Neutron 3 just dropped

[jbone1313]

My whole experience with Neutron 3 has been really off-putting towards iZotope's produces.

I spent the money and upgraded to Neutron 3. I had not really used v2 much, so I am not sure if these issues are specific to v3.

Before I get into it, my main question is whether these types of issues are consistent with iZotope's other products. I also own Ozone 8, and I do not want to invest any more time learning and working with it if it is going to be the same deal.

The issues I am having:

• Crappy GPU performance when using Neutron 3. My GPU spikes up to 80-90% after I simply add one instance, and then my whole system lags. I have a modern graphics card, and all drivers are up to date. I run a six core Intel machine, which is up to date and clean.

• Laggy performance in the Neutron 3 plugin. For some reason, changing EQ values causes a ton of data to be sent to the DAW, which in Ableton, causes a lot of data to be sent back to my MIDI controllers, which seems to slow things down. I.e., adjusting the EQ values causes so much data to be sent to my APC 40 that the indicator rings flicker. I have seen others complain about this. It seems to have something to do with some "dirty flag" event being passed to the DAW, which seems like poor coding.

No other plugins I use have these issues. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 works like butter.

I reported to iZotope, and they are looking at it. On the Reaper forum, someone else reported a similar thing to them a long time ago. No fix yet. And, I've seen other complaints about their UIs in other forums.

So, again, should I jump ship?

[martinjuenke]

No problems here with Logic Pro as DAW

[Hadrondrift]

Video dude seems to have his hand attached to his head in multiple thumbnails.
Is he alright?

Isn't he an optical Steve Wilson incarnation? Maybe that feels strange sometimes.

[jens]

Isn't he an optical Steve Wilson incarnation?

Nope, not at all actually. Just for starters, SW is about 20 years his senior. Both have glasses though, I give you that.

[Hadrondrift]

Isn't he an optical Steve Wilson incarnation?

Nope, not at all actually. Just for starters, SW is about 20 years his senior. Both have glasses though, I give you that.

And the hair, and the ... well, never mind, I'll let the subject rest. Btw, his (Wytse Gerichhausen's) videos are quite entertaining most of the time.

[EnochLight]

My whole experience with Neutron 3 has been really off-putting towards iZotope's produces.

I spent the money and upgraded to Neutron 3. I had not really used v2 much, so I am not sure if these issues are specific to v3.

Before I get into it, my main question is whether these types of issues are consistent with iZotope's other products. I also own Ozone 8, and I do not want to invest any more time learning and working with it if it is going to be the same deal.

The issues I am having:

• Crappy GPU performance when using Neutron 3. My GPU spikes up to 80-90% after I simply add one instance, and then my whole system lags. I have a modern graphics card, and all drivers are up to date. I run a six core Intel machine, which is up to date and clean.

• Laggy performance in the Neutron 3 plugin. For some reason, changing EQ values causes a ton of data to be sent to the DAW, which in Ableton, causes a lot of data to be sent back to my MIDI controllers, which seems to slow things down. I.e., adjusting the EQ values causes so much data to be sent to my APC 40 that the indicator rings flicker. I have seen others complain about this. It seems to have something to do with some "dirty flag" event being passed to the DAW, which seems like poor coding.

No other plugins I use have these issues. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 works like butter.

I reported to iZotope, and they are looking at it. On the Reaper forum, someone else reported a similar thing to them a long time ago. No fix yet. And, I've seen other complaints about their UIs in other forums.

So, again, should I jump ship?

Should you jump ship? Only you can answer that. I experienced much of what you describe in Neutron 2 and stuck around, and as of Neutron 3 - everything runs great on my system (and I'm running a rather archaic 4-core Intel CPU that's approaching 8 years old). But I run Reason 10, and much of my improvement could have come from both the [PAID] Neutron 3 upgrade as well as the free Reason 10.3 update that addressed VST performance.

So if iZotope identifies your issue as being a widespread issue, they'll hopefully release a point update that fixes it. Whether you stick around to see it through or not, is up to you.

But you say you owned Neutron 2 and didn't use it much, but went and paid to upgrade to Neutron 3 even though you didn't use it much. Sounds like you might be better served to stick around and see if they can offer a fix for your issue. It's good you reported it to their tech support, though. I'd encourage you to inspire other Reaper users having the issue to report the same.

[Smapti]

My whole experience with Neutron 3 has been really off-putting towards iZotope's produces.

I spent the money and upgraded to Neutron 3. I had not really used v2 much, so I am not sure if these issues are specific to v3.

Before I get into it, my main question is whether these types of issues are consistent with iZotope's other products. I also own Ozone 8, and I do not want to invest any more time learning and working with it if it is going to be the same deal.

The issues I am having:

• Crappy GPU performance when using Neutron 3. My GPU spikes up to 80-90% after I simply add one instance, and then my whole system lags. I have a modern graphics card, and all drivers are up to date. I run a six core Intel machine, which is up to date and clean.

• Laggy performance in the Neutron 3 plugin. For some reason, changing EQ values causes a ton of data to be sent to the DAW, which in Ableton, causes a lot of data to be sent back to my MIDI controllers, which seems to slow things down. I.e., adjusting the EQ values causes so much data to be sent to my APC 40 that the indicator rings flicker. I have seen others complain about this. It seems to have something to do with some "dirty flag" event being passed to the DAW, which seems like poor coding.

No other plugins I use have these issues. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 works like butter.

I reported to iZotope, and they are looking at it. On the Reaper forum, someone else reported a similar thing to them a long time ago. No fix yet. And, I've seen other complaints about their UIs in other forums.

So, again, should I jump ship?

I definitely had similar CPU spikes with Neutron 2, which I found essentially unusable. But Neutron 3 runs a lot smoother for me; I can actually run a reasonable number of instances without my computer melting down. It may be a DAW-specific issue for you.

[yehboy1]

I have Ozone 8 Advanced, which has (mostly) the same EQ and dynamic EQ as Neutron. I'm wondering if there's any advantage in buying Neutron then, aside from a few extra modules. I mean more like workflow-wise. I guess the track-enhance and masking stuff. Just trying to think if it's worth buying since I can slap an Ozone EQ on every track and since I get the tonal balance plugin with Ozone already.

One reason I wanted Neutron is so that it communicates with Ozone's Tonal Balance in the dropdown, e.g., I can pull up the EQ on a kick track in Tonal Balance. But I can do that by putting an Ozone EQ on a kick track since I have Advanced.

[jbone1313]

I'd encourage you to inspire other Reaper users having the issue to report the same.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am actually running Ableton, but I saw a Reaper user had the same issue.

It may be a DAW-specific issue for you.

Could be, indeed. Ableton seems to do some funky stuff with the GPU. I have noticed some beta testers complaining about it in the beta forum, and I have experienced other weird things. Pure speculation: maybe the graphics code in Ableton is old and not doing the modern graphics card thing right. Who knows.

One reason I wanted Neutron is so that it communicates with Ozone's Tonal Balance in the dropdown, e.g., I can pull up the EQ on a kick track in Tonal Balance. But I can do that by putting an Ozone EQ on a kick track since I have Advanced.

That is a brilliant idea! That Tonal Balance - EQ integration is my favorite feature, and I was thinking it would only work with Neutron.

[yehboy1]

That is a brilliant idea! That Tonal Balance - EQ integration is my favorite feature, and I was thinking it would only work with Neutron.

Yeah it definitely works with Ozone (I just tried it) but only with Ozone's EQ module, not with the dynamic eq, compressor modules, etc. But that's the same with Neutron (or Neutron 2 at least).

Chart for Neutron 2 and Tonal Balance Control: https://s3.amazonaws.com/izotopedownloa ... index.html

Chart for Ozone 8 and Tonal Balance Control (further down the page under "Ozone & Tonal Balance Control"):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/izotopedownloa ... index.html

[jbone1313]

My whole experience with Neutron 3 has been really off-putting towards iZotope's produces.

I spent the money and upgraded to Neutron 3. I had not really used v2 much, so I am not sure if these issues are specific to v3.

Before I get into it, my main question is whether these types of issues are consistent with iZotope's other products. I also own Ozone 8, and I do not want to invest any more time learning and working with it if it is going to be the same deal.

The issues I am having:

• Crappy GPU performance when using Neutron 3. My GPU spikes up to 80-90% after I simply add one instance, and then my whole system lags. I have a modern graphics card, and all drivers are up to date. I run a six core Intel machine, which is up to date and clean.

• Laggy performance in the Neutron 3 plugin. For some reason, changing EQ values causes a ton of data to be sent to the DAW, which in Ableton, causes a lot of data to be sent back to my MIDI controllers, which seems to slow things down. I.e., adjusting the EQ values causes so much data to be sent to my APC 40 that the indicator rings flicker. I have seen others complain about this. It seems to have something to do with some "dirty flag" event being passed to the DAW, which seems like poor coding.

No other plugins I use have these issues. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 works like butter.

I reported to iZotope, and they are looking at it. On the Reaper forum, someone else reported a similar thing to them a long time ago. No fix yet. And, I've seen other complaints about their UIs in other forums.

So, again, should I jump ship?

Here is a follow up.

First, iZotope's support was prompt and responsive, and that is commendable. Below are some things I did, which I think might have resolved my GPU issue.

Unfortunately, on the other hand, doing basic EQ moves and other things is still somewhat choppy in Neutron, especially when the plugin window is enlarged. Based on my observations and reading what others have said about this in forums, it could possibly be related to how Neutron sends out "dirty flag" events to the host. It seems to be sending a lot of data to the host, which one might speculate, could make the performance choppy. Who knows.

Hopefully that choppiness can be improved in future updates.

I could probably get by with the performance as is, but this experience pushed me to look at FabFilters Pro-Q and Pro-L products, and I think I am going to focus on them. I want to try not relying on the AI/automated parts of the iZotope stuff, and without those pieces, the FabFilter stuff wins for me. Pro-Q and Pro-L are excellent.

In any event, as a FYI, here is what I did, which might have helped my GPU issues with Neutron.

Ran my project using VST3.
Noticed good GPU performance.
Ran my project using VST2.
Still noticed good GPU performance.
Did a clean uninstall and reinstall of my video card drivers.
Ran my project using VST3.
Still noticed good GPU performance.
Ran my project using VST2.
Still noticed good GPU performance.
Performed the uninstall and reinstall of Neutron - in Windows safe mode - per iZotope's instructions.
Still noticed good GPU performance.

In summary, it is possible that simply running the VST3 one time and/or reinstalling my video card drivers helped.

[SiliconDeath]

My whole experience with Neutron 3 has been really off-putting towards iZotope's produces.

I spent the money and upgraded to Neutron 3. I had not really used v2 much, so I am not sure if these issues are specific to v3.

Before I get into it, my main question is whether these types of issues are consistent with iZotope's other products. I also own Ozone 8, and I do not want to invest any more time learning and working with it if it is going to be the same deal.

The issues I am having:

• Crappy GPU performance when using Neutron 3. My GPU spikes up to 80-90% after I simply add one instance, and then my whole system lags. I have a modern graphics card, and all drivers are up to date. I run a six core Intel machine, which is up to date and clean.

• Laggy performance in the Neutron 3 plugin. For some reason, changing EQ values causes a ton of data to be sent to the DAW, which in Ableton, causes a lot of data to be sent back to my MIDI controllers, which seems to slow things down. I.e., adjusting the EQ values causes so much data to be sent to my APC 40 that the indicator rings flicker. I have seen others complain about this. It seems to have something to do with some "dirty flag" event being passed to the DAW, which seems like poor coding.

No other plugins I use have these issues. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 works like butter.

I reported to iZotope, and they are looking at it. On the Reaper forum, someone else reported a similar thing to them a long time ago. No fix yet. And, I've seen other complaints about their UIs in other forums.

So, again, should I jump ship?

Does other izotope products do this, or is it only neutron? Both Trash2 and Ozone seem to have framerate limiter, try if they lag with or without it turned on. The neutron elements I have doesn't seem to have framerate limiter.

[v1o]

Well, Izotope is just totally F'd up.

I have my email purchase receipt from Izotope dated Stept 8, 2017 when I purchased Neutron 2. When I go to my account to see what it would cost for me to upgrade to Neutron 3, it says I have no products. Okay, maybe I just didn't register my serial #. So I go to do that and it tells me it can't register it.

Forget that I also bought Iris 2 from them. According to Izotope I never bought anything and thus am not eligible for any upgrades.

SMH.

No the Izotope website is just broken and has been for years. The product upgrade information on the page is never correct.

[EnochLight]

No the Izotope website is just broken and has been for years. The product upgrade information on the page is never correct.

I'll second that. I was able to "upgrade" to Ozone 8 Advanced for $149... yet I didn't even buy a previous license to Ozone, any version, ever. I just had the "upgrade" offer appear in my account at launch. When I asked support if this was an error or whether or not I could take advantage of the purchase, they said go for it.

So I did.

I'm convinced they sort of make this shit up as they go along. It convinced me to never, ever, pay full price for anything from iZotope, and to wait out for sales and "oops" appearing in my account as long as I can.

[machinesworking]

I'm convinced they sort of make this shit up as they go along. It convinced me to never, ever, pay full price for anything from iZotope, and to wait out for sales and "oops" appearing in my account as long as I can.

It's the same with Fxpansion, Arturia, Waves, and NI among others. They will say this is the LAST SALE EVAR, then have another one later that year. Fxpansion are so bad at this that I've owned Guru, Geist, and Geist 2, all with total garbage "upgrade offers" that sucked, then later that year the full version non upgrade goes on sale for less than the upgrade price. I've never bought an upgrade to Geist, it's cheaper to wait 6-9 months and buy the latest version... Then there's the "special" ones, Air come to mind.

None of this is related to products though, all the mentioned companies make great products, they just have no idea how to sell them to us and make these huge boner mistakes.