Review of iStrobosoft

Peterson has been well known for making the industry standard tuners for decades. Their technology for strobe tuning has been unmatched, and their continuous improvement and innovation keep them on top. As a guitar tech and as a guitar player, being in tune and set-up correct has been something that I’ve strived for all the time - and their latest product for the iPhone and iPod touch, iStrobosoft, delivers.

            iStrobosoft is a mobile version of their Strobosoft 2.0 software - a PC/Mac feature rich strobe tuner package. If you don’t know what a strobe tuner is and why it is more accurate, you may have to go read up on the differences of strobe tuners vs. chromatic tuners. However, what separates iStrobosoft from Strobosoft 2.0 is predominately the price. Strobosoft 2.0 costs $49.99 and iStrobosoft costs $9.99. Even with the feature cuts from the PC/Mac software, iStrobosoft retains the absolute most important feature of the software - the strobe tuning!
            As a user of Peterson products for a few years, I immediately wanted to test the software the minute I heard it was released. How did it stack up to the standalone tuners? to the PC/Mac Strobosoft 2.0 software? I purchased it, and went to set it up. Since the iPhone/iPod has several versions, their processors and hardware differ and will make some of the code run faster and slower. To compensate for this, they have a “Calibration mode” which allows you to set an offset via a sound (i.e. like 440 hz) that will account for the differences in processor speed and let the code run the right speed for tuning. How you do this is you play a set sound that you know the frequency of, and let the software record it. Then it will offset the software speed for you. Once I completed that I immediately went for a test putting up Strobosoft 2.0 vs the iPhone software. The result?
            You guessed it, they were neck and neck in accuracy. The only difference is that the iPhone version tracked a bit slower than the PC/Mac version. This shows a level of quality that is only a portion of what their technology can do. If you upgrade to their dedicated tuning hardware, you will be in for yet another level of reliability and features. Going back to the testing, I tested it with various instruments and setups. Acoustically with no cable? Yep. Connected by cable? Yep. Accuracy vs. their dedicated hardware? Yep.
             As an added benefit, they created specific hardware to make the tuning experience even easier and more accessible. The first is the iPhone/iPod touch Adaptor cable. This cable matches the impedance of the guitar to the iPhone/iPod Touch’s input, and allows you to use it like a regular peterson tuner! The second gives a Mini Mic to the iPod touch and iPhone, but more so to the iPod, which doesn’t have a mic natively. They cost 12.99 and 11.99 respectively. Peterson has gone out of their way to bring the strobe tuner to a broader audience with this hardware and software.

The Looks: 
The main display is the same as all their dedicated hardware. You even get the ability to go landscape and upside-down with it! Since it is using Apple hardware, the display is beautiful and visible from many angles and in different lighting conditions.

The Features: 
 The main feature - Strobe tuning, is alive and strong in this software. Although you don’t get some of the sweetened tunings (which only a select few use anyways), the ability to do drops/capo’s are still there. You also get an input boost and noise filter which works well with noisy environments or small inputs. In addition, this is available in the app store, and has great support. You are still getting a killer amount of features here!

User-Friendliness: 
 If you never have used a strobe tuner yet, it may throw you off for a few minutes. But once you get the hang of it, you may never go back to a normal tuner again. Their UI design is simple and elegant, and their menus and settings follow in suit. And you get it in the touchscreen UI of the iPhone or iPod touch, which Apple has worked hard on themselves.

The Price: 
I don’t think you can really go wrong here. $9.99 - a ridiculous deal for under 10 bucks.

The Verdict: 
 If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, you should be required to get this software. It works so well and is such a good price, having it on you at all times will be easy - as well as staying in tune. If you don’t have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can ether get one and get this software, or go for Peterson's dedicated tuning hardware. This is my third Peterson product, and I’m very impressed with the quality of all of them. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, go to the app store and get it NOW!