Neutron 3 Izotope Review

Review of iZotope Neutron Advanced 3.0 iZotope Neutron Advanced 3.0 is a professional application that is used for the mixing of music. It also provides control on various other audio aspects. This amazing application has the number of  new and improved features. Jan 14, 2019  Nectar 3 (VST/AU/AAX/RTAS) redraws the GUI to achieve homogeneity with recently updated iZotope stablemates Neutron 2, Ozone 8 and RX 7, and make the various displays (spectrum displays, gain reduction trace, etc) more visually immediate. Studio pro Larry Holcombe presents a series of in-depth iZotope Neutron 3 video tutorials! Learn all about this incredible mixing solution's features and functions, as well as how to use them to fix and mix your tracks and productions. This series is designed for new Neutron 3 users.

1. Neutron 3 Izotope Review 2016
2. Neutron Ozone
3. Neutron 3 Izotope Review Free
4. Neutron 3 Izotope Review Full

Jun 09, 2019  iZotope Neutron Advanced 3.0 Review. A powerful application with an innovative set of tools for audio mixing and music creation, iZotope Neutron Advanced 3.0 comes with a professional environment that allows the users to work effortlessly with different types of music. Jul 22, 2019  Under the hood, Neutron 3 is much more efficient, with improvements in metering, plug-in start-up time, memory usage and processing power, meaning you can.

Aug 15, 2019  Audio post pro Tim Wembly reviews iZotope Neutron 3 Advanced at PostPerspective. He gives an example of how Neutron 3 Advanced with Mix Assistant can be useful when mixing a commercial. For example, if someone delivers a commercial with stems for music, a VO track and several sound effect tracks, you can still use the. Jul 13, 2019 Neutron 3 from iZotope adds some headline new features including the automatic Mix Assistant and Sculptor, a secret sauce for mixing. Matt Vanacoro put it to the test. The entire suite of mixing tools from iZotope just keeps getting more and more compelling with every release.

iZotope is well known as a purveyor of some of the best software tools around for mixing, mastering, post-production, and other creative tasks in the studio, so when they introduce a new processor, expectations tend to run high. Well, their latest offering—Neutron—definitely lives up to those high expectations.

On the surface, Neutron appears to be an ordinary—if especially full-featured and good-sounding—Channel Strip plug-in (intended specifically for per-track use rather than master bus applications). It’s available as a regular and an Advanced version—Neutron Advanced includes additional separate plug-ins for each of the included processors, along with surround capability. With either version you have a flexible arrangement of processing modules, an output Limiter, and even an option to run in Zero-Latency mode. But hidden away beneath the surface are several surprises—Neutron provides a number of intelligent analysis, display, and auto-mix features that lift it well above the crowd. Those features offer both novice and experienced mixers some extremely useful tools for mixing.

There’s the terrifically convenient Masking Meter, which makes quick work of tracking down and alleviating problematic masking in a mix, and the built-in Neutrino processing (just as in their new free Neutrino plug-in), which applies Spectral Shaping for finishing, for a very subtle “lift” on each track. And Neutron’s signature feature is the full-blown automatic analysis and mix setup provided by the Track Assistant, which automatically creates per-track mix settings—utilizing the plug-in’s excellent processing modules—based on intelligent analysis of the instrument type and specific audio in each track.

So what are the specifics Neutron provides for intrepid mixers in its arsenal of tools?

The Processors

Neutron is laid out as a Channel Strip, with five main processing modules, and a separate output section.

Fig 2 The basic layout of Neutron, with the five main processor slots (upper left), the main work area (lower left), and the output section (right).

The five main processor slots each contain a different processor, with two Compressor modules. You can only have one of each processor (though the compressor is doubled up by design), but you can re-arrange the order of the processors, to taste, and enable or bypass each. There’s also a Mix slider for each module, that lets you dial up parallel processing on a per-module basis.

The EQ is a 12-band parametric design, with high- and low-cut Filters, high- and low-frequency Shelves (with several response curves, including one from the Pultec model from Ozone’s Vintage EQ), and 8 bands of peaking (bell curve) fully-parametric EQ. Except for the Filters, each band can be individually switched to Dynamic EQ mode, where boosts and cuts will only occur when the signal in that frequency range crosses a user-set Threshold (this can also be controlled via external sidechain—very useful when using the Masking Meter function).

All of the other modules can be set up as either single-band or multi-band processors, with up to three user-configurable bands. Each offers user-adjustable Crossovers (though another helpful “Learn” feature will optionally determine suggested settings for you), and the Compressor and Transient Shaper let you apply parallel processing on a per-band basis, as well.

The Compressor has a choice of modes—a more full-featured clean mode, and the more characterful Vintage mode (as per Ozone’s Vintage compressor), which adds some analog warmth and response. Depending on the mode selected, you’ll see either a histogram showing real-time gain reduction, or more traditional VU-style gain reduction metering. RMS or Peak detection options, and an optional Auto-Release help you dial up the most musical response.

The Transient Shaper offers multi-band Attack and Sustain (Release) controls, along with three response curves, which have a noticeable effect on transient response. And the Exciter is more than just a traditional multiband high-frequency enhancer—it’s really a flexible saturation processor, which provides the overdriven sound of Tubes, Tape Saturation, Retro saturation (transistor drive), and an option labeled “Warm”, which is a softer type of tube drive that creates even harmonics, for a gentler saturation effect. And thanks to the XY grid in each band, you can combine these different forms of saturation/excitement, just like you’d have in a real analog studio, where signal would be passing through multiple hardware devices, all contributing their own specific analog character.

The Output Section

On the right is the output section.

Fig 3 The output section in Neutron, with (top-to-bottom), the metering, output Limiter, and Neutrino options

Neutron 3 Izotope Review 2016

Here you’ll find the meters, which should be familiar to users of iZotope’s other products. They’re combined average and peak displays, with some options. The average response can be set to either RMS or Short-Term—Short-Term is a standard developed for broadcast applications, that tries to make the metering better reflect actual loudness perception. While it may be required for some pre-broadcast post-production work, it could be a helpful choice for music mixing as well. Also for broadcast/post-production, you can choose True Peak metering which detects potential inter-sample peaks (also adhering to mandated broadcast standards).

The output Limiter offers a choice of three of iZotope’s well-regarded limiter types. You have the low-latency IRC LL, the transparent IRC II (from Ozone’s Maximizer, though here, again, it’s really for per track use), and a soft-limiter labelled “Hard”, the only one which can operate in Zero-Latency mode.

The Intelligent Mixing Tools

Neutrino has three main intelligent mix/analysis/display features. Neutrino is the simplest—it’s a 32-band Spectral Shaping processor, intended as a “finishing” processor, to add some very subtle extra clarity to individual tracks, and accumulatively to the mix as a whole.

Fig 4 The Neutrino feature in Neutron (bottom right); the separate free Neutrino plug-in (top right)

The version built-into Neutron is pretty much the same as the free Neutrino plug-in iZotope has made available on its own, except that here, when enabled by the automatic Track Assistant function, it analyzes the track and automatically detects the type of instrument—there are choices for Drums, Bass, Guitar, Voice, and “Clean” (kind of a Bypass mode).

Neutrino’s Spectral Shaping—originally developed to increase transparency for iZotope’s IRC IV mastering limiter/maximizer—applies very light dynamic processing to the audio, divided into 32 separate bands. It’s kind of like an automatic 32-band dynamic EQ, but specifically designed for extremely subtle enhancement—like lifting a veil from a track, helping it to float just a little better above the overall mix.

The Masking Meter

The Masking Meter is a display feature that adds a terrific layer of convenience to the plug-in. It’s intended to make quick work of dealing with problem masking between two tracks in a mix—remember, masking is when certain frequencies in a track are covered up by those same frequencies in another track—the result can be a part that doesn’t cut through the mix as well as it could, or even has its tonality altered by being masked at particular frequency ranges.

Enabling Masking Meter on an affected track displays two tracks at once—the one you’re on, and the one you suspect is causing the problem masking.

The real-time display shows the frequencies at which the masking is occurring—you can then dial up corrective EQ on either track, right from within the same plug-in window, including sidechain-controlled Dynamic EQ, for a particularly elegant and efficient solution to masking issues.

The Track Assistant

Finally, the main event of Neutron’s intelligent mix processing is the Track Assistant. Clicking this simple button will tell Neutron to analyze the track, use the Neutrino algorithm to determine the voice/instrument, and then set a full mix for that track, using its specific appropriate algorithms for that instrument type.

The many things Track Assistant does include the following:

• Enable suitable processing modules (except Transient Shaper) in the most appropriate order
• Select single or multi-band operation, Compressor Thresholds, and static or dynamic EQ, including choosing the EQ nodes and crossover points ( for multiband modules)
• Add what it decides is the appropriate type and amount of saturation in the Exciter
• Create settings for all the enabled modules, again, as per its intelligent algorithms

The specific settings will be based on the current mode selected for Track Assistant—Subtle, Medium, or Aggressive each will result in a different character and degree of processing, and three additional presets (available for all of the modes) each push the resulting auto-mix in a different direction (Broadband Clarity, Warm and Open, Upfront Midrange).

Audio Example: Here are results of applying Track Assistant to individual tracks in a mix, with different modes and presets used (4 bars original audio, then changing every 4 bars):

In Use

Despite some initial skepticism/grumbling about AI-style mixing, I was quite pleased by how well Neutron acquitted itself when making these mix settings. Of course, while you still have to dial up the overall balance among tracks yourself, many right-brain musicians and producers I know would be more than happy to just use Neutron’s mix choices pretty much as is—they provide a suitably finished sound, and with the different settings you’ll get from the different modes and presets, along with the additional variations you could get if you mix & match the Neutrino instrument modes (which govern the processing choices Track Assistant makes in all the other modules as well), there’s a fair bit the user can do to affect the results, without really doing any manual mix processing. I also think it could be a great learning tool for novices—a little reverse-engineering of Track Assistant’s auto-settings could provide some excellent ideas for mixing approaches and techniques, as fledgling mixers get more experience under their belts.

Neutron Ozone

Naturally, more experienced mixers will take these settings as merely useful starting points, making significant changes and applying additional effects to taste, but even just as jumping-off points, Track Assistant can save a lot of time (and ear fatigue) that would otherwise be spent dialing up the most basic mix starting-point settings by hand, letting the mixer jump right in at a potentially more creative stage of the mix. That alone should making it a welcome addition even to the most skeptical old pro’s toolbox.

Neutron 3 Izotope Review Free

Wrap-Up

Anyone who spends any time mixing should check out Neutron—not only do you get a host of iZotope’s best processors (some with the company’s latest algorithms), but the intelligent mix features are definitely worth exploring—whatever level your mixing skills.

Neutron 3 Izotope Review Full

Price: Neutron: USD $249 (Sale $199); Neutron Advanced: USD $349 (Sale $299)

Serato rane scratch live. Pros: A full-featured Channel Strip with excellent mix processors combined with intelligent analysis/display/auto-mix features

Cons: It may take new users—especially those not already familiar with iZotope’s products—a little time to fully get a handle on everything

Web (iZotope):https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutron.html

Web (Time&Space incl. Free video course): http://www.timespace.com/product/NEUTRONA-120/3/10000146/izotope_neutron_advanced_mixing_console_%28download%29.html

• Sound Quality
• Ease of use
• Features
• Bang for buck
• Overall:

Product: Neutron (Advanced)
Developer: iZotope
Formats: AAX, Audio Unit, RTAS, VST2/VST3 for OS X 10.9+ and Win 7+.
Price: $199/299 MSRP (Standard/Advanced)
DRM: Challenge/Response or iLok (dongle not required).
Demo: Fully functional for 10 days.
The Scope:
iZotope presentes Neutron, a new channel strip plug-in that not only offers the traditional set of tool one expects from a channel strip such but also brings some intriguing new concepts for those mixing in the box. Neutron is a one-stop solution for most single-track needs and includes one equalizer, two multi-band compressor, a transient shaper and a exciter (or distortion/saturation) module that can be sequenced in any order, which initially is nothing exactly groundbreaking, but things gets really interesting when you look at the innovations brought by iZotope for this plug-in: Track Assistant and Neutrino mode. I’ll proceed to a quick breakdown of each of the modules included in Neutron then proceed to the evaluation and scores.

Equalizer: I'll start with the EQ which is probably my favourite module! This is one brilliant equalizer that sounds great and it’s one great workhorse kind of tool for basically any situation. Equipped with eight parametric, high/low shelves and a set of HP/LP filters, this EQ can either operate statically or dynamically (only the filters are always static), which gives it a ton of versatility. All bands are highly adjustable, the parametric ones have variable bandwidth and progressive-Q or band-shelf options, shelves have three modes (Baxandall, resonant or vintage/Pultec-esque with a 'push-pull') and filters can either have variable resonance or 6/12/24/48 slopes. As with all Neutron modules the EQ also benefits from a “mix” parameter. This EQ also houses two features that are central to Neutron’s purpose: Masking EQ and “Learn”. Masking works by comparing two Neutron instances and from that it shows “collision” areas in the frequency spectrum where the audio content gets too crowded. Masking allows for two channels to be equalized on the same Neutron window, which can enable some interesting workflow options and save time. The “Learn” function suggests a few frequency points for you to adjust depending on the content, which can be handy to automatically spot resonances. It’s necessary to say that Masking and Learn aren’t doing any sort of “auto EQ” or doing adjustments on their own, keep in mind that they’re only analytical tools that will hopefully inform your decisions and they won’t pull or push any EQ gain or bandwidth settings. One great thing about the dynamic section of this EQ is that (just like the compressor) it comes with many sidechain capabilities, enabling many different triggering options.
Neutron's EQ is arguably one of the very best in the business today.

Compressor: Neutron comes with two multi-band compressors with up to three bands with variable crossover points, variable ratio/attack/release/knee controls and two (modern/vintage) operating modes . It’s also equipped with internal and external sidechain, a set of low and high pass filters on the detector path, external sidechain and extensive internal sidechain options, where one band can trigger the compression on other bands. Probably the only processor that I didn’t instantly love, this compressor feels a bit out of place here for some reasons. First is that I don’t quite feel the need for a multi-band compressor on a channel strip for individual tracks, let alone two - I’d rather have two EQs if we’re to have two units of a processor or to be really honest I’d rather have a nicely featured gate/expander, which would be really useful in a single-channel context. Second reason is that I do use a lot of single/wide-band compression on most channels and on that application it feels a bit cramped since the bands are all at the screen at the same time, so they’re kind of small and the controls are squeezed to fit the interface. In that regard I feel like Ozone has a better way of handling this and if we’re really going to have multi-band compression that is the way to go, with large controls at the cost of visualising all band controls at the same time. Third and final reason is that although this is an effective compressor it’s also kind of a boring one, albeit very good at that with auto-gain and three detection methods. The vintage mode is slightly less boring but not exactly the an exciting compressor in this day and age. Nevertheless, the cramped controls are biggest gripe here and I’d probably be very much okay with this processor if the interface was better.
Exciter: An interesting saturator with very slick controls, also with up to three variable frequency bands. Instead of going for a conventional approach this module goes a bit further, offering four saturation options (tape, warm, tube and retro) that can be blended one to the other through a X/Y control, so you can literally a little bit of all of those modes, on each of the three bands independently, which is really cool. It also offers three tone modes that adds a light touch to a specific area - “full” mode adds some low-mids, “defined” adds a bit of high-mids and “clear” takes a bit out of the low-mids. Push with caution as it can easily go into the harsh distortion territory, but since it’s equipped with per-band and global dry/wet controls it’s quite easy to get it under control. This is a “fun” module, not exactly something every track needs but it can certainly have a fair share of use, especially on music for subtle analog-esque saturation and there might be some use for it as a distortion unit for more radical effects.
Transient Shaper: A straightforward to use transient manipulation tool with up to three bands with variable crossover points, attack/sustain controls and three operating modes (sharp/medium/smooth). This is a surprisingly good processor and I’ll admit that I wasn’t very much excited about it when I first opened Neutron. As I started mixing with it there was several “ah-ha!” moments where I felt that it was very good to have this module, and even better to have it as multi-band tool - contrary to the compressor, I felt like it was highly beneficial to have multi-band transient shaping on the single channel level and I got some good use out of it. The operating modes were helpful, with “smooth” being particularly good sounding to my ears, and having the capability of narrowing down the process to specific areas on the spectrum was also a big plus. Overall this is a solid processor that would do on its own as a standalone product.
Limiter & Master Section: A very straightforward limiter is placed at the end of the signal chain, with three different modes that provides good balance from very clean to somewhat colored limiting. Neutron also comes with big Input and Output sliders and peak/RMS metering with very good resolution, but I wish that it also came equipped with Ozone’s loudness-compensated bypass, which would really cool to have here. The master section also houses a zero-latency option for Neutron, which will disable Neutrino processing and save some CPU as well.
Neutrino: Initially presented as free plug-in, the Neutrino Mode is the “mojo” section of Neutron, offering something close to what is associated with the analog character but with a novel approach that takes in consideration what kind of content you’re processing in order to do its thing. There are four Neutrino “modes” (Voice/Dialogue, Guitar/Instrument, Bass, and Drums/Percussive), each of them internally optimised towards a particular set of instruments or application. There’s also an entirely clean mode, which does not apply any processing.
Track Assistant: Perhaps the most innovative feature yet potentially and understandably controversial. This is quite literally “auto-mix”, as it will scan a portion of the incoming audio and make decisions for you, such as setting up the order of the modules, some settings within them and also setting up the Neutrino mode. I initially found it very unappealing, I have low interest in such concepts - but what I do have is curiosity, so I opened a very raw mix in its early stages, went through a bunch of tracks and checked what Track Assistant would do to them. To my surprise it got some settings “almost right”, like for example removing some excessive low end or dealing with unruly dynamics with reasonable compressor settings and even spicing up dull tracks with some transient-shaping and saturation. There’s kind of pattern, where it will make a couple of EQ cuts, one or two EQ boosts, multi-band compression/saturation with not-so-wild settings and eventually transient-shaping. It won’t automatically make a “mix” for you in the sense that its adjustments are not taking into consideration all the other sounds around a given track, but it does nudge you towards a tone that will obviously require further tweaking.
Advanced and Standard versions: The core Neutron plug-in is the same on both standard and advanced versions, but owners of the advanced version will be able to use on surround work (up to 7.1), while owners of the regular version have to stick to stereo. Advanced version also enables standalone plug-ins for each of the Neutron modules, which is great news given how good the modules are (especially the EQ), but I’m not sure if that’s enough to justify the extra hundred bucks required - unless you need/want surround capabilities of course. I think it would be a nice move if iZotope revised this idea and simply give everybody standalone plug-ins (on a sidenote: same goes for Ozone, which adopts this same policy). It would be a generous move and generosity is always a good thing.

Sound Quality: Overall this is an awesome sounding plugin and some of Neutron’s modules are truly stellar. The EQ is definitely one of my favourites at the moment, it was a rare case of an instant favourite with its lovely set of features and very open/precise/transparent sound. The transient shaper is also really good, the exciter can be useful and while the compressors aren’t exactly what I’d call awesome they do their jobs nicely. As a whole Neutron is one the very best channel strip plugins out there and undoubtedly a great choice for a “go-to” channel strip for many applications.
Ease of use: Track Assistant aside, Neutron is pretty easy to use and its operation is very much effortless. Ordering and tweaking the modules is very straightforward and there shouldn’t be any major complications other than dialing good settings for the work in hand. Neutron’s layout definitely deserves some praise, with a clean and uncluttered interface, good real time analysis and different scales so you can zoom in or out as you like. Each module has its own set of interface features geared towards their application, for example the EQ’s bands can be hidden for a bigger EQ plot and frequency analyzer, which is a cool touch. Where things may get complicated is in the performance department, as Neutron isn’t exactly a lightweight plug-in. It’s a bit taxing on the system’s resource once you engage the Neutrino mode, adding some considerable latency that should be compensated by the DAW, but fortunately it also comes with a zero-latency mode in case you’re not interested or can’t afford to have the Neutrino mode all over a crowded mix. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t be a problem on most modern computers and everybody will likely be able to run a good number of Neutrons.
Features: A great set of features that combine most of the classic channel strip tools and some welcome innovations to the DAW mixing world. Once again the EQ is the star of the show in terms of features, with the Transient Shaper and Exciter following closely and the Compressor lagging a bit behind. What would be really good here would be to have two “dynamics” modules, each doing compression/limiting and expansion/gate using the current multi-band framework. That would make Neutron a more well-rounded and a true workhorse channel strip. Nevertheless, this is a nicely featured plug-in and one in which the sum is greater than its parts. The modules and Neutrino section come together nicely and mixing with Neutron all across the board is definitely a rewarding experience.
Bang for buck: Great value if you haven’t settled yet on a “default” channel strip workhorse or if you’re looking for something fresh.
Recommended for: mixing engineers, both in music and post production. Producers looking for a go-to channel strip that can ease their sound shaping processes.