iZotope Iris 2

[metaside]

But if Izotope had made some of the sample and spectral parameters addressable by modulation they probably wouldn't be giving this thing away now.

Modulating spectral parameters would be awesome, but I don't know of any synth that allows for modulation of complex graphical interface parameters such as the extremely high number of possible spectral selection points in Iris. Even modulating the points of custom LFO curves or multi-step envelopes is not possible in most (I think all, with some simplified exceptions) synths. I have been waiting for Flexion for years which was said to make LFO-point modulation possible but it seems abandoned...

Does anyone know if the add-on libraries are supposed to come with patches or are they just samples? I installed the toys and objects add ons and there are only samples.

Not sure about the presets, I usually just drop a sample in there and start with the spectral selection.

[Ficciones]

Modulating spectral parameters would be awesome, but I don't know of any synth that allows for modulation of complex graphical interface parameters such as the extremely high number of possible spectral selection points in Iris. Even modulating the points of custom LFO curves or multi-step envelopes is not possible in most (I think all, with some simplified exceptions) synths. I have been waiting for Flexion for years which was said to make LFO-point modulation possible but it seems abandoned...

I'm thinking the playback head and sample select / loop points could be modulated instead of sweeping through left to right or back and forth or in reverse. Form does this.

As for spectral parameters it wouldn't necessarily have to change the selected area, more like do the kinds of partial-manipulation you get in Zebra 2 and some other wavetable-ish synths.

Just dreaming of what could have been!

[metaside]

As for spectral parameters it wouldn't necessarily have to change the selected area, more like do the kinds of partial-manipulation you get in Zebra 2 and some other wavetable-ish synths.

Not sure something like that would work, since Iris doesn't resynthesize anything afaik, it just plays a sample and puts it through it's cool spectral filter. Of course it would be cool if you could tilt the spectral filter selection or something like that, kinda like you can do with the harmonic filter in Thorn. But even having a spectral filter like that is much better than nothing, since there still is NO real alternative to Iris afaik, apart from some stuff such as RX and Photosounder that is not available or intended as a plugin.

[Biome_Digital]

It's basically just a sampler really. Although it is pretty good for dropping an audio file on and playing. But it's really all about the spectral editing of the waveforms/samples. That's where things get freaky.

[Ben H]

Does anyone know if the add-on libraries are supposed to come with patches or are they just samples? I installed the toys and objects add ons and there are only samples.

Not sure about the presets, I usually just drop a sample in there and start with the spectral selection.

There were presets for the original Iris (1). A lot of them too.
Izotope never bothered to convert/update them though, when they made Iris 2.

[v1o]

So Iris 2 has got bugs that are many years old and most of its sample libraries don’t have accompanying presets.

When they released the Mac OS Catalina compatibility update they should have addressed these issues. Honestly I’d rather Iris, Trash and Breaktweaker went onto an annual update schedule like the rest of the Izotope product line up. That way they wouldn’t end as abandonware.

[oneway]

Thanks for posting these bugs out and documenting them, Sampleconstruct. It's a shame they have gone so many years without putting resources into this plugin. Strange that folks like zzz00m see this valuable contribution and say "STFU."

The bug where using Send effects will bypass the release curve has to be the most annoying one. If you didn't point that out to me it would be languishing in Izotope's support queue like the other bug I noticed:

* Scanning through the bottom 1/3 of some waveforms (Arp 2600 Triangle and others) with the Frequency Select tool while playing as a plugin will cause heavy clipping in some DAWs (Studio One included). VST3, VST2, and AU all affected. usually Happens when you "invert" the box you're drawing

VIDEO from 2014 of this bug:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=env6mX6JFOk

[zzz00m]

Strange that folks like zzz00m see this valuable contribution and say "STFU."

Strange that folks keep digging up old threads.

I like Iris 2, but it's pretty clear that iZotope has thrown in the towel on this one...

[Dirtgrain]

I wonder why another such VST hasn't come about. Editing software has better spectrogram manipulating tools. There is great sound design potential.

I hope some day that there will be a synth that is SpectraLayers + Padshop 2 (apply granular manipulations to selections of spectrogram) + BT Phobos (cool convolver configurations) + Kaleidoscope/Moodal (a ton of resonators to use in clever ways) + Morph 2 (morphing algorithms that can be applied to selections of multiple spectrograms) + Aparillo (orbit type thing) + a nice set of effects and modulators with a grid like Zebra 2 or MSF. Oh, ya, and low CPU hit.

[Kalamata Kid]

^^^
I wonder that same thing

My Sample Manipulation Arsenal.
Infinity 4.7 by Hit n Mix
Melodyne 5
Spectralayers 7
Transformizer PRO
Iris 2
Form
MSF will see.

Some of the above I already own.

[noiseresearch]

/* whitenoise */

[Keith99]

Yeh I saw that, incredibly cheap when it is still $149 on Izotope's site

[noiseresearch]

/* whitenoise */

[chk071]

At the moment Iris 2 is available for less than 10€ at plugin boutique. I'm not sure if I'll buy it and have use for it but it's a great offer.

I got it for the same price some months ago. Have yet to start it. The blessings of the first world, and a full plugin folder.

[zzz00m]

I would like to know what kind of protection scheme izotope is running. Can I authorize my IRIS2 copy off-line?

Edit: Read the Iris 2 manual and now I know I can authorize off-line. However, what is your experience with the authorization process from izotope?

I used the iZotope Product Portal to authorize my iZotope products to my computer.

Install/authorize/update easily. It is run on demand only, and nothing runs in the background. You have the additional option to authorize to iLok instead, but I do not have one of those.

The only comment I will add about Iris 2 is that it can be CPU hungry. The manual covers ways to mitigate CPU usage.

There are reports from a few sound designers of a few bugs that iZotope never fixed, but I haven't seen any, and I doubt that the average user will encounter them. It is a great sound creation tool, and fairly unique in its approach using spectral filtering.