Wherever you poke your pointer around the interweb these days, it’s difficult to avoid the sheer preponderance of applications for Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and the iOS operating system. And yes we know there’s a whole stack of other smart phones available out there, but when it comes to sheer choice of applications, the iPhone really has a lot of the game stitched up.
So along with all the social networking, pseudo spirit levels, and battery-draining games applications, there’s a whole bunch of iOS applications out there specifically aimed at audio geeks and gurus. We figured we’d point out some of the cleverer offerings available for your iPhone.

Firstly, no self respecting recordist should be without an accurate instrument tuner, and we’ve found two that really set the bar for others to follow. First up is Strobosoft’s iStrobosoft. The manufacturer responsible is the software side-arm of Peterson Tuners, the company behind for those vintage looking strobe tuners you see on guitar tech’s benches. Peterson have been making these for about 60 years so the folk there know a few things about tuning. iStrobosoft uses a software based version of strobe metering, where a patchwork set of dials scroll faster, the more your note deviates from the required pitch. It’s a lot easier than reading a needle or a set of LEDs, and is far more stable. Consequently it’s also way more accurate – in the case of iStrobosoft, it’s accurate down to one tenth of a cent. Smarter than your average tuner, and suitable for tuning anything that can hold a note. Well worth the $12.99. Check it out here.

Next is TC Electronic’s PolyTune, the groundbreaking guitar tuner that lets you strum all six strings and view the tuning of each string. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do it’s a real time saver. PolyTune allows for dropped tunings and it’s accurate to 0.5 cents. When TC Electronic initially rolled out the iPhone version of PolyTune it was a free download for folk subscribed to the TC Electronic Facebook site. Nowadays it’ll set you back $12.99, which isn’t so bad for a tuner that’s in your pocket and ready to go. More aimed at guitar and bass.
PolyTune is available from here

Of course not all iPhone apps cost an arm and a leg, and one that’s more than worth the paltry $1.19 is studio Six’s SPL Meter. This is a handy little number for measuring just how loud you’re monitoring in your studio. SPL Meter is a facsimile of the tried and true Tandy Electronics or RadioShack analogue SPL meter that’s been an essential mainstay for recordists for decades. The original ‘needle meter’ device is now discontinued by RadioShack – grab the iPhone version for a touch of nostalgia and a darn fine measurement device.
This is but a taste of the iPhone audio apps Studio Six have on offer. It’s AudioTools app compresses a bunch of tools into the one application for $23.99, with more modules available as ‘in-app’ purchases. The standard release includes an SPL Meter, RTA – an octave and 1/3 octave real-time analyser , Level/Frequency – measures the dB level and frequency of the Studio Six’s separately available iAudioInterface line input unit, Generator – for producing test tones, Audio Scope – a dual-trace audio-band oscilloscope that includes auto- and single-trigger modes, variable sweep rate, and up to 128x gain, along with a recorder, audio related calculator, and a calibration tool. Studio Six have plans on the table to integrate Smaart by Rational Acoustics into the AudioTools app. This is the last word in iPhone audio measurement, and combined with the iAudioInterface, should make your iPhone a formidable, yet completely mobile analysis tool. Download one now!

If you’re after a plain old stereo recorder, FiRe from Audiofile Engineering is anything but plain. For $12.99, FiRe allows recording in AIFF, Broadcast WAV, CAF, and Ogg Vorbis formats, along with the ability to shunt your recording directly to SoundCloud. You can add markers according to time intervals, overdub audio, scroll the recorded waveform just like a real DAW, and overlay processing features to the iPhone input such as rumble or hiss reduction, compression and enhancement, amongst other useful ‘in-the-field’ DSP processes. Gold!
Grab a copy of FiRe.

Finally, we can’t help but give an Australian iPhone app developer another rousing testimonial. AudioToolkit is designed and coded by ‘our very own’ Grammy Award winning engineer, Tony David Cray. The application offers a compendium of tools for audio and music industry professionals for a scant $5.99. Tony developed the application based on session requirements at the Sydney Opera House recording studios – where he’s Chief Engineer. So far the tools include;
Media: for calculating media space required for your chosen recording format and track count.
Tempo: provides an über-accurate realtime synthesis metronome
Pitch: bundles an oscillator, tuner, and pitch detection section, while displaying pitch as notes on a stave, Hertz, or MIDI note numbers.
Phase: measures the phase of a signal based on either a generated click or a pre-recorded audio file. Just point the iPhone speaker onto the mic being tested. Then, with another iPhone in your control room you can determine whether the wiring is in phase. Further modules are in development. AudioToolkit for all!