Speaker Polarity

Speaker Polarity

By Andrew Smith

  • Category: Music
  • Release Date: 2008-10-14
  • Current Version: 4.4
  • Adult Rating: 4+
  • File Size: 38.47 MB
  • Developer: Andrew Smith
  • Compatibility: Android, iOS 12.1
Score: 4.18182
4.18182
From 11 Ratings

Description

This app is a speaker polarity tester. Find out if your speakers are wired correctly (in phase or out of phase). Test your surround speakers, stereo speakers, PA speakers, in fact any speaker with wiring terminals on the back. This speaker polarity tester was designed by the same people who built the Audio Toolbox, and the polarity tester in that unit was known as the most accurate and reliable polarity tester available. Now that technology is available in your iPhone. Use this app to test your home speakers, recording studio monitors, or as part of your professional contractor work. Speakers wired backwards are the most common error in sound system setup, cause big problems, and are easily corrected. This app will give you the answers, no matter how difficult the wiring may be to trace. Speaker Pop works by watching for a proprietary "pop" sound from the speaker, and doing DSP analysis of the sound to determine if the speaker cone is moving in the correct direction. As long as you use a standard 1/8" stereo plug, you can use any normal 1/8" to RCA adapter to get the signal into your system. You can also to record the "pop" test signal to a CD, DVD, or another iPod, and play this signal through your speakers. Works with iAudioInterface and iTestMic. Select the speaker type filter, Woofer, Midrange, or Tweeter. This selects either a 125Hz, 500-2000Hz, or 8000Hz filter, to make the readings more reliable. Once you have the test signal coming out of the speaker, position your phone near the speaker (we suggest you flip it over to point the internal mic directly at the speaker -- the display will flip). In a few seconds you will get the reading on the screen, either a Plus or a Minus. Plus indicates correct speaker polarity, Minus means you need to swap the wires coming into the speaker. We also have stereo and surround test signals available for download from our web site which are ready for burning to CD or DVD. See our web site or for more information. Note that iDVD will not burn encoded surround files, a more advanced DVD burning authoring program is required. Some folks have had success with Toast. We also sell test DVDs on our web site. See our other audio apps: AudioTools, our premier audio and acoustics test and analysis app, SPL, the professional grade sound level meter for the iPhone, SPL Graph, for recording SPL over time, RTA, a 1/3 octave real time analyzer, FFT, for detailed acoustic analysis, ETC, the Energy Time Curve app, RT60, for automated octave-band decay time analysis, and Generator, the iPhone signal generator. Watch for more coming soon.

Screenshots

Reviews

  • Best money spent on an app

    5
    By taytayinthebay
    Works great with Bluetooth, (doesn’t work when Apple Car Play is running, but does with Bluetooth) Within 2 minutes I was done. Found out 3 speakers were backwards, literally the most useful app I’ve ever downloaded.
  • Best $5 i’ve ever spent!!!

    5
    By MBHockey
    Moved into new house with speakers built in everywhere to the ceilings and walls. No idea how the wires are connected, and i’m not about to go around removing each speaker from the wall and ceiling to see how they are attached (i tried one one, but they are very difficult to remove). I needed to know the correct polarity so that I could correctly calculate the impedance of various series and parallel circuits of speakers with the amp so i didn’t overload it (in addition to them having optimal sound). The builders of my house did not seem to follow any sort of convention or pattern when installing the speakers and connecting the wires, unfortunately. Using the app I was able to see that approximately 25% of my speakers were wired backwards and I simply matched this backwards wiring on my wall plate to ensure that I have the correct polarity everywhere. This app save me hours and hours and hours of difficult work and I will be forever grateful!!!
  • Quick and easy

    5
    By xv144
    I ran the WAV click file from their website through my stereo (using my iPad), then held my phone in front of each speaker to check polarity. 3 out of 4 of my speakers were negative, so I reversed the wires on those. Very quick and easy.
  • Piece of crap

    1
    By Top installer
    Save your money !!!
  • Great for any car audio install (Instructions in Review)

    4
    By EM3 to LV
    Installed new speakers, head unit, and amplifier in my project truck. When using the factory wiring to connect to aftermarket speakers, it’s challenging to know the correct wiring schematic, even with a harness. After install I wanted to see if I did the wiring correctly... nope all speakers out of phase. This app gives a simple “-“ or “+” based on the phase of your speakers. I would have given 5 stars, but this app must of been created in an hour. It’s very poor with little to no instructions. What I did. Visit the app designers website on a Windows or OS computer and download their “Speaker Pop” audio file. From there I added the “long pop.wav” file into iTunes. I used my iPad as the music source (plugged in my iPad to the usb of my stereo), then used the app on my iPhone to read the sound from the speakers. The app used the microphone on your iPhone to read the signal. The microphone is located where the charger is (bottom of iPhone). Make the wire swap at the speaker, behind the head unit, or amp (my case, the amp under my seat) then test again. The test is only good for mid-speakers (door speakers), not tweeters (locates usually in the A-pillar or dash).
  • Perfect!!!

    5
    By jbstegman
    Just built a new audio system in my car and I was struggling with some weird polarity issues coming from the OEM head unit. I downloaded and burned the WAV file to CD and played it on repeat. And then one by one I could test each speaker simply by hold my phone near it. Brilliant!
  • Works as advertised!

    5
    By DS Leadfoot
    I recently hooked up surround speakers in a house that was pre wired for them. Unfortunately whoever wired it chose to use plain wire without any indication of positive or negative. I was strongly suspicious that my speakers were wired backward, and I found this app. Sure enough one of the surrounds was out of phase, and after fixing it they sound dramatically better! This is one of those apps that is well worth the 5 bucks. I'm very pleased. Thanks!
  • What an AWESOME app!

    5
    By MVandG
    I installed an amp and upgraded speakers on my motorcycle. Took great effort to install everything according to my wiring diagrams. After it was all done my front speakers just didn't sound right. Same speakers as the rear but nowhere near the quality as the rear speakers. I took the bike apart to check my work. I did it right but using a multimeter I discovered that the original bike wiring was wrong. POS and NEG wires were backwards even though color coding and connectors were correct. Strange I know. I fixed it but something was nagging me about it. Was the factory wiring really wrong? Could it really be? Researching and double checking my thought process on what I discovered and "repaired", I came across this app. How simple could it be. 5 minutes after purchasing I verified that now my speakers are indeed wired correctly. All I can say is THANK YOU! I only wish I could have had this before I redid the wiring to show me it was audibly wrong at the time. Better late than never and the piece of mind is well worth the price of the app!!!
  • Works Perfect!

    5
    By RewindTheImage
    I installed new speakers in my car recently, and could tell something was just "off." I did some research on my own, and concluded it was most likely a polarity issue with the speakers. I didn't want to buy an expensive polarity testing device, so I looked through the App Store store and found this app. Trust me, it works. In less than 5 minutes, I installed the app, hooked up my phone to the car stereo, and tested all 4 car speakers individually. The test showed me 3 out of 4 speakers were connected properly with a positive polarity. I switched the wires for the one that came back negative, and re-tested it. Everything was positive and the music sounded full again. :-) To The Devs: Thanks for taking the time to make this stand-alone app, it really helped.
  • BEST APP--EVER!!!

    5
    By DubiousMosquito
    THE BEST FIVE DOLLARS I EVER SPENT IN MY LIFE!!!! This is the best app I have ever used. Period. Something didn't sound right in my car stereo after upgrading the speakers, which required cutting the factory harnesses. It turns out the Crutchfield and other available schematics had the colors of + and - opposite to my car's factory wiring. It could be due to my car being a very limited run car (the only one I know of and that the dealers knew of). After spending a lot of money on a sound system, I didnt want to be in another $200 to buy a phase tester. THIS IS IT !! BEST 5 DOLLARS I EVER SPENT IN MY LIFE!!! If you have an iPhone and need a phase test tool this is it.

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