iZotope Iris 2

[goldglob]

I guess you could ask for a refund?

Just reassuring djmino02 that 10.3 sounds right. I hope you didn't think I was complaining.

[EnGee]

The Iris 2 Sound Library
Instructions for downloading the full Iris 2 Sound Library.

When you first install Iris 2, the product includes only a small sampling of Iris 2's 11 GB of patches and audio samples. To get the full experience of the Iris 2 Sound Library, please download and run the installers below after you have purchased and authorized Iris 2.

The installers are broken into two groups:

The Core Content installer includes an additional 300+ patches and their complementary samples.

The Sample Library installers contain samples in 7 different sample categories: Abstract, Environments, Instruments, Objects, Synthesizers, Toys, and Voice. (this sample libary content is the 11GB of sample content referred to on the product page. There are no additional presets included here. In addition, these samples are unlocked and can be used in any sampler)

Oh! That's explained it then! The 300 presets came from the core library only. Sorry for the misinformation then

Going to explore the samples then

[zzz00m]

This is an amazing 3rd party sound bank for Iris/Iris 2: Luftrum 10 - $23 and worth every penny(IMHO)!

LUFTRUM 10
74 Presets for Iris 1 & 2 https://www.luftrum.com/luftrum10/

Luftrum has also made available 1GB of free field recordings: https://www.luftrum.com/free-field-recordings/

You get forest surroundings, ocean waves crashing, ants eating sugar, airport/train station/circus atmosphere, rain and thunder, some recordings made with binaural & contact mics, and hydrophones. And much more!

They are free to download one at a time with a Creative Commons Attribution License. They can be used with Iris/Iris 2, or any sampler.

If you make a pay-what-you-want donation to Save the Children charity, you will get access to a zip file bundle of the field recordings, with a full user license to use the recordings (16-bit & 24-bit) in your own works.

[zzz00m]

https://youtu.be/Mj1tX-oMVbA

[Kalamata Kid]

I ended up inserting the Patches by Homegrown folder and Samples by Homegrown folder in the Izotope Patches folder and Samples folder. This way I can keep the third party files separate. It seems to be working so far.

[Kalamata Kid]

Too bad Iris is not multi-touch capable.
Would be great to use the GUI as a control surface.
Oh well, such is life.

Check out my signature.

[zzz00m]

I guess you could ask for a refund?

Just reassuring djmino02 that 10.3 sounds right. I hope you didn't think I was complaining.

Not at all, as I just thought it would be a funny idea to ask for a refund on a free product!

[djmino02]

Lol I got it for free on pluginboutique.

I like the plugin so far.

Best deal I've ever gotten I think.

[zzz00m]

I'm waiting patiently for v3...

[goldglob]

Lol I got it for free on pluginboutique.

I like the plugin so far.

Best deal I've ever gotten I think.

Damn, after virtual cash it cost me 3 pence...I was robbed!

[Gribs]

Izotope’s “creative” plugins are abandonware. If it is free or really cheap and you forget some good use or fun then who cares? I have other things to occupy my time, though.

There is no issue with abandonware, unless: a) It is a really buggy mess, or: b) It is no longer being maintained for current OS compatibility.

Pretty sure neither is the case, here.

This. With software people confuse mature with abandoned.

Except in my case, I work at a major tech company in an organization that has a large audio DSP team and had a conversation with an ex-Izotope employee who now works for us. He told me that Izotope is not working on their creative plugins anymore and is focusing on their core mixing and mastering software.

I use engineering software that has been around for decades and is very mature, but still has regular major and minor updates, user meetings, white papers, internal materials and database additions, etc.

[aMUSEd]

Izotope’s “creative” plugins are abandonware. If it is free or really cheap and you forget some good use or fun then who cares? I have other things to occupy my time, though.

There is no issue with abandonware, unless: a) It is a really buggy mess, or: b) It is no longer being maintained for current OS compatibility.

Pretty sure neither is the case, here.

tbh that is almost the case, it never really got enough bugfixes to iron out some of the serious bugs and then just got dropped so it's hardly 'mature' just unfinished and afaik it is not being maintained for anything and iZotope do have a history of plugins becoming unusable after a while (eg Spectron).

[BONES]

Which serious bugs? It's worked 100% reliably for me so far.

[aMUSEd]

They already have your money, so they don't care.

Only for Iris 1 though, they gave me an NFR for Iris 2, LOL and I worked hard for it.

Yeah I decided not to buy Iris 2 either, after I saw how bug-riddled it was/still is.

Other than the v1 preset import, is there any major bug?

Depends on your definition of “major bugs“, but yes, i would call some of the issues below major bugs.

*The Sample&Hold (random) LFO is still broken in version 2.01, in most cases it decides not to modulate, sometimes it modulates, so it’s behavior is very erratic. Also the speed of the random LFO can currently not be modulated with any controller. So all patches using a random LFO are affected by that. iZotope is still working on a fix for this issue (they said in March 2015).

*When you assign the modulation wheel to the main output gain using negative values, e.g. something like -20% to compensate for the gain boost introduced by the distortion FX (also assigned to the wheel), the next time you open the preset the wheel will totally mute the output when fully engaged, as the master output knob at the top of the UI can't be assigned to any controller anymore, the only workaround is to individually assign negative values to the individual outputs of each oscillator.

*Trying to modulate Chorus depth (not mix) with a Macro doesn't work, the knob modulation indicator is actually moving when tuning the Macro but the sound doesn't change.

*Since Iris 2 the Send-levels to the FX modules are routed pre-envelope, so when a patch is using the FX-Send-mode, a sound will reach the FX section although it’s sustain level might be turned to zero. They are thinking of adding a pre/post-switch to fix this issue, the workaround is, to also assign the amplitude envelope of an oscillator the the respective send level.

*The feature to change LFO waveforms via Macros has been removed in Iris 2

*As the minimum/maximum modulation amount was removed in Iris 2, some modulation values can not be assigned accurately anymore, like e.g. delay times, cutoff levels etc, so some modulation levels might slightly differ in the converted Iris 2 patches.

*The new architecture of Iris 2 renders some former assignments useless/impossible, so I used many workarounds in the Iris 2 patches, sometimes I also added a few modulations here and there, taking advantage of the new modulation system. But the new patches sound just as good

*The zipper noises in Iris 2 when moving/automating Macros and other controllers like the Modwheel have increased significantly in comparison with version 1, if you move them slow enough, you will be able to avoid those artifacts.

*CPU usage has significantly increased in Iris 2.

*The master output knob at the top of the GUI can't be modulated anymore.

*Limiter amount can't be modulated anymore.

*Modulating delay time with an LFO does not produce usable results.

Maybe this one is repeated (I didn't find it) but I can't export pitchbend wheel recorded movements on Cubase; I think it's not a Cubase problem because if I replace Iris 2 with any other synth in the same instrument track, the pitchbend is perfectly exported.

However, I find it a sooo massive bug that it can't be a bug, but reading the manual didn't give me an answer neither.

afaik nothing has changed since this was posted

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Only for Iris 1 though, they gave me an NFR for Iris 2, LOL and I worked hard for it.

Yeah I decided not to buy Iris 2 either, after I saw how bug-riddled it was/still is.

Other than the v1 preset import, is there any major bug?

Depends on your definition of “major bugs“, but yes, i would call some of the issues below major bugs.

*The Sample&Hold (random) LFO is still broken in version 2.01, in most cases it decides not to modulate, sometimes it modulates, so it’s behavior is very erratic. Also the speed of the random LFO can currently not be modulated with any controller. So all patches using a random LFO are affected by that. iZotope is still working on a fix for this issue (they said in March 2015).

*When you assign the modulation wheel to the main output gain using negative values, e.g. something like -20% to compensate for the gain boost introduced by the distortion FX (also assigned to the wheel), the next time you open the preset the wheel will totally mute the output when fully engaged, as the master output knob at the top of the UI can't be assigned to any controller anymore, the only workaround is to individually assign negative values to the individual outputs of each oscillator.

*Trying to modulate Chorus depth (not mix) with a Macro doesn't work, the knob modulation indicator is actually moving when tuning the Macro but the sound doesn't change.

*Since Iris 2 the Send-levels to the FX modules are routed pre-envelope, so when a patch is using the FX-Send-mode, a sound will reach the FX section although it’s sustain level might be turned to zero. They are thinking of adding a pre/post-switch to fix this issue, the workaround is, to also assign the amplitude envelope of an oscillator the the respective send level.

*The feature to change LFO waveforms via Macros has been removed in Iris 2

*As the minimum/maximum modulation amount was removed in Iris 2, some modulation values can not be assigned accurately anymore, like e.g. delay times, cutoff levels etc, so some modulation levels might slightly differ in the converted Iris 2 patches.

*The new architecture of Iris 2 renders some former assignments useless/impossible, so I used many workarounds in the Iris 2 patches, sometimes I also added a few modulations here and there, taking advantage of the new modulation system. But the new patches sound just as good

*The zipper noises in Iris 2 when moving/automating Macros and other controllers like the Modwheel have increased significantly in comparison with version 1, if you move them slow enough, you will be able to avoid those artifacts.

*CPU usage has significantly increased in Iris 2.

*The master output knob at the top of the GUI can't be modulated anymore.

*Limiter amount can't be modulated anymore.

*Modulating delay time with an LFO does not produce usable results.

Maybe this one is repeated (I didn't find it) but I can't export pitchbend wheel recorded movements on Cubase; I think it's not a Cubase problem because if I replace Iris 2 with any other synth in the same instrument track, the pitchbend is perfectly exported.

However, I find it a sooo massive bug that it can't be a bug, but reading the manual didn't give me an answer neither.

afaik nothing has changed since this was posted

Not to diminish the claims made here, but i’m pretty sure that the author of this list is still creating patches that are being sold under subscription. So the bugs may be frustrating, but not show-stopping. Or it could be that Iris is so good that those bugs can be tolerated, where in other software they might be harder to let pass