Polarity Checker
Free App
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About Polarity Checker
For a good working Sound System it is essential that all loudspeakers are wired correctly.
With this app you can turn your android device into a "polarity popper" and check the "polarity" of a speaker, whether it first moves forwards or backwards (often mistakenly named "phase", which is also time and frequency related).
A loudspeaker should have the same polarity as it's "friend on the other side" when measured at the same position/distance. This also counts for multiple speakers which should be doing the same (a cluster of multiple subwoofers for instance).
Important notes:
- Red is NOT bad!! A lot of filter-designs that drive loudspeakers have out of polarity components (so for instance the high frequency speaker CAN be opposite polarity to the low frequency speaker).
- Try to measure as close to the speaker as possible (and away from bass-ports).
- dBFS means "Decibels relative to full scale". So 0dBFS is the maximum soundpressure your device is capable of handling without distorting (clipping).
- Using a different pulse signal CAN give opposite readings, due to loudspeaker filter designs. Use the same pulse when comparing!
Polarity Checker can be useful for testing almost all sound sources. Like large scale concert PA systems, home theater systems, studio monitors, car audio en even headphones..
Usage:
For playing the pulse signal you have 3 options:
- Use a wire to connect your phone/tablet to the Sound System.
- Use 2 phones/tablets (one wired for pulse generation and one without wires for measuring).
- Copy the pulse files (which can be found in sd-card/PolarityChecker) to a playback medium (cd/iPod) that is able to repeat single tracks.
- When the polarity-reverse button "Ø" is pressed (red), the pulse generator plays a negative pulse. So the measurement should give opposite readings! (equal to playing an INVERTED_pulseXXXX.mp3 file)
Measuring:
- Avoid CLIPPING the microphone, this could corrupt the measurement.
- Adjust the threshold, so the checker doesn't get triggered by background noise.
- Try to measure one speaker at a time. If possible mute all other sound sources.
When measuring "passive filtered" speaker cabinets (for instance when you've got one amplifier driving your low and high speaker at the same time), it can be useful to select a frequency dependent pulse to isolate the speaker you want to measure.
If you like this app, please comment and rate. If you've got any questions, bugs or feature requests, please visit the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PolarityChecker
PERMISSIONS USED:
- RECORD_AUDIO: To use the mic input of the device
- STORAGE: Needed to copy the pulse files to the sdcard
- FULL INTERNET ACCESS: Needed for Ads (not used when donation key is purchased)
- VIEW NETWORK STATE: Needed for Ads (not used when donation key is purchased)
With this app you can turn your android device into a "polarity popper" and check the "polarity" of a speaker, whether it first moves forwards or backwards (often mistakenly named "phase", which is also time and frequency related).
A loudspeaker should have the same polarity as it's "friend on the other side" when measured at the same position/distance. This also counts for multiple speakers which should be doing the same (a cluster of multiple subwoofers for instance).
Important notes:
- Red is NOT bad!! A lot of filter-designs that drive loudspeakers have out of polarity components (so for instance the high frequency speaker CAN be opposite polarity to the low frequency speaker).
- Try to measure as close to the speaker as possible (and away from bass-ports).
- dBFS means "Decibels relative to full scale". So 0dBFS is the maximum soundpressure your device is capable of handling without distorting (clipping).
- Using a different pulse signal CAN give opposite readings, due to loudspeaker filter designs. Use the same pulse when comparing!
Polarity Checker can be useful for testing almost all sound sources. Like large scale concert PA systems, home theater systems, studio monitors, car audio en even headphones..
Usage:
For playing the pulse signal you have 3 options:
- Use a wire to connect your phone/tablet to the Sound System.
- Use 2 phones/tablets (one wired for pulse generation and one without wires for measuring).
- Copy the pulse files (which can be found in sd-card/PolarityChecker) to a playback medium (cd/iPod) that is able to repeat single tracks.
- When the polarity-reverse button "Ø" is pressed (red), the pulse generator plays a negative pulse. So the measurement should give opposite readings! (equal to playing an INVERTED_pulseXXXX.mp3 file)
Measuring:
- Avoid CLIPPING the microphone, this could corrupt the measurement.
- Adjust the threshold, so the checker doesn't get triggered by background noise.
- Try to measure one speaker at a time. If possible mute all other sound sources.
When measuring "passive filtered" speaker cabinets (for instance when you've got one amplifier driving your low and high speaker at the same time), it can be useful to select a frequency dependent pulse to isolate the speaker you want to measure.
If you like this app, please comment and rate. If you've got any questions, bugs or feature requests, please visit the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PolarityChecker
PERMISSIONS USED:
- RECORD_AUDIO: To use the mic input of the device
- STORAGE: Needed to copy the pulse files to the sdcard
- FULL INTERNET ACCESS: Needed for Ads (not used when donation key is purchased)
- VIEW NETWORK STATE: Needed for Ads (not used when donation key is purchased)
All Application Badges
Free
downl.
downl.
Android
1.5+
1.5+
Android app
App History & Updates
What's Changed
- Added: Move to SD support
- Added: Move to SD support
More downloads Polarity Checker reached 50 000 - 100 000 downloads
More downloads Polarity Checker reached 10 000 - 50 000 downloads
More downloads Polarity Checker reached 5 000 - 10 000 downloads
Version update Polarity Checker was updated to version 1.4
What are users saying about Polarity Checker
C
by C####:
by C####:
Snapped a speaker cable in my surround sound system. There was no indication of which wire was positive or negative on the wires themselves or going into the speaker. This app was great as it allowed me to make sure the speaker had the same polarity as all the others when I rewired it.
C
by C####:
by C####:
really easy with two devices. Tablet to generate the tone with headphone-to-rca cable, phone to sit next to the speaker. While i knew i was "phased-out" as it just didnt sound right, this app help me find that one of the 4 speakers was reversed. It didnt seem to work with subwoofer even with the 80hz test, but it did exactly what i needed on the full range speakers. It did mis-report every so often (background noise?), but with a vast majority coming back as either red or green it's easy to see the polarity.
V
by V####:
by V####:
Garbage, doesn't even work, it shows green 2 times then red then green then red and keeps changing. Played with threshold control and tried all pulse generator tones as well as my own tones from focal same thing.
D
by D####:
by D####:
Gentlemen, THIS WORKS! Yes it has not been updated since 2013, but if it works don't fix it. There is a SMALL learning curve. But its easy, watch my review. Its not PERFECT, but its almost there. As a person that does not like BS apps on his phone, THIS GUY IS A KEEPER! Donate to the dude! It costs 2 bucks. SO SO SO WORTH IT! I was able to find a wiring issue with the driver from the factory 6x9. I could hear it, but this confirmed it. You need some skills to use this tool, and I will be going over that. But its solid. Use with AMPME if you need 2 sources (It will work over bluetooth!) The cons is that it is a LITTLE slow, but that can be fixed if there is ever an update. I would like to see more feedback from the GUI, but I will try to contact the folks and see if they can add these in a future update. Should have video up soon.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Fantastic, saved me a heap of time. Picked the speaker I wired wrong.
E
by E####:
by E####:
Tested on phone speaker. Polarity of separate phone speaker depends on the choosen frequency which is impossible.
C
by C####:
by C####:
App is inconsistent. I'm getting numerous "false negatives."
C
by C####:
by C####:
Needed to use one phone to send the tones and another receive them. I was able to find a wire harness that was supplied by Crutchfield that was reversed.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Very useful tool. Works as expected most of the times. Overall gets the job done. However needs some improvement to become perfect.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Dosen't work at all
C
by C####:
by C####:
Simple and effective. But for full marks you should put some in-app help.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Future more better ...!
C
by C####:
by C####:
Good app
C
by C####:
by C####:
Great
C
by C####:
by C####:
Play the pulse and change the balace to each speaker front left, front right, rear left, rear right... With every pulse u get a sign + or -... Now correct so they are all the same and you are done!
I
by I####:
by I####:
The app works flawlessly and helped me identify 2 speakers in my newly acquired vehicle that had reversed polarity. I knew that there was at least one of the 8 that were out of phase. Great app!
C
by C####:
by C####:
Ncely done, but does not work for me. One speaker can show green on 160Hz, but red on 1k2Hz. What does that tell me? Basically that the app doesn't work.
K
by K####:
by K####:
Helped me diagnose dash speakers being out of phase on a car that did not have a CD player so I couldn't use my normal phase tester.
Y
by Y####:
by Y####:
Tested on phone speaker. Polarity of separate phone speaker depends on the choosen frequency which is impossible.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Very useful apps for pro speaker check ing
C
by C####:
by C####:
Nice
C
by C####:
by C####:
Not 100% accurate but most of the time it is. Helped me to find out that 1 of my 4 hi-fi subwoofers were inverted phase despite of the phase switch set to 0°. So I had to donate this guy.
B
by B####:
by B####:
When using the 80Hz pulse tone it would not consistently show a positive or negative signal, making the results inconclusive. A better way to test "phase" is to play the sound file from this app and use a sound analyser app to view the waveform.
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
I still don't know how to use it....everytime i try it in my room without any single noise...the threshold meter goes crazy....
M
by M####:
by M####:
This is a superb app. Saved me the hassle of taking apart all my car door panels. KUDOS!
D
by D####:
by D####:
Results are not accurate. It will waffle back and forth between positive and negative on the same speaker and wiring. There's a much more reliable polarity checker within the paid AudioTool app.
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
Wish this existed yrs ago
R
by R####:
by R####:
Though the results are not always consistent, I was able to isolate a speaker that was reversed. High tones are more accurate in low volume very close to the speaker. Results after fixing the polarity is significant.
F
by F####:
by F####:
When using the 80Hz pulse tone it would not consistently show a positive or negative signal, making the results inconclusive. A better way to test "phase" is to play the sound file from this app and use a sound analyser app to view the waveform.
C
by C####:
by C####:
Really helpful. Thanks
C
by C####:
by C####:
it works.... nice!!!!!!
C
by C####:
by C####:
This
D
by D####:
by D####:
Great concept - but completely inconsistent! Of no value. Glad I didn't pay for it.
R
by R####:
by R####:
Useful app
M
by M####:
by M####:
Installed/upgraded my car's complex sound system and this app did the trick when i was working with unmarked wires. Imagine the mess of fitting 8 speakers and a woofer
V
by V####:
by V####:
Love this app. Accurate, and so easy to use. I had a multi speaker system that I thought was wired correctly. After checking with this app I found one speaker polarity to be incorrect. After reversing the polarity the sound is fuller and richer. Brilliant!
S
by S####:
by S####:
When i checked phase of my midbass in my car, didn't worked well. The + - sign dont show the right one. Although i've changed the frequency. I compare this app with a polarity checker tool.
S
by S####:
by S####:
I have no way of really checking if it is correct but several checks produced consistent results. Saved me a packet getting my car's sound system installed as I could do it myself.
S
by S####:
by S####:
Works great. Kept me from having to take off all my door panels to get to speaker terminals. Thanks!
by C####:
Simple effective tools. Unfortunately, doesn't work well with xiaomi Redmi note 3 plugged with aux cable to stereo unit. Mic does not pick up tone... Gotta use a second phone to do the reading while the first to generate tone.