Anyone know what's happening with iZotope?

[ralfrobert]

Nice original post, summarizing the situation quite well.

I have to say I like their stuff, and I have MPS 4 which is mature and solid. No need for me to update or to worry for the next few years.

And I unsubscribed from their aggressive communication, so they only reach me when I want them to.

Fine for me.

[MogwaiBoy]

What's happening with them? They've always been like this - mega sales, mega deals, every day - and a dizzying variety of upgrade paths and see-saw prices. There's also a lot of crossovers now with Native Instruments, so it's getting really confusing to cut through all the aggressive marketing noise.

They are overdue for a new Ozone so I imagine that's coming. There's always a push to get people onboard with the current version just before launching the new version. The ol' 1-2 punch, but that's the time to get the deepest discounts I guess.

[oneway]

I don't really mind iZotope's sales mindset, but their approach to product management is inconsistent. With their non-flagship products they'll start off with an interesting foundation like in Iris 2, Mobius Filter, or DDLY, never improve them, and then gradually let them slip into obsolescence.

When pressed about it, it's almost like they view development as a one off deal. They say something like, "it's too expensive to improve it considering the lack of sales," but the lack of sales is more likely because it's not being constantly improved like Ozone or RX are, so they're stuck selling it for $9.

[simon.a.billington]

I don't really mind iZotope's sales mindset, but their approach to product management is inconsistent. With their non-flagship products they'll start off with an interesting foundation like in Iris 2, Mobius Filter, or DDLY, never improve them, and then gradually let them slip into obsolescence.

When pressed about it, it's almost like they view development as a one off deal. They say something like, "it's too expensive to improve it considering the lack of sales," but the lack of sales is more likely because it's not being constantly improved like Ozone or RX are, so they're stuck selling it for $9.

They'll always be in business and their best selling plugins will be guaranteed. But their older ones not yet updated?!? I'm sure Trash has a future, maybe Iris, but I'm not positive.

This is why I haven't bought the EA reverbs. If I saw them rereleased sporting a new iZotope style skin then that would reinforce the fact they have a future. Until then, I'm not investing in them. Neoverb is good reverb though, not sure I need it to.

[(blacklight)]

I’ve just had an email from them saying they’ve dropped the upgrade price for me for Neutron 4 to $99 from $149.

Would love to see Iris get a polish up. Anyone suspect if an Iris 3 would see the light of day?

[wuworld]

New Ozone and RX 10 coming.

[mothra]

I’ve just had an email from them saying they’ve dropped the upgrade price for me for Neutron 4 to $99 from $149.

Would love to see Iris get a polish up. Anyone suspect if an Iris 3 would see the light of day?

Well they still seem to be roping people in with the dead EA plugins they keep selling (now they're also part of the awesome SOUNDWIDE starter pack too) so who knows, they're raising capital for something but it probably won't be a new version of the sampler they've let rot for ages now and are also regularly selling for $9 or less a pop.

[Erik_Lucas]

New Ozone and RX 10 coming.

I doubt it.

[wuworld]

New Ozone and RX 10 coming.

I doubt it.

Or one of two.

[noiseboyuk]

Another day, another price drop. Just got offered the iZotope Everything bundle for $199. In my case, that would add Neoverb, Iris 2, Neutron 4 and the two mystery new updated products. If I knew one of those was RX, I'd probably jump at this point even though after the last RX update it would be a leap of faith.

As it is, the deals are coming so thick and fast there's not much likelihood that I'll miss out. I'd rather know exactly what I'm getting from here on.

[crickey13]

The reason why iZotope has been so "generous" with their discounts is because they don't plan on doing much development down the road, they intend to milk their customers for as long as they can with the least amount of effort. That would be my guess.

[mothra]

The reason why iZotope has been so "generous" with their discounts is because they don't plan on doing much development down the road, they intend to milk their customers for as long as they can with the least amount of effort. That would be my guess.

Like how they keep offering discontinued products like Trash, Iris and the EA reverbs in all their bundles and $5 sales at Plugin Boutique.

[noiseboyuk]

The reason why iZotope has been so "generous" with their discounts is because they don't plan on doing much development down the road, they intend to milk their customers for as long as they can with the least amount of effort. That would be my guess.

It also suggests that subscriptions aren’t enough (which is no surprise to anyone, I’m sure including iZotope).

I can’t recall them ever selling packages with unknown product updates in them before. It’s going to be an interesting year to watch, and see what the discounts are after the actual products are released.

[oneway]

I’ve just had an email from them saying they’ve dropped the upgrade price for me for Neutron 4 to $99 from $149.

Would love to see Iris get a polish up. Anyone suspect if an Iris 3 would see the light of day?

Probably not. I think their product manager even alluded to as much on KVR years ago. Whoever made Iris 2 (them or an outside team) it wasn’t popular enough to do anything other than make sure it can be installed/run on new operating systems, until they decide even that’s not worth it.

I think the pricing is self-defeating though. At $5 your customers won’t expect upgrades, but at $5 you’ll never have the capability to upgrade it… I guess low-investment low-return is their non-Ozone product strategy?

[superscan]

New Ozone and RX 10 coming.

I think it’s likely Ozone and Nectar. Neoverb is not a flagship product. Don’t get me wrong, I’d seriously love for you to be right, but RX is too lucrative to be part of a bundled upgrade.