iOS Analyzer App Recommendations?

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Ethan

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If anyone has used any of the audio analyzer apps available for iPhone/iPad, can you make any recommendations?

I'm looking for something that could be used with a simple iPhone to XLR breakout cable for input/output in the field.

Multi-tone frequency response testing, tone gen, basic distortion measurement, etc.
 
Ethan, I don't have a specific recommendation, but I will share a short story with you from inside a manufacturer.

One of our apps guy got hauled half way around the world at short notice to debug a customer problem in a portable product. they didn't have any real audio test equipment to hand (typical portable audio guys...) - but he had his iphone to hand. He downloaded an app that could generate white noise and analyse the outputs, even with a basic audio range oscilloscope.

Using those basic tools (Can see the signal, and generally looking at the frequency response) he was able to diagnose the issue, and fix it with a few i2c command writes.

Fancy stuff! :)

The only thing I'd be weary of is that you potentially open yourself to damaging the input and output  of your cellphone using such technology. I strongly suggest an external box that'll protect from overvoltages, overcurrents etc.

/R
 
Also keep in mind a cellphone A/D/A  could be limited and is not bench quality. Many have better DACs (for music playback) than A/Ds (for speech capture), but among the blind, one eye is better than nothing.  8)

Yet another reason I haven't updated my TS-1, to compete with cheap smart phone apps...

Better question...  anybody here write smart phone apps?  Seriously.

JR

 
Thank for the input.
Yeah, I'm not that concerned about lab-level accuracy, just some basic testing ability without hauling around a separate box.  I have access to a prism dscopeIII (although it would take some convincing to borrow it for field testing).

For 90% of all field uses I can get by with my DMM, but measuring AC signals becomes a little limited above 5kHz (which is actually pretty decent for a lowly DMM).

As for writing iOS apps, not I. Although, I've gotten decently proficient with PHP over the years, and by default C, but no experience with Objective-C.
 
Understood.... there is a great deal of utility from something better than cheap handheld VOM but still short of bench grade test equipment.

A smart phone should be capable of 16bit output (or more), and good enough input capture to identify most problems. Especially if you bypass the voice grade microphone.

JR


 
Ethan said:
If anyone has used any of the audio analyzer apps available for iPhone/iPad, can you make any recommendations?

I'm looking for something that could be used with a simple iPhone to XLR breakout cable for input/output in the field.

Multi-tone frequency response testing, tone gen, basic distortion measurement, etc.

I bought and use the Faber Acoustical iPhone apps SignalScope and SignalSuite. Tone generation, FFT, blah blah.

Andrew Smith, the guy behind the Terrasonde test box, does iPhone apps too although I have not used them.

-a
 
I use the Studio Six Digital all the time live.  I will often keep the RTA open on the doghouse of th monitor console just in case something squeals out of nowhere.
 
Andy Peters said:
Andrew Smith, the guy behind the Terrasonde test box, does iPhone apps too although I have not used them.
Ah! I recall seeing apps by Andrew Smith but didn't know to make the link to Terrasonde.
The Audio Tools app looks pretty nice. The iAudioInterface2 would be perfect for my needs but at $399, a little out of my range.

The FaberAcoustical stuff looks pretty. Can it be used with the Analog In/Out of the TRRS headphone/mic jack?
Using one of these things: http://www.amazon.com/Sescom-iPhone-3-5mm-Monitoring-Cable/dp/B0070R3K3U/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1357581920&sr=8-8&keywords=iphone+to+xlr
(although, given the cost I'd be more inclined to make my own breakout cable.)

Thanks!
 
Back in the day, my go-to field tool was the NTI Minilyzer (http://www.nti-audio.com/en/products/minilyzer-ml1.aspx) and the ML1 Minirator.
I still have the ML1 but unfortunately, the Minilyzer didn't survive a 3-story fall onto concrete--I think I paid around $500 for that thing too (back when I did more work in the field and could justify such expenses).
 
Ethan said:
Back in the day, my go-to field tool was the NTI Minilyzer (http://www.nti-audio.com/en/products/minilyzer-ml1.aspx) and the ML1 Minirator.
I still have the ML1 but unfortunately, the Minilyzer didn't survive a 3-story fall onto concrete--I think I paid around $500 for that thing too (back when I did more work in the field and could justify such expenses).
I was hoping there was some magical way that the studio six box would basically make my iphone into a minilyzer.
 
I've the iAudiointerface V1 with the studio six digital software. They were doing a great deal a few months ago on it.
I think it basically does turn your ipod into a Minilyzer by the looks of it.

I've only scratched the surface with it so far but it seems great. Only issue i've been having is the dock conector on my old ipod is temperamental, may hot glue them together!
 
I'm reviving this old thread.  I very recently started playing around with this Studio Six Digital, Audio Tools software. The basic Audio Tools is a free iOS app. It has a few useful things like the SPL meter.

To do the good stuff, either acoustic or electronic measurement you need to get some in app purchases. For room measurement I think the Transfer Function and  Room Impulse Response have all you need. There is also the LARSA and single channel SMAART software. I don't think SMAART is a full featured version but I don't know that software.

The internal mic on my iPhone 5 works pretty well. I got their iTest mic. It plugs into the lightning connector and is pre calibrated.  You can use the headphone out to output the test signal.

I've just been playing around with it but I've been impressed with it. I also checked out the Faber Acoustical software. Initially I thought I would go with that. Faber has more features in less apps, so initially I thought it was more full featured. The file handling  with Faber is more straightforward. The Studio Six software export functions are less straightforward. With Studio Six you can save a photo to photo roll or export in .xls format. I can see that there is a way to make the .xls file back into charts and graphs with Numbers but I haven't figured that out yet.

I plan on getting the iAudio2 interface for line level measurements. It was made for measurement. It clips at +40dBu. It of course integrates with their software. There is also software that allows iOS devices to talk to each other via wifi. You can have the mic plugged into an iPhone and remotely use the software (with audio transmitted too) on an iPad. 

Any USB interface should work with an Apple Camera Connection Kit.

When I have line level capability i plan on hooking it up to the output of my AP Portable One for FFT and the ability to easily print charts and graphs.

If you have an iOS device I think it's really great stuff. It's really a single channel measuring system. I bought the Faber Signal Scope to check out. The Faber software is stereo if you need that. Faber can also deal with high sample rates if the interface supports it like a Sound Devices USBpre2. Studio Six is 48/24 or 48/16.

If you get all the Studio Six software it blows away a minimizer or anything else I've seen really. It has things like direct measurement of driver impedance. Just transfer function alone is really fancy. You need an interface for line in. You can use built in mic and line out.
 

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