lawajava
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Comment - Liking iZotope Studio Bundle (incl Nectar 2)
After saving up I finally got the iZotope Studio Bundle which includes the recently released Nectar 2. And coincidently Groove 3 presently has a sale, and tutorials for this stuff is extra affordable right now. I'm amazed at how good things sound with just simple experimentation. Alloy 2, which is included, is fantastic. Everything I've tried with it sounds better. I'm just starting on the Groove 3 Alloy 2 tutorial and the guy that made it has done a great job. This bundle is great!
post edited by lawajava - 2013/11/28 17:41:05
Two internal 2TB SSDs laptop stuffed with Larry's deals and awesome tools. Studio One is the cat's meow as a DAW now that I've migrated off of Sonar. Using BandLab Cakewalk just to grab old files when migrating songs.
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MachineClaw
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/24 14:18:14
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The bundle is going to be my Xmas present to myself. as well as the Groove3 yearly subscription.
I just have to wait a bit longer for funding it all.
glad to hear someone likes.
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lawajava
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/24 15:33:10
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I think I'm going to view the tools in this bundle as the secret sauce to a mix. I have plenty of great tools, including the ones included with Sonar X3 Producer. This bundle enables extra magic.
Two internal 2TB SSDs laptop stuffed with Larry's deals and awesome tools. Studio One is the cat's meow as a DAW now that I've migrated off of Sonar. Using BandLab Cakewalk just to grab old files when migrating songs.
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lawajava
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/28 17:52:31
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mettelus was just asking about Nectar 2.
My comment on Nectar 2 is although I'm new to it I'm super excited about it and simple experiments are proving really satisfying.
There's a detailed tutorial on Nectar 2 available for sale through iZotope and the guy who did it really goes through the settings quite in detail - and there are more settings than I expected that allow some really nice refinement for the results such as on the harmonies. The tutorial is really worth it. One thing I was glad to discover is that the harmonies can be soloed by themselves, so you can have the main vocal on its own track and the harmonies for it on another track (if the track was copied for example).
The package itself, especially the bundle, is one of the most important things I've added on top of Sonar X3.
I'm still tingling with appreciation for what Alloy 2 does.
Two internal 2TB SSDs laptop stuffed with Larry's deals and awesome tools. Studio One is the cat's meow as a DAW now that I've migrated off of Sonar. Using BandLab Cakewalk just to grab old files when migrating songs.
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mettelus
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/28 18:34:04
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Thanks for the re-direct, I have only had Nectar Elements for 2 days and it is packing a significant "wow" factor with it. This is the first Izotope plug-in I have ever owned, and I will check out their site for sure now.
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
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TStranger
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/28 22:19:00
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This is not an advertisement, but between iZotope Nectar 2.0 and Melodyne Essentials which came bundled with X3c, I really like that overall vocals processing suite package better than AutoTune 7 and Evo which I had purchased earlier, unfortunately. I just de-installed AutoTune, as they wanted $250 bucks from me to continue in the 7.5 upgrade pathway.... nuh uhhhh.....the product is simply not good enough to continue to shell out money for it, simply because they changed the version number. The chorus, pitch and throat mods in AutoTune sound too mechanical and digital, and really the honey sweet tone of the vocals in iZotope's Nectar 2.0 presets just cannot be matched by anything in the AutoTune package. This is much like the Waves Diamond/Nuclear/Ultra Bundle baloney - average performance, superior price. Not worth it. The Nectar 2.0/Melodyne set of software is cost effective, more intuitive, flexible and with a higher quality of vocal sound/effects and overall ease of integration. :)
post edited by TStranger - 2013/11/28 22:22:00
TS _________________________ Dell 4th Gen i7 12Gigram Win 8.1 (x64) - MOTU 828 MkIII Firewire 800 - Akai MPK49 Sonar X3c Producer (64) - SoundForge Pro 10c Guitar Rig Pro 5.2 - Dimension Pro 1.5 - iZotope Alloy Nectar Ozone 1970 Gibson L5 - Taylor Custom GS - PRS Hollowbody II - Surh Strat and Tele - PRS 305 - 1968 Fender Tele
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mettelus
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/29 00:18:29
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From the videos I have seen so far, the pitch editor from Nectar 2 (Production Suite) looks easier to use than the one in Melodyne, but the display "appears" pretty much identical. I will have to grab the trial version next week after the holiday is over and check it out. I have not used rewire before, so need to understand the functionality and work flow with that feature.
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
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lawajava
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/11/29 00:34:41
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mettelus - I see both Melodyne and Nectar 2 as having some overlap (obviously) but each have separate strengths and I think both are definitely worth having if a budget can swing it. Fortunately Sonar X3 comes with Melodyne Essential already, and Melodyne had an incredible upgrade price to Editor.
Two internal 2TB SSDs laptop stuffed with Larry's deals and awesome tools. Studio One is the cat's meow as a DAW now that I've migrated off of Sonar. Using BandLab Cakewalk just to grab old files when migrating songs.
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mettelus
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/17 20:56:58
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I just grabbed this bundle after spending the trial period stress-testing all that I could with it. I had actually taken a project where I was rebuilding a song from scratch and pulled all effects off them and saved with a new name. To test it on a piece I knew well, I threw Nectar 2 on the vocals, Alloy 2 on the other tracks, and Ozone 5 on the master. No other effects, and was very impressive with what is "just there."
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
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lawajava
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/17 21:58:44
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Yep - I'm more than satisfied, I'm really glad I have these tools and what they do to help make things sound great. The presets are really in depth for each as well.
Two internal 2TB SSDs laptop stuffed with Larry's deals and awesome tools. Studio One is the cat's meow as a DAW now that I've migrated off of Sonar. Using BandLab Cakewalk just to grab old files when migrating songs.
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mettelus
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/17 22:22:42
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I agree, and I find the layout very intuitive in them. I have not looked at any manuals yet because I haven't had to so far  Very easily customized to taste.
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
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Bonjo
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/18 07:31:37
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I bought the 3 as individual units over time. Am watching vids and experimenting, it all appears quite impressive. In fact now I'm watching Trash 2 for any 'sale' promo. 
Win10 64-bit. Intel i7QuadCore 4.20GHz. 32Gb Ram. Sonar Platinum.
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mettelus
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/19 07:22:23
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I had seen iZotope mentioned many times in the forums, but never really sought out 3rd party plugs. Nectar happened to come with an Addictive Keys promo, so I got to try it, and think it may have been sales promo for Nectar 2.
As I just got my first-ever condenser mic, I found Nectar was the simplest "one plug" solution to tailor that beast to what I wanted to hear... so Nectar 2 was worth evaluating, and I liked the added functionality of Nectar 2... but even as an "upgrade" now I was looking at $129 or $199 based on version.
This promo confused me in some ways since 1) it is the same price for anyone, and 2) Nectar 2 Production Suite was only $50 over Ozone 5/Alloy 2 alone (and normally $299). Gave me a little head scratching, so I gave them a nice "10-day trial" workout. I was initially only looking for Nectar 2 (regular) which would have been the $129 (upgrade), but felt the other two had enough functionality to sell themselves.
Time will tell with this all, but I have been impressed thus far. I can achieve a lot with a "single plug" for the first time, and not been a fan of "piling plugs" onto anything out of habit, I guess.
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
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jimusic
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Re: Comment - Really liking iZotope Studio Bundle
2013/12/21 15:25:21
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If I could reach around and give myself a good swift kick in the 'testicular gonad region' - I would!  I bought Ozone 4 - 2 years ago, then paid $79 for the upgrade to 5. Since then, I've got RX 3 and Nectar - both basic versions. In hind sight, it would have been better to go for one of the bundles - especially when on special. I probably could have got all these & Alloy included for what I've paid individually for these items, which is already about $535. Drat!!! 
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