Old 09-13-2021, 04:20 PM   #1
foxAsteria
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Default iZotope Neutron?

I'm intrigued by the idea of intelligent EQ and compression that is interacting across instances and Neutron Standard is $79 instead of $250 atm ($50 if you have any other iZotope products).

However, the "Standard" version omits the IMO very standard feature of allowing the modules to run as plugins...
EDIT: It's only the individual modules that don't run as plugins; they are still all available in the Neutron plugin. It's like a modular channel strip.

I'm 100% unlikely to use this product standalone, so I'm wondering if it's worth getting now just for the discount even though I will only use it when eventually, ostensibly the Advanced version goes on sale and I can upgrade to the plugin versions.

Thoughts? Does it even live up to the hype?
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Old 09-14-2021, 05:03 AM   #2
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I've been very impressed with Neutron's capabilities and would highly recommend it. I don't know what your level of expertise is but, in my case, despite many years of trying, my compression skills remain limited to fairly basic stuff. Neutron achieves comp settings that I can only dream of. The Track Assistant feature is a major time saver for me, over-all.

I agree that it would be nice to have the option to use individual modules as plug-ins, but you can insert the full dealio on each track- think of it as a channel strip. From there, you can enable, or disable, the individual modules as you see fit.
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Old 09-14-2021, 06:47 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dug dog View Post
I agree that it would be nice to have the option to use individual modules as plug-ins, but you can insert the full dealio on each track- think of it as a channel strip.
Ah good to know, thanks!
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Old 09-16-2021, 08:13 AM   #4
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$79 for Neutron is a no-brainer, get it! Like doug said, you can disable modules inside the plugin, which will save CPU and PDC depending on modules. But for what you get, even at full price it's worth it.

Seriously, that is a steal for such a powerful plugin. Izotope stuff is $$$$$ so if you can get in, do it. Then when you upgrade it's also cheaper.
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Old 09-20-2021, 10:23 AM   #5
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I would not recommend Izotope to someone without knowing his music genre. Izotope makes "modern" plugins.
Just one example: there is a kind of analyzer plugin I think called balancer It analyzes and makes suggestions refering to 4 frequency
ranges. In a small group of music producers we tested it. Well, I remember that Billie Jean is regarded as one of the best mixed tracks ever. I am not a fan of mj at all, but mixing quality is top notch.
Izotope's plugin analyzed the track with the result that the mix is not well balanced at all!
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Old 09-20-2021, 05:58 PM   #6
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Fortunately I'm not stuck in any particular genre.

My interest in Neutron isn't about getting mix suggestions or automating things with AI, it's about having an EQ and compressor on every track that can communicate with every other instance.

Ever since I first learned about EQ and compression I wondered why that didn't exist. Seems like a perfect job for AI to analyze a particular sound you want to be upfront, determine precisely where it clashes with any other sound and dynamically duck those frequencies whenever the lead sound is present. Only when it's needed.

It's just not a part of mixing I enjoy; very tedious to hunt for the mud when you have many tracks and try to carve that out.

In any case I bought it. It was $50. Haven't used it yet but hopefully I will...
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Old 09-21-2021, 11:23 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foxAsteria View Post
Fortunately I'm not stuck in any particular genre.

My interest in Neutron isn't about getting mix suggestions or automating things with AI, it's about having an EQ and compressor on every track that can communicate with every other instance.

Ever since I first learned about EQ and compression I wondered why that didn't exist. Seems like a perfect job for AI to analyze a particular sound you want to be upfront, determine precisely where it clashes with any other sound and dynamically duck those frequencies whenever the lead sound is present. Only when it's needed.
To be clear, Neutron does this?? A game changer for sure. I have no problem admitting that modern AI balancing and unmasking EQs, even the inexpensive ones, do these things better than I do. Doing that across multiple tracks would be pretty sweet indeed. Let us know how you like it!
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Old 09-21-2021, 12:39 PM   #8
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Thanks for the hot tip! They also have Nectar 3 Plus and Melodyne 5 standard for $49.99 total. They must be money-grabbing before the $300 billion China housing crash 😂
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Old 09-21-2021, 12:57 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Naji View Post
I would not recommend Izotope to someone without knowing his music genre. Izotope makes "modern" plugins.
Just one example: there is a kind of analyzer plugin I think called balancer It analyzes and makes suggestions refering to 4 frequency
ranges. In a small group of music producers we tested it. Well, I remember that Billie Jean is regarded as one of the best mixed tracks ever. I am not a fan of mj at all, but mixing quality is top notch.
Izotope's plugin analyzed the track with the result that the mix is not well balanced at all!
the AI is an option and is not even the best part of Neutron. It has nothing to do with genre or whatever you're saying, which doesn't even make sense. You wouldn't recommend something based on the anecdotal that isn't even the same plugin? wtf are you high on? and wtf is a "modern plugin" exactly? As opposed to what, a 1990's 32bit non anti-aliasing plugin that crashes?

But, agreed that the AI doesn't work very well, at least for me. I've had these since AI came to Izotope and never once had good luck with it. But again, that's not the main thing with any Izotope stuff and if you're relying on that or basing your judgement on how that works, you are missing the POINT and should probably just hire a mix engineer.
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Old 09-21-2021, 01:05 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fred garvin View Post
To be clear, Neutron does this?? A game changer for sure. I have no problem admitting that modern AI balancing and unmasking EQs, even the inexpensive ones, do these things better than I do. Doing that across multiple tracks would be pretty sweet indeed. Let us know how you like it!

You would need the Advanced version of Neutron for these features.
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Old 09-21-2021, 01:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fred garvin View Post
To be clear, Neutron does this?? A game changer for sure. I have no problem admitting that modern AI balancing and unmasking EQs, even the inexpensive ones, do these things better than I do. Doing that across multiple tracks would be pretty sweet indeed. Let us know how you like it!
Neutron does have a "masking" tab. when you have more than one instance of Neutron inserted, you can click Masking and select one of the other Neutron loaded tracks. It will then highlight what frequencies are clashing between them and with the embedded EQ you can cut/boost accordingly. If it does the cut/boost automatically I've never used that feature, but the highlights are very helpful.

again, this is not the "meat" of Neutron, but it is (to me) more of a gimmick to differentiate as no other plugins do this. But Neutron has a very good EQ, dynamic EQ, compressors of all flavors, and an exciter/saturator. This is where the power of the plugin is and can be used on any and everything.
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Old 09-21-2021, 04:25 PM   #12
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I would definitely use the AI function as a starting place tho if I had to mix a bunch of tracks. That sounds like a huge timesaver. Like having an assistant get things set up at an even volume and ready to rock and roll. Plus AI won't get bored of doing it.

You could almost go straight to automation from there and never have to touch the track faders.
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Old 09-21-2021, 05:39 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foxAsteria View Post
I would definitely use the AI function as a starting place tho if I had to mix a bunch of tracks. That sounds like a huge timesaver. Like having an assistant get things set up at an even volume and ready to rock and roll. Plus AI won't get bored of doing it.

You could almost go straight to automation from there and never have to touch the track faders.
I'm not sure the AT works on multiple tracks like that simultaneously
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:43 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by poetnprophet View Post
I'm not sure the AT works on multiple tracks like that simultaneously
As I understood it that's a feature of the Mix Assistant, but my version doesn't have that. Honestly it's still pretty tedious to go through each track and set them all up for Track Assistant do its thing. Guess I'll have to wait until I can afford the advanced version...

Cool feature tho is inverse linking EQ moves across instances. So you can deal with masking by making smaller (opposite) changes in two places at once instead. You can even switch to controlling the other instance within the same window, which is handy.
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Old 09-22-2021, 03:55 AM   #15
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@fox et al: So this seems to be what you describe, fox:

Quote:
Improved! Vocal Assistant: Unmask

Vocal Assistant: Unmask talks to other iZotope plug-ins to send information and clean up audio in your mix that's clashing with your vocal. You can visualize the Unmasking via a new EQ window in Neutron, Relay, or Nectar 3, and control the effect with a new Amount slider.

Turn on the Dynamic setting, and Nectar 3 Plus tracks the vocal and ensures the unmasking only occurs when the voice is present. Vocal Assistant: Unmask works in Nectar 3 Plus, Relay, and Neutron 3 Standard and Advanced.

Vocal Assistant will intelligently set EQ nodes, analyze dynamics and set suggested compression settings, remove pesky sibilants, create space, ambience, and more.
but then:
Quote:
Vocal Assistant: Unmask works in Nectar 3 Plus, Relay, and Neutron 3 Advanced.
Hmm. So to get the magical mix mojo, is it that one needs Nectar, and/or Neutron Advanced, or Nectar and Neutron Standard, or a host of tiny magical brooms, or ???
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Old 09-22-2021, 04:46 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by foxAsteria View Post
As I understood it that's a feature of the Mix Assistant, but my version doesn't have that. Honestly it's still pretty tedious to go through each track and set them all up for Track Assistant do its thing. Guess I'll have to wait until I can afford the advanced version...

Cool feature tho is inverse linking EQ moves across instances. So you can deal with masking by making smaller (opposite) changes in two places at once instead. You can even switch to controlling the other instance within the same window, which is handy.
thats what its called, Mix Assistant. I forgot, I don't even use it.
Yes the inverse eq is cool, I think its even default when you are in mask mode.
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:52 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foxAsteria View Post
I would definitely use the AI function as a starting place tho if I had to mix a bunch of tracks. That sounds like a huge timesaver. Like having an assistant get things set up at an even volume and ready to rock and roll. Plus AI won't get bored of doing it.

You could almost go straight to automation from there and never have to touch the track faders.
I do track prep first using iZotope RX advanced. Using the multiple plugin module with a loudness normalization at the end to set the volume in LUFS depending on the instrument gets your mix 80-90% of the way there. I can share my settings if you want!
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:56 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foxAsteria View Post
Cool feature tho is inverse linking EQ moves across instances. So you can deal with masking by making smaller (opposite) changes in two places at once instead. You can even switch to controlling the other instance within the same window, which is handy.
This is something Reaper should really make easy to do…. Maybe a JS plugin?
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Old 09-27-2021, 10:39 AM   #19
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should be able to already with rea eq and parameter link
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Old 09-27-2021, 05:10 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poetnprophet View Post
should be able to already with rea eq and parameter link
Oh noice! Gotta try that
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Old 09-27-2021, 05:16 PM   #21
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Sure inverse linking is not hard, but it is tedious. If ReaEQ instances could talk to each other by default, it would be much better.
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