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Gear Reviews

IZOTOPE: MUSIC PRODUCTION SUITE PRO REVIEW PT. 3

In this, the third and final part of Headliner’s close look at iZotope’s ‘Production Suite Pro’ for Music, we’re looking at the range of Neutron mix plugins together with iZotope’s Nectar Pro plugin, featuring a range of vocal mix tools. Lastly, and by no means least, there’s the intelligent Neoverb, all of which make up a comprehensive array of tools to help you create better mixes and a more efficient workflow.

Explosive Mixing with Neutron

Production Suite Pro for Music features the full compliment of Neutron 3 plugins, including Neutron Pro, which utilises all of the available plugins as modules in a similar way to Ozone Pro. Along with the Pro plugin, each module is available as a stand alone plugin, which is particularly useful if you just want to utilise the exciter or the compressor, for example.

Neutron Pro features the intelligent assistant, which in this instance is known as the Mix Assistant. There is however a second assistant, the Track Assistant. The assistant is a great place to start when getting to grips with these excellent modules. They really aid your ability to speed up workflow and can even throw up interesting combinations that you might not otherwise have landed upon.

Intelligent assistant is only available in the Visual Mixer and Neutron Pro plugin, so if you need help or inspiration, use the Neutron Pro plugin first. You can always transfer your newfound knowledge to the individual plugins as your knowledge grows. And as with Neutron 3, you also have the Relay and the Visual Mixer plug-in.

Neutron Pro is also a great way to build and save presets, which can be tailored to your particular way of working and utilised to help create your signature sound. There’s the added bonus of a limiter, which is only available from within the Neutron Pro plugin, ensuring you’re happy with your processing chain preset and its ability to cope with a greater dynamic range of source material. As with all things iZotope, there’s a comprehensive range of presets already available for all the Neutron plugins.

Unlike Ozone, Neutron plugins have a low ‘Zero” latency option button with a couple of exclusions. Firstly, the Sculptor plugin does not feature the zero latency option, and when it’s enabled on the Neutron Pro plugin and the Sculptor module is present, it is disabled along with the Limiter mode options.

Pro Gate

This is particularly useful in the Neutron Pro Gate. The display is a clear graphical representation of everything that’s going on. Having a scrolling waveform that reflects the audio either side of the gate in real-time makes this a particularly easy gate to quickly set up and use. Of course, you could speed up your starting position by simply pressing the learn button and allowing the gate to set itself up. However, the Gain Reduction Trace is perfect for tweaking the ratio, attack and release controls as it shows in real-time how the gate is responding and by how much it’s attenuating. I have to admit that I always thought a gate was a gate was a gate, but within seconds of loading this Neutron Pro Gate, I discovered that all gates are not born equal and this is now my go-to gate.

Another useful feature is the crossover selection, providing a means of selecting the frequencies at which the gate becomes active or which trigger the gate. This is also an option on a number of other Neutron plugins/modules.

Compressor

The layout and interface for the compressor a very similar to the gate. There’s a real-time audio waveform display, along with the familiar Gain Reduction Trace running across the top, which shows how much gain reduction is being applied. There’s also the familiar crossover selection, which takes this from a full range compressor to a multi-band. The learn button on the compressor also searches your audio for the optimal crossover points for multi-band processing.

There’s a Vintage button that adds that authentic character and colour of analogue devices, especially when driving the signal at higher ratios. In Vintage mode, the Auto Release is active, furthering the analogue authenticity. Three level detection options are available, RMS, Peak and True. To the left of the manual gain slider are the Auto Gain (A) button, which matches the compressed signal to the level of the uncompressed, and the Auto Release (L), which analyses the input signal and automatically applies release times that maintain that in-your-face sound but as transparently as possible. If you want that pumping characteristic then switch to vintage mode and increase the ratio.

Equalizer

In true iZzotope tradition, this EQ is a fully featured bundle of delight. The first time I opened it a few months back I was slightly confused as to where all the options were. That was until I got into the habit of clicking in the box to create nodes and on the nodes for the heads up displays. Then I started discovering all the curve options etc.

Like all of the Neutron Pro plugins/modules, it suddenly became apparent how quick, flexible and powerful this EQ is. To help you in your EQ manipulation is the spectral display, which shows the amplitude and frequency of the incoming audio. When it comes to metering, I liked the inclusion of the piano roll option along the bottom, which allows you to quickly identify issues relating to mic placement or fundamental resonance. For each selected node there’s manipulation of frequency, level and Q, which is represented by a filter response curve. Each node has available band filter options depending on what you want it to do. Theres a soft saturation button, which further increases the creativity of the Neutron Pro Equalizer.

Exciter

The Exciter is another easy to use, effectively creative tool, and you can be as subtle or as brash as you like with it. Control-wise, there’s a simple heads up display that controls the ratio and type of harmonic distortion you want to introduce, followed by a mix control that blends the harmonic distortion with the original signal. The same spectral display is present, along with the multi-band crossover view.

There are three selectable modes which emphasis particular characteristics. For example, Full emphasises the low mid to add subtle warmth to the source. Defined adds more presence or high mid, while Clear seems to have the opposite effect of Full and reduces low mid. Again, when inserted in Neutron Pro as a module, Exciter is affected by the plugins preset and Mix Assistant, as a stand alone plugin there’s a host of presets available.

Transient Shaper

Transient Shaper is very similar to Exciter in its control layout but is used to enhance or reduce transient attack and or sustain. I was able to make a drum kit sound a whole lot closer and bigger with just a few clicks, but I haven’t had a chance to delve too deeply in to the capability and creative offered by Transient Shaper. I will just say that it is definitely powerful and worked well from my limited experience.

Sculptor

Sculptor is a multi-band compression tool that can utilise up to 32 frequency bands to help improve your tracks. It works by applying a target curve from a menu of curves under various instrument and application headings. The curves are presumably modelled on the ideal curve or best sounding examples in each case. This is arguably a really good idea for speeding up workflow and trying on things you’re not necessarily happy with. Personally, if I’m unhappy with something I’d rather record or programme it again. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised to find it worked extremely well on bass and some of my piano recordings. It also made a lovely Steinway sound like a Yamaha. I’m probably being a little unfair and also slightly bias toward something that is possibly taking away my control, as opposed to something which empowers me like the rest of Neutron Pro’s excellent plugins.

This is an unbeatable package for anybody who takes their music seriously.

Nectar Pro

Nectar Pro is a dedicated plugin specifically aimed at vocals. Unlike the other iZotope plugins, RX, Ozone and Neutron, all of Nectar’s modules are only available from within Nectar Pro. Nectar has an intelligent Vocal assistant to help create a good starting point and vocal chain for your vocal track. Vocal assistant gives you an Assist option and an Unmask option. Unmask is there to help make room for your vocal by affecting a track, that may be masking the vocal.

Nectar Pro has a pretty good pitch correction tool, which if used carefully, works very well and doesn’t sound like obvious pitch correction. The De-Esser is also very good and is beautifully transparent and always well set up by the vocal assistant. The EQ is very similar to the EQ I described earlier in Neutron Pro - it doesn’t feature the saturation and has slightly fewer nodes, but it behaves and sounds similarly.

The compressor is a very different animal but is also very easy to use. There is a selection of compressor types from which you select either Digital, Vintage, Optical or Solid State. The Gain Reduction Trace and real-time audio spectrum are still here. If you want muti-band compression there’s nothing stopping you picking us the standalone Neutron Compressor. For additional vocal production, Nectar Pro includes a Harmony module, Reverb, Delay, Dimension and Saturation, similar to the Neutron Pro Exciter.

Nectar Pro is no slouch. None of its modules feel like cut downs of other zotope plugins. This is another really useful plug-in clearly refined to get the most out of your vocal recordings and speed up your workflow.

Visual Mixer and Relay

Visual Mixer is a handy tool that aids mixing by using iZotope’s Inter Plug-in Communication (IPC) technology, which allows you to alter the volume, pan and width of any Neutron Pro plugin active in your track. Relay can by used as a track control for iZotope’s Mix Assistant when a track has no other Neutron plugin instance.

Neoverb

Neoverb is a collaboration between iZotope’s Intelligent Assistant intuitive interface and Exponential Audio’s legendary reverb engines. Exponential Audio is a company recently bought into the iZotope fold and famous for its high-quality algorithms and incredible reverb sounds. If you’ve ever been involved in film sound design and score/soundtrack work, it’s very likely you know all about these incredibly realistic reverbs.

Neoverb was another plugin I was unfamiliar with until subscribing to Production Suite Pro. I remember the first time I loaded it I was struck by just how good the reverbs sounded and how easy it was to blend them, creating everything from a small room reflection to a massive hall just by dragging a little circle around the ‘Blend Pad’.

There are other good reverbs out there but I can’t put my finger on one that’s this easy to use when it comes to instant, great-sounding reverbs. In reality, I’ve probably spent many hours over the years trying to get reverbs sounding just right, so it was a complete revelation to suddenly have a multitude to choose from.

The intelligent assistant in Neoverb is a little like filling out a questionnaire, and while it doesn’t always come back with what you might have had in mind, it most definitely gives you usable options. It can also inspire you to move out of your comfort zone and and take a different journey. Dare I say it, I love you Neoverb!

Summing Up

In concluding this three-part series, I still personally think this is an unbeatable package of software for anybody who takes their music seriously. To put that into perspective, the subscription option is a bit like having a seven years interest-free credit! If you’re interested, head over to the iZotope website and download the full package for a free trial period and draw your own conclusions.

Click these links to read Part 1 and Part 2 of our iZotope Music Production Suite Pro review.