Which deals to get? iZotope or FabFilter?

[frankjcc]

Please don't think having the best will produce the best result, 1st thing to know is the people you are asking does not have your room, your ears, your exact appreciation for music, etc.  The sooner you know what you want, the sooner you might realize you may already have the tools to get there.  But if not,  we have come so far with software, but if you are having a hard time getting what you are looking for, you might want to start your venture with hardware and save yourself thousands and thousands.  of coarse this won't make sense unless you are at that level.  there is a reason this stuff is always on sale, not just because it's downloadable, but more so if these companies can make you think you will have the equivalent of the hardware and you can get it cheap, well somebody is getting rich at the same time you will not be truely satisfied and so you will fall for the next and the next and the next.  all they have to do is tell you this is the latest technology that is even better than the hardware.  

I really start to get sick when I see a professional marketing these plugins when they have racks and racks of hardware that they know is so far superior to the  plugins that they have to hold back the truth to get paid.  but again you will have to know what you are after. (I had to add hardware to this equation because I have both and software really does not compete with hardware in most instances, like the punch of a compressor, trying to match software with hardware almost doesn't exist, and when people say it's like 95% there,  that is sadly not true.  I'll stop here.)

I'm saying all this to say, there are some amazing plugins and you have them,  I will advise you strongly learn what it takes to get what you 're looking for,  because thinking you will find it in the next set of tools will have you shifting your entire objective from making good music or making music sound as good as it can,  to hanging out in the deals section, filling you computer with more choices that you don't know what to do with, further pushing you in the wrong direction. 

Getting a mix right comes down to tiny tiny movements on an eq or compressor or distortion or a fader etc.  There is no magic, you have to study, and you have to pay very close attention to the smallest of small details that will make your music amazing or annoying.  hopefully you have decent monitoring that allows you to hear these details or it will be like looking through muddy water trying to see clearly.

on a side note, my hardware is primarily for getting the initial sound right before I start using plugins. 

[Starise]

While I whole heartedly agree with 99.99 % of what you said,  I would only add that  I believe many plugins are very accurate representations of actual hardware units.

While not many people can afford 5K for a compressor or a channel strip we can afford to buy something that is so close many wouldn't know for MUCH less. 

I don't claim to be extremely knowledgeable about dedcated 1960's-1970's hardware since it wasn't ever a part of my reality, so maybe I'm missing something. I have heard some pretty good mixes using mimicked hardware in software though. My software Korg M-1 sounds exactly like my hardware M-1 did....only at the time they wanted 100.00 each for all of the cards for it which were included in the software version.

No intention to start a war here. I really wish I could get some of that expensive gear  Lots of hobbyists eventually at the least end up with some kind of a channel strip if using mics is a high priority. I don't see it as a necessity though given the quality of today's pre amps.

 

[synkrotron]

Well said, @Starise

 

Okay, I should expand on that a bit...

Having read the frankjcc post above I had a look at some hardware compressors, EQ's and stuff.

Way out of my budget as well as expertise.

With regards to the original post I would side with FabFilter simply because of the interface, ease of use and the excellent Dan Worrall videos.

Edited July 17, 2020 by synkrotron

[frankjcc]

No wars here, I'm in agreement with what can be done in software as a whole, but,  just a recent example of when uad came out with the avalon 737 plugin.  I had a hardware unit years ago and I sold it because it seemed like it wasn't doing anything I couldn't do with software. and I moved on to what I thought was a better front end.   as I progressed in the details, I realized this was in fact very difficult to achieve with software and when Uad came out with the plugin I demoed it and compared to my earlier recordings that were post processed with the hardware, the eq came close, but the compressor could simply not be duplicated, and I tried very long and hard, then I asked myself, if it's this hard just to try and match  one sound( it was a kick drum), how much are people(including myself) just settling for when they use plugins and get them to sound their best, and possibly not even realize there is a whole new world of (in this case) superior and much quicker results.  at that time I didn't even know what I had until it was gone.  There was also a "sheen" that I was never able to get again with other hardware or software.  This "sheen" sort of showed up in the plugin but I wasn't convinced in the end. 

I'm not advocating for hardware to the degree that it may appear, I have and use lots of plugins, but it is another aspect of sound that will be overlooked if  a plugin only mentality is used.

[Starise]

2 minutes ago, frankjcc said:

No wars here, I'm in agreement with what can be done in software as a whole, but,  just a recent example of when uad came out with the avalon 737 plugin.  I had a hardware unit years ago and I sold it because it seemed like it wasn't doing anything I couldn't do with software. and I moved on to what I thought was a better front end.   as I progressed in the details, I realized this was in fact very difficult to achieve with software and when Uad came out with the plugin I demoed it and compared to my earlier recordings that were post processed with the hardware, the eq came close, but the compressor could simply not be duplicated, and I tried very long and hard, then I asked myself, if it's this hard just to try and match  one sound( it was a kick drum), how much are people(including myself) just settling for when they use plugins and get them to sound their best, and possibly not even realize there is a whole new world of (in this case) superior and much quicker results.  at that time I didn't even know what I had until it was gone.  There was also a "sheen" that I was never able to get again with other hardware or software.  This "sheen" sort of showed up in the plugin but I wasn't convinced in the end. 

I'm not advocating for hardware to the degree that it may appear, I have and use lots of plugins, but it is another aspect of sound that will be overlooked if  a plugin only mentality is used.

Yeah, there's that garage sale dream I keep having where I stumble into a garage  toward the end of the day and there's this woman there looking sad wondering what to do with all the stuff she hasn't sold that day. Over in the corner there's this pile of metal boxes all dusty. She explains that it belonged to her deceased husband who once had a recording studio. She is moving next week and she really needs to get rid of everything. She says she will take any good offers on "those boxes" over in the corner.

I mosey on over there trying to look bored to look at the boxes. I only have 100 bucks in my wallet. I offer it to her and she looks relieved saying she accepts asking me when I can come and take it all away. It ends up being a pile of vintage gear that most engineers would give their right arm for.......man what a dream that was.

So now I can put all of that in my studio and they might even feature me on the cover of a well known recording magazine. People will look at that and say wow!! that dude has quite a load of gear there ( I know dream on).

It was a nice dream

[mettelus]

To add to the "learn what you have now," there are guides for just about everything now. iZotope has Mixing and Mastering guides specific to Ozone (and it modules), but concepts in them can be applied to any VST with the same functionality. Conversely, items you come across in videos may very well be available in things you already own (Mid/Side processing, side-chaining, etc.); so when you come across something new and cool, take a step back and see if you already own it.

Videos can be a bit tricky, since you almost need to have them open side-by-side while you are working them (dual monitors), and some are not as concise as they could be (but you can also play back YouTube at double speed). Dan Worral did a video for FabFilter Pro-Q that I have shared the most with people who are new. In 10 minutes, he covers a lot of ground but in a way that new people can understand readily. Again, the same results can be achieved with other plugins, but his presentation is exceptional for someone new to mixing.

[antler]

20 hours ago, mibby said:

This was the original question.  He's already got all of the Izotope functionality, just not the separate plugins... Pretty much a no-brainer IMHO.  🙂 

I don't have the standard version so I can't check, but according to this chart, Ozone standard doesn't have the Master Rebalance, Low End Focus, Tonal Balance Control, or Spectral Shaper.

[frankjcc]

47 minutes ago, Starise said:

Yeah, there's that garage sale dream I keep having where I stumble into a garage  toward the end of the day and there's this woman there looking sad wondering what to do with all the stuff she hasn't sold that day. Over in the corner there's this pile of metal boxes all dusty. She explains that it belonged to her deceased husband who once had a recording studio. She is moving next week and she really needs to get rid of everything. She says she will take any good offers on "those boxes" over in the corner.

I mosey on over there trying to look bored to look at the boxes. I only have 100 bucks in my wallet. I offer it to her and she looks relieved saying she accepts asking me when I can come and take it all away. It ends up being a pile of vintage gear that most engineers would give their right arm for.......man what a dream that was.

So now I can put all of that in my studio and they might even feature me on the cover of a well known recording magazine. People will look at that and say wow!! that dude has quite a load of gear there ( I know dream on).

It was a nice dream

🙂 I think we all have the same dream. 

[Brian Walton]

1 hour ago, frankjcc said:

No wars here, I'm in agreement with what can be done in software as a whole, but,  just a recent example of when uad came out with the avalon 737 plugin.  I had a hardware unit years ago and I sold it because it seemed like it wasn't doing anything I couldn't do with software. and I moved on to what I thought was a better front end.   as I progressed in the details, I realized this was in fact very difficult to achieve with software and when Uad came out with the plugin I demoed it and compared to my earlier recordings that were post processed with the hardware, the eq came close, but the compressor could simply not be duplicated, and I tried very long and hard, then I asked myself, if it's this hard just to try and match  one sound( it was a kick drum), how much are people(including myself) just settling for when they use plugins and get them to sound their best, and possibly not even realize there is a whole new world of (in this case) superior and much quicker results.  at that time I didn't even know what I had until it was gone.  There was also a "sheen" that I was never able to get again with other hardware or software.  This "sheen" sort of showed up in the plugin but I wasn't convinced in the end. 

I'm not advocating for hardware to the degree that it may appear, I have and use lots of plugins, but it is another aspect of sound that will be overlooked if  a plugin only mentality is used.

Honestly a lot of it depends on the workflow.

Something like the 737 works as the preamp to make the capture itself sound good.

If you can get the recording into the daw (the capture) that sounds really good.  Then high caliber plugins can do wonders.    

The other question is are the results noticably different on the end user playback equipment where the product is consumed.  It is one thing for us to enjoy it in our treated studio with audiophile grade monitors.  Most of my friends, including musicians don't consume other peoples recordings in that environment.  

 

It is fun to notice the differences, but at the end of the day, the vast majority only care if the music itself moves them.    

Even $300 headphones played with a phone pre-amp I can't tell what compressor or eq was used on an individual track in a busy mix, and people pay me to record audio.   

Edited July 17, 2020 by Brian Walton