insTuner

What insTuner is

insTuner is a chromatic tuner for instruments including guitar, bass, piano, bowed strings, brass, woodwinds and drums. It provides five modes: Instant Tuning, Fine-Tuning, Strobe Tuning, Spectrum (FFT) and Spectrogram. A note wheel displays the detected note and its octave. Fine-Tuning shows the note, cent deviation and frequency, while Spectrum analyzes frequencies and allows a logarithmic or linear X-axis. A built-in tone generator produces four waveforms to help users tune by ear. The free edition includes Instant-Tuning Mode and the tone generator. The paid plan costs $3.99, paid once and includes the Mac app, fine-tuning, historical curve tuning, the tone generator and tuning settings. Settings include Concert A frequency, musical temperament and input source. The Mac App Store listing requires macOS 10.9 or later. The maker says the paid app can be bought once for use on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. EUMLab says it was founded in 2012 and is based in Hangzhou, China and Berlin, Germany.

Who it suits

insTuner suits musicians who tune different instrument types and want visual tuning modes or a tone generator. The free edition is limited to Instant-Tuning Mode and the tone generator.

Limits

The free edition includes Instant-Tuning Mode and the Tone Generator. The paid plan is listed at $3.99, paid once and adds the Mac app, fine-tuning, historical curve tuning and tuning settings.

Getting started

1. Visit the insTuner website.
2. Choose the free edition or the paid insTuner plan.
3. Use an iOS device or a Mac; the Mac listing requires macOS 10.9 or later.
4. For the paid plan, the maker says one purchase can be used on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
5. Contact [email protected] for support.

Verdict

insTuner offers several ways to read pitch, from a note display to spectrum analysis, alongside a tone generator. The free edition is narrower than the paid plan, which adds further tuning features and settings.