So, what's the verdict on BreakTweaker (Izotope)?

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This looks really interesting but wondering if it is just a one trick pony (micro/stutter fx) or does it have enough functionality to complement my Maschine for getting grooves started?

Haven't really seen much discussion and noticed it is on special at the moment so I am tempted. Just curious about your experiences...

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I wasn't too impressed with it, definitely a one trick pony. They should have released it about 7 years earlier when glitchy drums were actually popular.

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The synth section was interesting, but the glitchy stuff was a bit too "sound like BT", it was trying too hard to sound current and modern, which means in a year it will sound dated (I prefer timeless to modern, and I mean "timeless" asin unconcerned or outside of time, not "timeless" asin classic or brilliant, though obviously there's overlap there). The glitch stuff is nothing that you can't do with a good sampler that you know inside out and maybe a calculator or note-to-freq converter at a push.

If it was a bit cheaper and didn't come loaded with "super amazing epic modern loopz" which seem to be the crux of it's sound (and that I'll never use, because, frankly, I don't want to sound like those guys, they're good at what they do and don't need me stepping on their toes), I'd have bought it. But that's just me.
http://sendy.bandcamp.com/releases < My new album at Bandcamp! Now pay what you like!

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I like it. You don't have to load up the EDM sample content and loops and glitch like BT, though you can of course preset surf like the rest of the unimaginative folks.

It's actually really interesting to load up more acoustic samples and do some detailed little tricky programming, which suits me nicely, or little polyrhythmic parts to add life and some randomness to percussive or repeating elements.

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Kindred wrote:This looks really interesting but wondering if it is just a one trick pony (micro/stutter fx) or does it have enough functionality to complement my Maschine for getting grooves started?

Haven't really seen much discussion and noticed it is on special at the moment so I am tempted. Just curious about your experiences...
I have Maschine Micro hardware with Maschine 1.8 software, iZotope Trash 2, iZotope Stutteredit.

BreakTweaker is one vst plugin combining all these together.

You can load in your own WAV or on Mac Aiff samples to use.

BreakTweaker is definatly NOT a one trick pony.

If you do not have a Maschineor used that software and need a drum sequencer BreakTweaker is very easy to use and simple to get grooves built fast. If you have Maschine or another drum sequencer plugin or app you are familiar with then BreakTweaker might not add to your toolbox or be of a benefit.

If you have distortion effects , know how to build a drop or a rise, know how to build stutter effects then BreakTweaker probably won't add to your toolbox.

I have a ton of effects, apps as well as a Maschine Micro. I love BreakTweaker for it's ease of use, fast groove designing and having quality effects - plus the ability to load in vocal samples or other WAV file samples and just play around with them ALL in 1 plugin.

definatly not a one trick pony - but if you already have a bunch of plugins and know what your doing, then BreakTweaker isn't a must have - but it might help your workflow and inspire.

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I think for a lot of people it's hard to see beyond the stutter part.
I use a lot of drum sequencers like Nerve , Geist and Liquid Rhythm and Breaktweaker definitely has something different to offer.
The sequencer has a few nice tricks and the combination of the synth and sample engine is very nice !
I agree that the price is a bit high , but I would buy it again any day.

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Thanks for all the comments.

On reflection I think that this is a bit much @ $200 (just like StutterEdit which would be a buy around $80 or so). If it becomes cheaper I might definitely pick this up.

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I realised that, like DM-307, the fundamental flaw for me is that there's no drag midi-to-host. It's great for building beats, but it all falls apart when integrating with the rest of the song / cue. I don't want to just trigger patterns particularly - chasing issues and you can't line stuff up so easily with the rest of the song. I always find it messy.

Bought 307 in the sale - great for the loops and one-shots - skipped BreakTweaker. Awaiting StylusRMX 2.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
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I really like it. Maybe a bit pricey, but if you look past its presets, there's some magic there. If you look at each feature, it's easy to say, "yeah, other stuff has that," but like Iris, it puts those features together in a cool way that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. I had such a fun time with the demo, programming the synth engine, and layering samples over it, that I bought it straight away.
Zerocrossing Media

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I agree with zerocrossing. I like the way it's laid out and my workflow is faster. I tend not to use the stutter/glitch stuff so much but it's there when I need it and it works better for me than Stutter Edit, which leaves me confused when I occasionally use it. I feel that way about Iris also. Simplicity in design and my workflow speeds up with enough features to keep me happy. The price is a bit high but I'm not complaining since I use it on a majority of the tunes I work on regardless of genre.

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Ok so this is the third time I've re-installed the demo. I just keep coming back to it. I think deep down, I really like the basic idea, and that purple colour scheme :)

For the price, it does seem slightly barebones and unfinished, though. For example, given that the plugin is called "BreakTweaker", I'd expect to be able to have a sample triggered from a different point from each step, without having to make a channel for each breakbeat slice I want to trigger from. Also, the ability to set a few synth/sample parameters per step, such as envelope, LFO rate, even wavetable position, etc, would be really helpful.

As it stands, loading in a breakbeat groove I've made and programming variations seems a bit ham-fisted. Granted, the tool is good at making beats from scratch, but in that case, there seems to be no way to add any sort of swing or groove, which is fairly important in breakbeats (though not in dubstep, I suppose). The lack of even just a swing slider is a bit troubling. While I do my sequencing on the grid, I like the elements that I'm sequencing to be off of the grid, so that the timing quirks are "frozen" in time, giving that hard breakbeat sound.

In summary, a way to add modifications to the sample start-point and other parameters on a per-step basis, and some kind of swing or groove capability, would make this plugin feel a lot more fleshed out and worth the money.
http://sendy.bandcamp.com/releases < My new album at Bandcamp! Now pay what you like!

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Bought it recently when it was on sale, and i have to say, i really like it!

Anyhow, there is plenty room for additional features (as Sendy mentioned etc.); i hope they will continue improving it.
But so far, it's very inspiring.

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Well I jumped for the expanded version in the sale - I should probably have trusted my first instincts. Not a huge fan. The cinematic expansion felt pretty lacklustre to me, with not enough sonic variety - I was hoping for some gentle pulsating tension tickies and rhythms etc, but it's not so good for that it seems. In general I found the sound less flexible than I hoped, it rarely seems to extend much beyond glitch / dubstep, and the glitch micro effects get old really quickly.

Here's what I'd like to see in a future version.

1. A gui where you can see 2 bars in one go.

2. Built in delay and reveb fx, assignable by part (recalled with presets of course). Didn't appreciate how limiting it was going to be without them - of course you can add your own via multi out, but since parts change what instrument they're playing from patch to patch, that gets tiresome super-quick.

3. More useful patterns ready to go where the designers resist the urge to glitch everything in sight.

4. One button click to separate outputs / collapse into one.

5. Better sound editing gui to see at a glance what is going on.

There are some really clever ideas and it'll probably find some occasional use with me, but not all I hoped for to be honest.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

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Not sure what BreakTweaker has to do with glitch at all, but I guess this term means something else now than it used to :/

I tried the demo but found it very difficult to program something that didn't sound forced, like the demo presets did (what was that?). I guess less is more with the 1024T, especially if you cannot modify sample start etc.

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