iZotope Iris

[aMUSEd]

I see a lot of feature requests for Iris and am tempted to go for it but don't want to invest without some sense of how likely some of the upgrades will be. Is there a forum or news feed where iZotope has posted responses to the FRs or has given any indication that Iris will be getting some of the cool features mentioned here? I know even if they say they have plans its still vaporware until it actually happens but I's still like to hear it from them.

Over at gearslutz, a company rep responded they do have a feature backlog and they plan to add things in future versions. And apparently they are paying attention to feedback in terms of what direction they go with the program.

Much as I'd like to believe that, I'm sceptical. I remember when Stutter Edit came out; there were some vague promises of feature development then, as well. None of which were ever delivered. So I'd take it for what it is now, and best not hope for something that will likely never happen.

I think it depends on interest.
Development on Alloy has been nonexistent (despite it being good) because of mediocre sales. Gotta go where the money is.

Well yeah but visible signs of development also generate interest. No one is going to buy a product that is perceived as having no clear future.

[rj0]

I've experimented with the demo for about an hour now, and I like the ease with which one can drag a sample into the interface and the fast resynthesis.

I think I'm finding that I can't do a few basic things, however. Is there a way to:

1. Select a single freq, or band or freqs without dragging a selection tool? I'm used to using Spear and Morphine and other programs that isolate freq bands. You just click on a band to select it and in Spear, you can CTRL click to select or deselect the ones you want to work on.

2. See the exact freq or band of freqs that one is selecting? The Frequency ruler offers a broad view, and can be set to show increments of 5 hz but I can't find a way to see the exact freq.

3. See actual amplitude of a selected band?

4. Change selected freqs? Shift the pitch or change the amp envelope, etc, of just the selected section? (EDIT: I understand that one can select a band of freqs, detune them, save that as a new sample, load it, remove the band from the original resythesis, and then play both sounds by using Mix. But that seems a bit complicated if the goal is just to hear how a slight change in pitch affects the overall sound.)

As a Spear user I am wondering similar things. I mean Spear can do a lot of what Iris does, and somethings like mentioned here, better. Of course Iris does some things better too.

Yes, Spear. Forgot about that.

Good point.

[Paulnz]

I loved the demo of Iris so I've just bought it. I do find it a little annoying however that you can load long samples but you can only edit about 1 minute of it - I hope they fix that in future releases too!

I've also had a quick look at an older plugin called Spectro which lets you change the gain on your selected regions - has anyone used that?

[Jake Jackson]

I've experimented with the demo for about an hour now, and I like the ease with which one can drag a sample into the interface and the fast resynthesis.

I think I'm finding that I can't do a few basic things, however. Is there a way to:

1. Select a single freq, or band or freqs without dragging a selection tool? I'm used to using Spear and Morphine and other programs that isolate freq bands. You just click on a band to select it and in Spear, you can CTRL click to select or deselect the ones you want to work on.

2. See the exact freq or band of freqs that one is selecting? The Frequency ruler offers a broad view, and can be set to show increments of 5 hz but I can't find a way to see the exact freq.

3. See actual amplitude of a selected band?

4. Change selected freqs? Shift the pitch or change the amp envelope, etc, of just the selected section? (EDIT: I understand that one can select a band of freqs, detune them, save that as a new sample, load it, remove the band fr
om the original resythesis, and then play both sounds by using Mix. But that seems a bit complicated if the goal is just to hear how a slight change in pitch affects the overall sound.)

As a Spear user I am wondering similar things. I mean Spear can do a lot of what Iris does, and somethings like mentioned here, better. Of course Iris does some things better too.

Yes, Spear. Forgot about that.

Good point.

I do like what Iris can do. Working with four samples at once is good, and it's not meant to be Alchemy or Spear. Still, a little more control would be valuable.

[Sampleconstruct]

Here is a demo featuring 2 new Iris patches:
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/m ... lack-holes

[standalone]

Talking about Spear, how do you export to .wav?

[standalone]

Never mind, it's "Sound > Synthesize To New File".

I was applying daw-logic and so I was only searching File > Export options.

[tweiss2000]

Tested Iris for some days aaaand:
Have had so much fun, it clicked immediately.
And the GUI let's you decide what to see and what not - very good designed.

Also it's a demo that is working for 10 days like the full version, without a noise every 30 seconds or so. I hate those demos.

Sure, there is always room for improvements.
But I also know I would regret if I missed the special introduction price.
I see no missing functionality that would stop me buying.
And Iris is something new, I haven't seen any competing vsti yet.

If you didn't try it already, do yourself a favor, demo it.
No need to read a manual first.
Start with a preset to get a first impression but don't stay on the presets and begin with a new empty preset, where you place your own waves.

Have fun while sound diving.

The only thing I don't know is, if I should also take the glass and wood bundle.
What's their content?

[lightsfadelow]

Some folks have posted their thoughts on the expansions already in this thread.

If you buy only one expansion it should be Simon's patchpool subscription, IMO.

[edit: fixed iphone autocorrect typo]

[audientronic]

Took the plunge. Guess it's time to dust of the Zoom H4n I just had to buy three years ago. I never really know if I am going to use what I'll buy, or if it just feels cool to have it on my hard drive. Maybe it just feels cool to have it on my credit card. I can look over the merchants' names, one by one, and think,Wow. I bought that.

What I have learned is that if you keep buying stuff, eventually it will all just make magical things while you are sleeping. If this is not happening for you yet, it is because you haven't bought enough stuff.

On a serious note, the patchpool set is worth both the inspiration and the lessons.

For the most part though, and this addresses the expansion pack question, I feel like if you're not inspired to get out there and mess with your own sounds, this should probably be a pass.

[rj0]

Very impressed with Iris. Iris has a nice, fluid, very useable and productive base, especially for quick spectral editing and layering, ... but the feature set limitations aggravate, even for an initial release.

There are just so many spectral features out there for iZotope to 'cannibalize' for inclusion into Iris. Not just more recent spectral research, but features that were developed in even some fairly old product efforts (White Noise Additive is yet another that comes to mind).

It's a great first effort by iZotope, but it's the opportunities ahead for them taking Iris to the next level that is truly compelling, if they so choose.

[Sampleconstruct]

If you buy only one expansion it should be Simon's patchpool subscription, IMO.

On a serious note, the patchpool set is worth both the inspiration and the lessons.

Thank you both for the reccomendation, I appreciate your appreciation!

For the most part though, and this addresses the expansion pack question, I feel like if you're not inspired to get out there and mess with your own sounds, this should probably be a pass.

Absolutely!!

[matteogk]

Wood and Glass (I repeat it) are more on the weird side, I did not use any of their patches anywhere yet, but all samples are very good stuff to design your own patches.
The patchpool.com set, as many other confirm, is the best choice by far! The price is absolutely fair, quality is great, everything is playable/usable, all samples are great stuff to design your own ones, and you can learn a lot of tricks by looking at what the magic hands of Simon did.

[sevenorchids]

Took the plunge. Guess it's time to dust of the Zoom H4n I just had to buy three years ago. I never really know if I am going to use what I'll buy, or if it just feels cool to have it on my hard drive. Maybe it just feels cool to have it on my credit card. I can look over the merchants' names, one by one, and think,Wow. I bought that.

What I have learned is that if you keep buying stuff, eventually it will all just make magical things while you are sleeping. If this is not happening for you yet, it is because you haven't bought enough stuff.

On a serious note, the patchpool set is worth both the inspiration and the lessons.

For the most part though, and this addresses the expansion pack question, I feel like if you're not inspired to get out there and mess with your own sounds, this should probably be a pass.

Best post of the day!

Truly though, you cannot just figure your total cost as just the price of this piece of software. I bought Iris. Grabbed the package with Wood and Glass included. Thought I got a GREAT deal. Then I heard Simon's presets. Had to buy that. Then, I realized that I needed to buy a portable digital recorder in order to truly get EVERYTHING out of the software. Anyone have a recommendation?

So, for everyone else, keep that in mind when you are figuring the cost of Iris.

And for audientronic, look at all the money you saved by buying your Zoom H4n all those years ago. It was just waiting for Iris to show up...

[Sampleconstruct]

Here is a new Iris patch made with 2 french horn samples (split mode) I recorded recently in a church - quite amazing what the isolation of spectral zones and narrow bands does to those horns....
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/c ... -iris-demo