IK Multimedia Releases UltraTuner for iOS

IK_Multimedia_UltraTunerIK Multimedia has announced UltraTuner, the digital chromatic instrument-tuner app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

UltraTuner is available as stand-alone app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, or as an in-app purchase within AmpliTube for iPhone and iPad (in all versions).

IK Multimedia touts the UltraTuner app as one of the “fastest, smoothest and most responsive tuning engines” among tuner apps. The tuner is precise to below a hundredth of a cent (beyond human perception of pitch), more accurate than a mechanical strobe tuner. The UltraTuner’s accurate pitch detection happens via a proprietary dual-analysis processing engine which allows the tuner a more accurate reading of the frequency of the incoming note. UltraTuner’s precision also allows for easier intonation of string instruments like guitar or bass, and offers note precision down to less than .01 (1/100th) of a cent, useful for calibrating electronic instruments like vintage synthesizers.

UltraTuner offers two basic modes of operation: Stage and Studio. Stage mode features a simple interface that is easy to see in low-light conditions. Studio mode provides pitch tracking, to monitor changes in pitch over time, or as a proprietary oscilloscope wave form display.

Key Features:
IK_Multimedia_UltraTuner_iPadiPhone

  • Innovative tuning engine with 0.01 cent resolution
  • Dual Mode: Stage and Studio
  • Large Tuning indicator visible from a distance (stage mode)
  • Tuning History to see the tuning variations over time (studio mode)
  • Temperament selection includes: Equal, Pythagorean, Just Major, 1/4 Comma Mean Tone, Kimberger III, Werckmeister III, Young and Kellner
  • Useful for tuning, as well as for non-chromatic instrument training

Pricing & Availability. IK Multimedia’s UltraTuner app is available today as a standalone app from the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch for $4.99 / 4.49 Euro, or as an in-app purchase within AmpliTube for iPhone (Free/ LE/ Full versions), and AmpliTube for iPad (Free/ Full versions). For more information, consult the IK Multimedia website.

Here’s an overview video about UltraTuner:

 

9 thoughts on “IK Multimedia Releases UltraTuner for iOS

  1. IK appears to have “borrowed” the tracking mode from Affinity Blue’s “Tunable” app. That app (Tunable) offers a nice reference tone function and metronome.

    The waveform displayed for the guitar was surprisingly sinusoidal. I suppose most of the tuners lowpass the signal pretty dramatically before tracking the pitch.

    1. For the hundreds of millions of people that gave an iPhone, though, this makes way more sense than spending money on a hardware tuner.

  2. Far be it for me to defend that iOS device craze, but that kind of is the point. You spend hundreds to have a very user-friendly portable computer, and a few bucks for each app. And the apps make it so you have a very versatile device- I used to carry an mp3 player, a tuner, a metronome, a phone, and an audio recorder in my back pack. Ok, honestly, all I got rid of was the metronome & tuner.

    1. Some tuners are pretty buggy and clunky. And having that strobe-type mode really does get you a higher degree of accuracy because you can see accumulated drift that a simple meter can’t as easily reflect. The pitch track that shows the path of pitch over time (a la Tunable) is also useful to see how much pitch is affected by, for example, the initial pluck or attack of sound, etc.

      I agree that there are many metronomes and tuners. But MOST of then are terrible. And sometimes a user is looking for something specific, or has a difficult-to-tune instrument.

      There are piano-tuning apps that deal with the “stretch” of a piano that are ridiculously expensive, but they do a specific job very well.

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