Which deals to get? iZotope or FabFilter?

[Hillmy]

I already have Neutron 3 Standard and Ozone 9 Standard. Would upgrading to advanced of both versions be better than getting the FabFilter Mastering bundle? or would getting the FabFilter bundle be better? Would I be gaining much if I use FabFilter or would it be redundant and just overlap what I already have?

[mibby]

FabFilter in a heartbeat.  Don't own them, but would love to.  (And I do like my Izotope plugins.)  ...Unless for some reason it's super important to get the separate Izotope plugins.

[Brian Walton]

17 minutes ago, mibby said:

FabFilter in a heartbeat.  Don't own them, but would love to.  (And I do like my Izotope plugins.)  ...Unless for some reason it's super important to get the separate Izotope plugins.

I'd tend to suggest the opposite.

All the plugins from both are best of the best.

But the assistant fuctions in Izotope (with the cross track workflows) of Izotope seems like it provides a whole lot of value to the individual doing the mixing.

And having Izotope Ozone and Neutron advanced certianly negates the need for anything in the FabFilter Mastering Bundle, IMO.  

 

That said, honesly how many people actually need something better than Izotope Standard?   I'd argue not many and would take a closer look at if it is a better idea to just keep the money that could have been spent in this rather expensive upgrade situation.  

 

I view Fabfilter Mastering Bundle as highly redundent (thoiugh pretty and shiny) to Neutron and Ozone standard.

[Fleer]

FabFilter. The absolute best. 

[antler]

If you can only pick one, I'd go iZotope. Don't get me wrong - FabFilter are brilliant. But with iZotope you get the new Low End Focus, and you get the Tonal Balance Control that helps you visually see how your audio spectrum is looking compared to other typical mixes in your genre. Best thing to do would be to demo each option and see which suits you best.

 

[Fleer]

Got almost everything of both. Would never want to be without FabFilter. I do like iZotope too, mind you, a lot. But two reasons push me to prioritize FabFilter. First, those plugins are indeed the best of the best, while iZotope’s are pretty original in their own right, I admit, but not entirely up there at the same level. Second, these companies run their sales department quite differently, as iZotope has a more cunning approach to upgrades, though not as terrible as Waves. 

[chris.r]

If you want both, go for Fabfilter now, as they don't do sales frequently. iZotope do much often so you can get them on the next sale... EDIT: very soon  

Edited July 16, 2020 by chris.r

[Brian Walton]

21 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Got almost everything of both. Would never want to be without FabFilter. I do like iZotope too, mind you, a lot. But two reasons push me to prioritize FabFilter. First, those plugins are indeed the best of the best, while iZotope’s are pretty original in their own right, I admit, but not entirely up there at the same level. Second, these companies run their sales department quite differently, as iZotope has a more cunning approach to upgrades, though not as terrible as Waves. 

For that first upgrade I'd have to image it is difficult to beat iZotope, but the next version path, I'd agree could be more friendly.  I haven't seen anything about a current sale, and would imagine I'd hold off as something much better would be around the corner.

All are best of the best.   Izotope is all over just about every hundred + million dollar film production, that actually sees audio played back at better than CD quality sound.  They are good enough for literally any production.  And it is a case of  tools you know how to use....and with iZotope, I think they did a great job of helping bridge that gap with the AI and tool set they offer.   Fab-Filter you are dependent on the skill you bring to the tools.   iZotope gives you both worlds.  

Fab Filter is only going to provide some "better" result in the right hands, no different than two guitars that came off the handbuilt production line back to back.   Both instruments any pro could use, one might be technically slightly better, the audience will never know - and the guitar player other than doing a side by side outside of the context of the band blasting isn't even going to tell the difference either.    Picking between Izotope's advance and FabFilter are some real first world problems.  Both are 100% good enough for anyone.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Brian Walton

[mibby]

2 hours ago, Hillmy said:

Would upgrading to advanced of both versions be better than getting the FabFilter Mastering bundle?

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.  ? 

[Hillmy]

Thanks for all the input everyone! To put things in better context: I am a beginner (literally just started this summer). The advanced versions are on sale for $99 each at proaudiostar.com. I also got the standard upgrade versions from elements from the same site for $99 each! I get paid again by the end of the month (when I plan to make purchases). Not sure how long they will still have this sale but I know FabFilter will only have theirs till August 1st. If I get the FabFilter bundle it would cost double compared to the iZotope upgrade sales. 

Also you can get Music Makers Bundle for $47.12 here https://www.bestservice.com/music_makers_bundle.html lol

Edited July 16, 2020 by Hillmy

[Fleer]

Best iZotope upgrade would be to the Music Production Suite 3 if you can find it on sale. 

[Matthew Sorrels]

54 minutes ago, Hillmy said:

I am a beginner (literally just started this summer).

I think for a beginner FabFilter is way overkill.  There is no way you will get anything close to value out of having it early in your musical journey.  That doesn't mean it isn't excellent stuff, but jumping into the Mastering Bundle is a bit much.  The same is also true of the iZotope advanced versions.  The extra things the advanced versions bring aren't going to be all that big a deal either.

But the better answer is the question:  What do you want to do?

If you just want to eq mixes, Fabfilter's Pro-Q 3 is much better than any iZotope Eq.
If you want to mix a track, Neutron is a better toolset for someone without a lot of experience.  To mix a track using Fabfilter tools requires you know how to use a lot of tools, none of which will hold your hand even a little bit.  Neutron has a lot more hand-holding/AI.
If you want to master an album or a track, again Ozone is the better toolset for someone without a lot of experience.  Mastering with Fabfilter requires really knowing how to master/what you want.  Ozone can help you more.

My advice if you must get some Fabfilter plugin, would be to just get Pro-Q 3 and not the Fabfilter Mastering bundle.  The other Fabfilter plugins in the Mastering Bundle are still a version behind the flagship EQ (and the upgrades won't be free) and you aren't ready to use them just yet.  Upgrade the iZotope plugins to advanced based on what you want to focus on, or just stand pat with the standard versions.  Get a year of experience and then re-evaluate. 

Since Pro-Q 3 isn't on sale, I'd say you should wait till you can get it on sale (I think they will have some sale price on single plugins around xmas).  Adding a bundle of tools just will make learning harder, I know this one from experience, since I love bundles.  At least with iZotope you are talking about single tools.  OK very complex bundles of tools all tied together, but still just two things.  I bought the Fabfilter stuff in bundles and I know I've gotten less out of it because of that.

[Fleer]

Or buy some of these FabFilter plugins for your iPad at $30 each. They’re on sale now, I believe. 

[Zo]

Fabfilter is more mixing proff , ligt and solid , efficient from production to mastering ....Izotope i stoped pirchsaing since O7 , evrytime i tried stuff : cpu hit , crash ect ....not as solid as it used to be imho , no problem during mastering but really problematic during other phases imho ...

[Christian Jones]

Does Neutron 3 Advanced ever go on a crossgrade from any Izotope product sale? Like the Ozone 9 Advanced I got for $99 w/o owning any previous Ozone. Does N3A ever do that for $99? 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Christian Jones

[mettelus]

The iZotope Standard versions cannot be split apart and used as their modularized components, so the only real gain with Advanced is lowering CPU hits from using them. Matthew's advice is solid... just starting out, you need to learn tools before having "great" ones do you any good. The standard versions you have now are more than adequate, and the assistant feature will teach you more starting out. An upgrade to Music Production Suite 3 would yield more bang for the buck if/when you get to that bridge.

I have not used FabFilter, so cannot speak to their quality versus cost. A couple upgrade cycles and you could own Melda Production's CompleteFXBundle (for life). The AI similar to iZotope is not there yet with Melda, but the FX are (and more tweak-able than most programs).

[Hillmy]

Really great advice and tips here. Thanks y'all!

[Brian Walton]

12 hours ago, Hillmy said:

..........To put things in better context: I am a beginner (literally just started this summer). ..

You already have better tools than even some pros have.

My suggestion is don't spend any more money and learn the tools you have.  

[balinas]

I have both. And I work with music as a hobby. Frankly I use Ozone Advanced more, especially with I call ‘mastering.’  More recently I have jumped into using the Fabfilters, but still Ozone’s ‘master assistant’ gives me more ideas and starting points. But I do agree with Brian, learn/explore what you have, then add if needed. 

[Starise]

I think if you stay in this you'll eventually have both. At least I seen Fabfilter Pro-Q as the last EQ I would ever need......not that I wouldn't try another one.

Not sure how far along you are in your mixing hobby. At the very beginning you're still learning the basic concepts. You can make pretty good mixes using basic plugins.  I've been at it awhile and I still have a lot to learn. I think maybe you could use the basic CbB plugins in the beginning to get a good understanding of EQ frequencies. IOW where your instruments generally sit. What many beginners don't realize is that EQ is often more subtractive than additive. Often if gain is needed it is very small. The CbB EQ can be expanded and is actually a pretty nice EQ in every sense of the word. Most good mixes are only EQ, proper gain staging and maybe some compression per channel. Most masters are similar only your looking at the whole mix and trying to get the mix to the correct levels without going too far using a limiter. You and your ears are more important than the plug in.

Many of the best mixing techniques you won't ever learn using automated or pre set chains. In order to really learn you need to know WHY and in what context. What is the goal?  In this respect Ozone or IK Multimedia TRacks can be very educational. Look at an Ozone preset. What are they doing to achieve that result? Look at how each module is set. Cakewalk has chains too. Simply click the arrows on a module in the pro channel and you will see a drop down list. Looking at these chains can be very educational. Once you know how all of that works you can build your own chains using any plugin you desire or use pre made ones. 

I have Ozone 7 all the way through Ozone 9 advanced still on my computer. If anything I think that program has made too many  people complacent about getting more involved in a mix. Yes it is effective, but if all you ever do is use a preset you might as well  hire one of those online mastering services and save yourself some time and money. Fabfilter is just a more fully featured set of the most used plugins. Pro-Q3 has a way to solo each freq. band. You can choose to make the band "dynamic" in that it will cut that band by a certain amount depending on the material and how you set it, so it's really similar to built in multi band compressor.  You can take any frequency and put it where you want it in the stereo or M/S field. So it basically can pan too. Ozone also has a dynamic EQ as does Melda. Neutron isn't a new Idea. Voxengo  and others have something similar that can look at other EQ in different tracks and make a comparative analysis. Basically a smart EQ that can share data across channels. I have Neutron but I tended to like simply soloing tracks together and manually EQing that way. You might not agree with Neutron's decisions. Remember, it's more about those two things on either side of your head 

The worst thing you can do is to think that any plugin will make you sound better. In the end, only you and your mixing skill will make you sound better. The higher end plugins are just icing on the cake.