Spectroid
July 14, 2024
More About Spectroid
Q: Why are the dB values negative?
A: Spectroid uses dBFS (Full Scale) where 0 dB is the maximum power that the microphone can measure, so the decibel values are negative because the measured power is less than the maximum power.
Q: Can I zoom in on the spectrum plot?
A: Yes, do a two-finger pinch-to-zoom gesture.
Q: Why are there discontinuities/gaps in the spectrum plot and waterfall?
A: Spectroid uses multiple FFTs overlapped in frequency in order to provide better frequency resolution at lower frequencies than a single FFT. The caveat of this method is varied impulse response and minor discontinuities in frequency. The upside is that it can efficiently produce a spectrum that better matches the frequency resolution of human audio perception. It's still probably not as good as your ears though!
Q: Can I export the spectrum data?
A: Spectroid doesn't make your device a calibrated instrument. If you need the spectrum data then you should be using an actual spectrum analyzer rather than an app on your mobile device.
Latest Version
1.1.2
July 14, 2024
Carl Reinke
Tools
Android
3,776,218
Free
org.intoorbit.spectrum
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User Reviews
Adam Leyva (iDriftVolvos)
2 years ago
First app I felt I NEEDED to give a good review. Definitely the best quick analyzer that feels accurate enough for my use. I run front of house for bands in many different venues, this app makes it so easy to quickly see a frequency that may be problematic. Also has test tones and it's super fast and responsive. I have tried many MANY similar apps, both android and ios, and this one is by FAR the best for quick use.
A Google user
5 years ago
Awesome app. Only suggestion would be either a way to output the graphs to a file that you can load or picture or the ability to make the line a little bit thicker so it stands out more in screenshots. All of my screenshots the line looks like it's 5 pixels thick and it's hard to see. Also if you did picture or file outputs being able to caption them would be useful for when I do measurements I can know what each one is of.
Carlosyt2
3 years ago
Best app, I use it for bass music. I like how easy and responsive it is. I look for songs with bass frequencies from 25-35 hz for my subwoofers. I wish it worked with internal audio. That would be great! Thank you for creating such a great app. This brings me back to earlier times when it was all about great apps with no catches. This is one of them. Thank you very much!
A Google user
6 years ago
Seems to work pretty well and is very easy to operate. I will use it in an upcoming test to see how accurate and responsive it is. I don't see a way to have it record the audio track, that would be helpful. It would also be nice to be able to get the data from the spectrum and / or time history out to a text file. The only other thing that would be nice is to play the file back for review and to allow the speaker to also play back the audio and spectrum. I wished the test audio played through the speaker, as well. Great tool!
Alan Lowe
3 years ago
Tried one or two others but then I found Spectroid. This is an amazing app. If you are an older sound engineer like me, you know there are feedback frequencies you can't even hear but younger audience members probably can. I can usually pick the frequency but sometimes you get dual-tone feedback that is harder to nail down. This app picks it up nicely. Some EQs light up the freq but I have 2 DBX 231s GEQs that do the job, as long as I can pick the frequency. Great app!!!
Bo
5 years ago
I highly suspect the person that made this app simply wants to gift it to the world. Either I'm blind but when I looked around there was no 'rate me' button that I expected to find. I had to go back to the store to write this! The nerve! Anyway, this app auto works without any configuring involved. I was able to check my speaker and phone if indeed those 17khz-20 were actually playing and not bc my ears can't hear them. Simple. Effective.
Matthew Pohocsucut
1 year ago
Carl Reinke has as one person put it, gifted the world with his totally free application. Once you figure out how to set it up. It shows the river of sound that surrounds us. There's absolutely zero advertisements. It works online as well as offline. You don't even have to have any internet whatsoever. I will say that it is better to use multiple phones. Because some have better microphones than others. I would tell everyone that uses this to try using all of the phones that you own. Best app.
Cohen R
3 years ago
This app is a fun demonstration of an audio algorithm and is very ready to use. I especially like the inclusion of test waveforms. It appears to be reasonably accurate and, as a teaching tool, gives aspiring engineers a quick and easy way to visualize FFTs. The ability to export data and pairing it with an audio recorder would be nice updates. Well done!
Joseph Williams
3 years ago
I found these EVP sightings by accident. I did a screenshot on these figures that appeared in the graphs. I was a bit disturbed at a few readings but this app is on point with what it does the hardware is the only thing that I could think of that would be a variable depending on the device you are using. Great work I'd like to see a information tutorial for understanding the interface though.
David Murray
4 years ago
This appeared to be exactly what I was looking for for use with HAM radio in the HF band. Even though I gave it 5 stars it does seem to have a deficiency, but perhaps I just haven't figured something out in the audio settings. It needs control over a base signal level to give more contrast between signal and noise (HF bands are noisy). With a low signal to noise ratio it is difficult/impossible to get a clear view of the signal signature. It does provide a waterfall display without connecting up to a PC so it is doing what I want it for. To the developer. Is there a window function and/or other audio settings that will give the ability to tone down noise to get a better contrast?
A Google user
6 years ago
I have been using this app for about 2 months to analyze a varying high frequency noise through the interior and exterior of my home and capture the db levels. I was surprised that it measures the frequency levels also! however, it would be extremely germane to my needs if the recording was also audible. It does not interface with a player to hear the sounds it records. I hope you work on that.
A Google user
6 years ago
As a part time audio engineer, this is great for me. I tried it with a couple of other similar apps, and this one seemed to be the cleanest, most precise, and reliable. Awesome when I need a little help nailing down a feedback frequency or hiss in a new microphone 4 stars because I can only seem to get it to register up to 24kHz, when I need it up to 28kHz. Also would be nice to be able to export the data. Small complaints for a great app though.
D B
3 years ago
Tested several free apps and this is the best hands down. Refresh is fast. Histogram feature is fantastic so you can see changes over time. Thank you for making this available. If I could request a feature it would be a filter function. I have a low frequency noise that is making it hard to see the singers vocals and would like to isolate them. Even without this is the best app.
A Google user
6 years ago
Looks awesome with certain types of music. Any music with a piano or harmonic type instrument shows up clearly when you use it. Kicks, snares, claps, and hi hats as well, if you know what to look for. Very useful in eyeballing certain melodies of songs if you can't pick which notes are played in your head. Useful and fun. Also note: the quality of the visualization is directly proportional to the microphone quality, distance from sound, and the volume of sound.
Dave Franchino
4 years ago
Frankly, this app helps restore my faith in humanity. Simple. Clean. Elegant, useful. No ads, no popups. I know the author points out he can't calibrate but just for fun, pull up an online tone generator on an adjacent computer and try comparing the results. I'm using this to debug some objectionable noise from some industrial fans. What a nice find. Thanks. Like a few others, I'd love the ability to record an audio clip along with the spectrum analysis. Not a big deal though. Bravo
Sherwin Gooch
4 years ago
This app is wonderful! I am building tuned struck musical instruments. If you crank up the sample rate & interval, and set the decimation appropriately, it provides the resolution required to tune musical instruments. It is the only spectrum analyzer app I have found so far that can do so. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! You have obviated my need to build a real-time pitch extractor app based on the "poor man's autocorrelator" algorithm.
Tank R.
4 years ago
Stop looking through apps, this is the one youre looking for. Period. Great specrum viewer app, I use it on many devices. Works flawlessly on all but the oldest of them(were talking android 2 era devices, so it has a pass). I've been using it for years and I still find neat ways of utilizing it. About the only thing it lacks is a record function, but you can always record the screen or screen cap.
Ben Rogers
1 year ago
The BEST! So much fun to look at while my stereo is playing. I can see that the bass goes down to 44hz before it drops off which I think is pretty good. I started a Facebook group called Spectroid Users. I would like to see the graphs of other users stereos playing specific songs so I can compare to my stereo. I use the microphone on my Android phone and I am about ten feet from the middle of my stereo. Show me what you got!
Fred Carriker
1 year ago
Seems to work very well, very stable and precise. However, you don't know if the source audio speaker and reception mic produce said audio accurately or not. No way to know for sure. Even with whatever source you start with, you still have to trust the author it is what they say. Eg: Said audio on internet is 1150 hz. After played on phone and picked up with another phone, app says 1152 hz. However very steady. You would have to be in a sound studio for something better!
Tyler Fritsch
1 year ago
This is the best STFFT/FFT app out there on Apple or Android. The ability to change most important settings if you know what you're doing, though it's set up great out of the box. I like for the colormap/spectrogram it does it in chunks for best resolution. The only thing I find myself wanting is the ability to see what the peak level is after pausing. I can only get a cursor for the spectrum the moment it was paused. Small complaint for a great great app.
