Izotope users?

[charles kasler]

There doesn't seem to be an izotope forum. Is there anywhere to share tips and tricks using izotope in cbb? Thanks

[bitflipper]

There is no active iZotope forum as far as I know. Of course, any tips would be welcome in this forum, as a great many of us are longtime iZotope users.

 

[Max Arwood]

Congratulations! I see you found the right forum. iZotope is a company not a plug-in. Pick a plugin; pick a question and you will probably get some suggestions. Most of the people that have been doing music for a while have several Izotope products. 

Someone has sent you links to iZotopes older docs. Those will help. Most of that is relevant. 

So which plug-in/software do you choose to discuss first, and what is your question?

Edited February 20, 2023 by Max Arwood
Can’t spell, can’t type!

[charles kasler]

OK I do some spoken poetry with sound fx in the background. I want to use ducking on the sound fx & haven't found the right settings yet. Is Neutron unmask better than the compressor in this case? Is there any difference between using a module by itself as opposed to using them in the mothership?  Is there a shortcut to add a relay (or any plug) to a number of tracks at once? Thanks.

Edited February 20, 2023 by charles kasler
another question

[Bill Phillips]

On 2/20/2023 at 6:46 AM, charles kasler said:

There doesn't seem to be an izotope forum. Is there anywhere to share tips and tricks using izotope in cbb? Thanks

There is a iZotope facebook group which I follow sporadically. I see mostly complaints about pricing, but I think I've also seen meaningful bug reports. I haven't checked if for a while but I don't get the idea that many if any experienced users are posting questions or replies.

[charles kasler]

Thanks Bill!

[bitflipper]

On 2/20/2023 at 10:11 AM, charles kasler said:

I want to use ducking on the sound fx...

The way that's usually done is to route every track that you want to duck to a common bus. A compressor is added to that bus, specifically one that supports an external sidechain. You then create a send on your vocal track and route it to the compressor's sidechain input. The Sonitus Compressor bundled with Cakewalk can serve in this role.

[John Vere]

23 hours ago, bitflipper said:

You then create a send on your vocal track and route it to the compressor's sidechain input. The Sonitus Compressor bundled with Cakewalk can serve in this role.

Exactly. Last on my list would be isotope. There are a lot of great free compressors and a lot of them support side chaining. That's what its all about, Ducking or pumping a bass line from a kick etc. 

I made a video featuring 50 free compressors     

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by John Vere

[Glenn Stanton]

12 hours ago, John Vere said:

I made a video featuring 50 free compressors    

any thoughts on the variety of sound plugins? Density mkIII Thrillseeker etc?

[John Vere]

1 hour ago, Glenn Stanton said:

any thoughts on the variety of sound plugins? Density mkIII Thrillseeker etc?

First Thrillseeker I would not have bothered to download as I  rarely use EQ. And when I do I use the most excellent Pro Channel EQ or the Scarlett Red.   And it's promise of adding something would scare me off anyhow. That's exactly what I don't want.  I'm of the camp from the old sound on sound days so I still only record parts that are already the way I want them to sound.  The exception to that for me is acoustic guitar and after a 35 year quest I think I finally  found the right guitar, PU and Mike combo. So I'm redoing a lot of older tracks.  Anyhow I'm not interested in "Enhancing" my sound. But I'm sure others are. I might try it just for fun and curiosity. I'm a free VST sucker. 

Then Density mkII I immediately recognized the name. I just looked at my 6 pages of notes I made.  Density was among the first batch and from what my notes say it was a distorted on a full mix and it added a lot of harmonics which would explain why.  I think when I first started testing I was tossing out any that distorted a full song. I realize that is personal taste and many people seem to like what is falsely called color and is simply distortion.  It's the DAW communities over obsession with wanting to sound analog.  I was originally questing for a vocal compressor so distortion was defiantly out for me. I slowly was adding more free compressors and limiters to my list as the weeks went by and people made suggestions.  I drew the line at 50.  But I think I tested over 80.  I of course avoided 32 bit as well as  many were just plane boring designs and some even crashed or froze Cakewalk when you dragged from the browser. You slowly catch on that there are many Bedroom VST creators and they put these out there hoping for donations.     Density probably should have stayed on my list but was a part of my earlier high grading. The first title was 35 free compressors. 

The testing took over 2 months and I made a video about that as well-  https://youtu.be/REZ5H6GMWZY   

I still need to clean out my plug in folder. 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by John Vere

[Glenn Stanton]

yes, the VoS plugins are primarily designed to add character all the "leveling amps" "compressors" etc i like density on certain mixes as it does add a bit of high freq harmonics. doesn't work for all materials.  there is a web site (can't remember off the top) that did a bunch of detailed technical assessments on VST / AAX compressors vs their actual hardware version - one of the things i remember is that the CW CA-2 got really good ratings as it's harmonics (levels, types, range) were more consistent with the HW products than many others. in general the Waves and Slate did really well on their models as well (all of them) but not surprising as they do model their stuff pretty closely when its mimicking HW... but if you're looking for clean w/o character (ala transparent) those are harder to find in free versions.

[John Vere]

The hilarious part of all that is in the end the best ones turned out to be what I already had on hand. As you say the CA 2A is a gem and I do use the pro channel module very lightly ( 40 /40 )  on vocals and guitars just to catch little peaks and when used lightly the CA 2A doesn't add noticeable harmonics.  While the CA 2A was only available to Sonar users of the past, it lives on as the PC 2A Leveler which is exactly the same module minus the side chaining which is what the OP needs.  

Then the 2 other "clean" compressors are my Focusrite Red 2 compressor and the Melda M Compressor. Those are both not exactly free as the Red Compressor comes with a purchase of any Focusrite products and Melda compressor is part of the free bundle but I paid $50 for the upgrade which unlocks extra features.  Therefore both  of these had  a much better lineage in development and I guess you get what you pay for stands true even with plug ins. But many I tested where certainly well designed and  a few of those I'm keeping for when I have time to be brave and try something different.  But what you find is by design a Compressor is a Compressor. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the old Sonitus stuff as example. It tested very high in scores.  But it's days could be numbered.