After instantiating Neutron on each instrument and tying them together with Masking Meter, it was short work to set up dynamic EQs on both instruments to carve out space in the spectrum for each other. Both needed to be prominent in the mix, but with both turned up, the mix was sounding hazy. Again, engineers with better ears than me might scoff at this functionality, but I found it to be quite useful and a real time-saver.įor example, on a recent mix with distorted bass and guitar, I was having difficulty choosing how the two instruments should sit together in the mix. The collisions are highlighted in real-time as grey-to-white frequency bands (with the intensity of white matching the degree of masking) on the upper spectral display, while a histogram just above that estimates the amount of masking over a set hold period. The premise is that spectral collisions between the two sources can result in masking of one source’s share of the spectral energy by the other’s. Masking Meter allows you to associate one instance of Neutron Equalizer with another Equalizer instance, so that you can look at their two spectral displays together - one above the other - and operate their EQs from a single window. You can use the full-bandwidth input to the plug-in as the key signal, or you can use any of the individual EQ bands or the full-bandwidth or individual EQ bands from another Neutron instance. For this kind of processing, Neutron’s Equalizer offers a powerful sidechaining function. A dynamic EQ can often sound more transparent than a static EQ, but you can also push a dynamic EQ to add “motion” to a sound by boosting or attenuating certain frequency regions to follow a beat, for example. In Dynamic Mode, the band works in a similar manner to a band-specific compressor or expander. Importantly, each of the EQ bands (except the two cut filters) can be individually configured for static or dynamic operation. In these instances, hitting Learn gave me a head-start in choosing which frequency regions to focus on. (None of the other band settings, like boost/cut or bandwidth, are adjusted by the Learn function.) I can imagine some engineers calling this a superfluous feature, since we should all be adept at identifying distributions of spectral energy by ear, but I found this function to be time-saving, especially when presented with highly distorted electric guitars or overly sibilant voices. A Learn button puts Neutron into a listen state, and after a few seconds, the plug-in centers all of the enabled EQ bands on fundamentals, resonances, buildups, and other “frequencies of interest” that have been identified. On my Windows 10 laptop, I had no problem using my fingers on the touchscreen to grab anchor points and pull splines to shape the EQ curves. Conventional sliders and numeric input boxes can be used to change each band’s settings, or you can just click on the band’s graphical touchpoints and move them around. The Equalizer module offers twelve bands - eight parametric peaking bands, low/high shelves, and low/high–cut filters - whose EQ curves are superimposed on a real-time FFT spectral display. Both of these features are very cool extensions to an already capable set of audio tools. It’s almost like a virtual mentor that’s looking over your shoulder when queried, it listens for a moment and then sets up your channel strip for you - “Hmmm, try this.” Masking Meter is a handy FFT-based tool that shows you how two tracks of your mix are “colliding” within the frequency spectrum, and it gives you immediate access to the EQs of both tracks so you can manage the collisions in the same window. Track Assistant analyzes the source audio and presents you with a recommended starting point. On top of all this functionality, iZotope has baked in two standout intelligent features. In addition, there are two processing sections at the end of the plug-in’s signal chain - Neutrino and Limiter. In Neutron Advanced, the four module types can also be instantiated as separate plug-ins. Moreover, every module has a wet/dry mix slider to implement parallel processing. It includes four modules - Equalizer, Compressor, Transient Shaper, and Exciter - that can be enabled, disabled, and reordered in signal flow to your liking, with two Compressor instances available, for a total length of five modules in the signal chain. Neutron, at its heart, is a multi-module channel strip. If I had to choose a single channel-insert plug-in for mixing, iZotope Neutron would be at the top of my list.
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