Benchmark · BPM counter
BPM counter benchmark
How often the BPM counter lands on the tempo, on half or double time, and how long it takes to lock: 108 loops of known tempo, every 5 BPM from 90 to 175, in six styles.
Mika counts nothing. The script played 108 loops to the counter and wrote down what it said.
Measured on 28 October 2026, with the beat tracker the BPM counter runs.
The numbers
All loops
| Loops | |
|---|---|
| On the tempo | 103 of 108 |
| Half time | 4 |
| Double time | 1 |
| Another tempo | 0 |
| No lock | 0 |
| Off by, once locked (median / worst) | 0.01 / 0.04 BPM |
| Lock time (median / 90% / slowest) | 4.1 / 5.1 / 12.1 s |
By tempo
| BPM | On the tempo | Half / double | Lock (median / 90%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90–115 | 35 of 36 | 0 / 1 | 4.9 / 5.4 s |
| 120–145 | 36 of 36 | 0 / 0 | 3.8 / 4.4 s |
| 150–175 | 32 of 36 | 4 / 0 | 3.8 / 6.3 s |
By style
| Style | On the tempo | Half / double | Lock (median / 90%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four on the floor | 17 of 18 | 1 / 0 | 3.8 / 5.7 s |
| Boom bap | 17 of 18 | 1 / 0 | 4.5 / 5.1 s |
| Half-time | 18 of 18 | 0 / 0 | 4.1 / 5.1 s |
| Breakbeat | 16 of 18 | 1 / 1 | 4.5 / 6.3 s |
| Hats only | 18 of 18 | 0 / 0 | 3.8 / 5.1 s |
| Kick and chords | 17 of 18 | 1 / 0 | 4.3 / 5.4 s |
Where it took half or double time
- Four on the floor at 160 BPM: read 80 (half time)
- Boom bap at 165 BPM: read 82.5 (half time)
- Breakbeat at 90 BPM: read 180 (double time)
- Breakbeat at 160 BPM: read 80 (half time)
- Kick and chords at 160 BPM: read 80 (half time)
Without a beat: 6 takes of room noise and 6 of chords and bass at random moments. It locked on 0 and showed a number on 0.
How it was measured
- Every loop is twelve bars built from the app's own drum and instrument samples, in six styles: four on the floor, boom bap (with swing), half-time, breakbeat, hats only, kick and chords. Every hit is a few milliseconds early or late, as played.
- Each loop goes through a simulated room (a short reverb) and a simulated phone microphone (nothing below about 120 Hz, the top rolled off at 7 kHz), with noise.
- The loops are fed to the BPM counter's own beat tracker in chunks of 4,096 samples, as the microphone feeds it. Everything is seeded: every run is the same run.
- On the tempo: within 0.5 BPM plus 1%. Half and double time: the same at half or twice the tempo; they count apart, not as right.
- Lock time: seconds of audio from the first sound until the reading locks, which takes eight beats on one grid.
Where the numbers stop
- No real speaker, room or band was measured: the room and the phone are simulations, the sounds are the app's samples.
- Every loop is in 4/4 at a steady tempo. A tempo change, 3/4, 6/8 or a live drummer is not measured.
- Above 150 BPM it took half time in 4 of 36 loops: a track at 160 can show 80. That is what the page's half and double buttons are for.
- Half or double time is partly a matter of feel; here the loop's written tempo is the truth.
- Below 90 and above 175 BPM is not on this page.