Comparison
Reel vs Fields
AudioThing's iOS field-recording and sound-library app for capturing, tagging and editing sounds.
Visit the Fields site ↗The short answer
Reel and Fields both turn your iPhone into a recorder, but they are made for different jobs. Fields is a single-track field recorder and sound library. You capture a sound, tag it with a location, a photo or a note, then clean it up with a deep editing toolkit and a pre-roll buffer that reaches back up to 20 seconds, much further than Reel's. Reel is a 4-track recorder for layering musical ideas, with overdub, looping and a tape-style jog wheel. It catches the start of a sound too now: a pre-roll buffer so the press never clips the front, a wait-for-sound mode that arms a take and lets the first sound trigger it at the threshold, and one-press starts from the Action Button, Control Center or Siri without opening the app. If you collect ambiences and found sounds to file away, Fields is built for exactly that. If you want to stack takes into a song, Reel is the multitracker.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Reel | Fields |
|---|---|---|
| Simultaneous tracks | 4 (stereo, 8 ch) | 1 |
| Bit depth | 32-bit float | 24-bit |
| Max sample rate | 96kHz | 48kHz |
| Overdub | ||
| Punch-in recording | ||
| Looped playback | ||
| Variable-speed playback | ||
| Tactile transport (jog wheel or scrub) | ||
| Built-in microphones | iPhone mic | Device mic |
| XLR inputs with phantom power | ||
| Records from a USB audio interface | ||
| Works as a USB audio interface | ||
| Runs standalone, no phone or computer | ||
| Price | $14.99 one-time | $7.99 intro, $9.99 |
| Platform | iOS 18+ | iOS, iPadOS |
Every value is researched per product against manufacturer sources and may change over time. Verify current details with each maker.
Where Reel wins
- +4 tracks with overdub and looping, versus a single-track capture
- +Jog-wheel scrubbing and tape transport
- +Records USB hardware instruments and grooveboxes like the SP-404 MK2
- +Variable-speed tape playback for a hardware feel
- +Catches the start: a pre-roll buffer before the press, plus a wait-for-sound mode that lets the first sound trigger the take
- +Starts a take from the Action Button, Control Center, the Lock Screen or Siri, without opening the app
Where Fields wins
- +Purpose-built sound-library workflow with location, map, photos and notes
- +Deep editing tools: normalize, noise reduction, filter, trim silence, fades
- +A pre-roll buffer of up to 20 seconds, far longer than Reel's
- +Lower price
Frequently asked questions
Is Reel an alternative to Fields by AudioThing?
Only partly, because they are built for different jobs. Fields is a single-track field-recording and sound-library app, strong at collecting and organising sounds. Reel is a four-track multitrack recorder, so it suits layering parts into a piece of music. If you want to record ambiences into a library, Fields fits. If you want to build something out of what you record, Reel does.
Does Fields record multiple tracks?
Fields is a single-track field recorder focused on capturing and organizing individual sounds. Reel records 4 tracks with overdub, so you can layer parts into a song.
Is Reel or Fields better for field recording?
Fields is purpose-built for collecting and tagging sounds into a library with rich metadata and editing. Reel is better when you want to layer musical ideas with multitrack overdubbing and a tape-style workflow.
Try Reel on your iPhone
A portable 4-track recorder with 32-bit float audio and a hardware-inspired workflow.
Download on the App Store