio people on how to improve the app!

SpectralScan Audio Analyzer App - App Store

Download SpectralScan Audio Analyzer by Otsukare AB on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like SpectralScan Audio…

apps.apple.com

SpectralScan Audio Analyzer - Apps on Google Play

Spectrum Analyser: FFT, RTA, dB & SPL Meter, Acoustics, Spectrogram, Microphone

play.google.com

View attachment 525601

Hello, Welcome to ASR. You will find some experts here in audio science and engineeirng.

When using the RTA on iPhone with its well-calibrated internal microphone, what is your reference level? Just ambient, my NIOSH app reads about 30dBA. Your RTA shows -100 to -140dB?

Looking forward to experimenting more.

 

[gorogoro]

Thanks for trying the app! I'm not sure why your mic was not released when in background, for me it is released after a second or two, both on android and ios so hard to find the issue if I can't reproduce. What phone do you have?
You could also try to press stop RTA before even if it should release automatically.

The RTA uses dBFS (relative to digital full scale) rather than dBA, so 0 dBFS is the loudest the mic can handle without clipping, and blowing on the mic or try to max it has usually been around -40dB when I have tested (like on other apps).

It's a different reference point than calibrated SPL meters, which measure absolute acoustic pressure. The two can't be directly compared without a calibration step. SpectralScan is designed for relative analysis (room modes, speaker response, before/after EQ) rather than absolute SPL measurement. I would not really trust absolute dBA meters on phones anyway due to different vendors with varying mic quality.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Can the Android version utilize an external mic?

 

[Jiminkent]

Thanks for trying the app! I'm not sure why your mic was not released when in background, for me it is released after a second or two, both on android and ios so hard to find the issue if I can't reproduce. What phone do you have?
You could also try to press stop RTA before even if it should release automatically.

The RTA uses dBFS (relative to digital full scale) rather than dBA, so 0 dBFS is the loudest the mic can handle without clipping, and blowing on the mic or try to max it has usually been around -40dB when I have tested (like on other apps).

It's a different reference point than calibrated SPL meters, which measure absolute acoustic pressure. The two can't be directly compared without a calibration step. SpectralScan is designed for relative analysis (room modes, speaker response, before/after EQ) rather than absolute SPL measurement. I would not really trust absolute dBA meters on phones anyway due to different vendors with varying mic quality.

Good point about the calibration of spl!

Stop RTA does release the mic, but if the app is switched into background without stopping it keeps using it.

Android 16, one ui 8.0, samsung galaxy s23 ultra.

To be honest its probably not an issue worth worrying about, anyone using the app should be intelligent enough to realise.

 

[gorogoro]

Yes, the Android version supports external mic (could depend on vendor though, most testing has been done on a Pixel phone). iOS version does not support external mic as is now, as apple is stricter than android about input / output and would need a more low level audio backend than the one used.
I'll check around with users I know if I can test on some Samsung phone regarding releasing the mic, I don't like when apps are not releasing things properly