Packaging
Both the Verituner and Accu-Tuner are rugged standalone electronic devices, designed specifically for one task - tuning a piano. The CyberTuner is a software product that you load on a portable computer.

Display Type
Both the Verituner and CyberTuner have backlit graphical LCD displays. The Accu-Tuner display consists of 9 red lights in a circular configuration and two LCD numeric displays of 4 digits each.

Tuning hours between charges
This is the total number of hours that each product will operate while tuning a piano before the battery must be recharged. The Verituner will operate up to 12 hours between charges. The Accu-Tuner will operate up to 80 hours between charges. The CyberTuner will operate up to around 3 hours for a notebook computer, and up to 6 hours for a pocket computer if the backlight is not used.

User replaceable battery
Because all rechargeable batteries have a limited lifetime, they must be replaced after they are no longer able to hold an acceptable charge. Veritune provides a battery replacement kit that will allow the user to open the Verituner case and replace its internal battery pack. The CyberTuner running on a notebook computer will have a replaceable battery, although the PocketPC will typically not have a replaceable battery. Inventronics currently requires an Accu-Tuner to be shipped to them in order for the battery to be replaced. Most rechargeable batteries are rated by their manufacturer to operate for 300-500 charge/discharge cycles before needing replacement.

User installable upgrades available
Both the Verituner and CyberTuner allow the user to receive regular improvements to these products as they are developed. This is done by obtaining new software via a website or on CDROM. The Verituner 100 has a special cable that allows you to connect it to a PC or Mac and download new firmware as it becomes available. The Accu-Tuner III has no capability at this time for a user to install new features, nor have plans for new features been announced.   Read More...

Pitch raise mode
All three products include time saving features for assisting in changing the overall pitch of a piano by calculating "overpulls". If the piano is flat, the target pitches are established by measuring the relative "flatness" of pitches on the piano, and then calculating a pitch that is proportionally higher than the final desired pitch. The opposite occurs for a pitch lowering.   Read More...

Auto note switching
Each product allows for "hands-off" use of the tuner by following you when you move from note to note. Both the CyberTuner and the Accu-Tuner are designed to follow chromatically from one note to an adjacent note. The Verituner will also jump octaves, or to any note on the piano.   Read More...

PTG exam scoring
All three products provide a scoring feature which produces the cent differences and points as used in scoring the PTG Tuning Exam.

Historical temperaments
All three products provide for built-in as well as custom temperaments for the tuning of historical or modern unequal temperaments. Any temperament can be stored by keying in 12 offset numbers.   Read More...

Adjustable spinner speeds
The Accu-Tuner has a fixed sensitivity for its rotating light pattern. Both the CyberTuner and the Verituner have changeable speeds for their displays, allowing the user to adjust sensitivity.

Stored tuning capacity
The Accu-Tuner can store 198 tunings, referenced by a page number. The Verituner can store 400 tunings referenced by a name. The CyberTuner storage limit depends on the available space on the computer's hard drive.

Automatically calculated tunings
Each product adapts its tuning to fit each individual piano. Although the specific methods vary greatly, they all include taking measurements of the piano's inharmonicity in order to determine a set of target frequencies that will produce a desirable tuning.

Number of notes measured
The Accu-Tuner measures the inharmonicity of the three notes F3, A4, and C6 ("FAC") in order to calculate its tuning. The CyberTuner measures the inharmonicity of the six notes A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 and A6. The Verituner measures the inharmonicity of the 76 notes from A0 to C7 in its tuning calculation. Read More...

Measurement step required before tuning
In order to calculate a tuning, both the Accu-Tuner and the CyberTuner require that an extra measurement step be performed before tuning can begin. During this measurement step, the inharmonicity is read in order to calculate the tuning. On the Accu-Tuner, this is a manual step in which for three different notes the string is first tuned to a targeted pitch, and then using the buttons the Accu-Tuner is set to the note an octave above, adjusted to stop the lights, and then the stretch numbers are stored. On the CyberTuner, the software guides you through a sequence of playing each of five (or six) notes three times each during which the notes are recorded and then analyzed for inharmonicity. The Verituner has the option of performing all of these measurements simultaneously while tuning the piano thus bypassing any pre-measurement steps.

Resolution (cents)
Both the Verituner and CyberTuner allow the targeted pitch to be adjusted in increments of 0.01 cents, and their displays can indicate a sharp or flat deviation in these increments. The Accu-Tuner can be adjusted in increments of 0.1 cents, and by observing very slow movements in the lights pitch differences of 0.05 cents can be discerned.

Number of simultaneous tuning partials
The Verituner simultaneously isolates and measures up to eight partials while tuning. Each of these partials is averaged to contribute to the tuning display. Both the Accu-Tuner and CyberTuner measure and display a single partial while tuning.   Read More...

Number of custom stretch controls
All three products have adjustments that influence how the octaves are stretched when calculating a tuning. The Accu-Tuner allows the user to adjust the Double Octave Beat control that affects the stretch of all notes. The CyberTuner, through its advanced modes in Chameleon 2 and Custom EQ, has one separate stretch adjustment for each of the seven notes A0, A1, A2, A3, A5, A6, and A7, plus seven other general adjustments: OTS Octave Tuning Style, Tenor Partial #, Bass Partial #, Low Bass Partial #, DMAX Double Octave Maximum, BSOM Bass Single Octave Minimum, and TSOM Tenor Single Octave Minimum. The Verituner through its Custom Style feature has up to three separate sets of three adjustments each, octave type, beat rate and weighting, for up to 76 notes.   Read More...

Spectrum display
The Verituner displays a spectrogram showing the relative strength of up to eight partials in real time as the note is sounding. The CyberTuner makes a digital recording of a sounding note, and then performs analysis which results in a graph showing the sustain time of each partial. The Accu-Tuner does not have a spectrum display.   Read More...

Interval beat rate tuning
The Verituner has a unique tuning function that displays in real time the beat rates of up to 10 intervals surrounding the note that you are tuning. These beat rates are displayed both numerically and by a graphical display that flashes in time to the beat rates.   Read More...

Ease of High Quality Tunings
Users of the Accu-Tuner and the CyberTuner often need to take steps beyond the built-in automatic capabilities of these machines in order to obtain the best results, as acknowledged and taught by their manufacturers. Although no machine could ever be perfect, users of the Verituner regularly report a substantial improvement in the quality of the standard tuning produced without making any adjustments. This is a direct result of the number of notes and partials measured by the Verituner. For more details, read our article on Multi-partial tuning or review our Case Studies.