Software Synthesizer

Iris 2 allows four simultaneous layers, although your CPU may not thank you.

Instead of laborious studio setup with multiple mics and complex routing, DDLY lets you dial in unique performance-based delay effects quickly. DDLY is not for the timid. The echoing wail of DDLY can ring. IZotope DDLY is one such creative tool, combining two delay lines with a unique threshold control, which sends audio signals above the threshold to one delay and audio below the threshold to another. This simple addition of a threshold enables users to create unusual delays that respond musically to the incoming material.

iZotope have upgraded and expanded their graphical synthesizer Iris. We see what’s new.

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It hardly seems five minutes since I was extolling the virtues of Iris, iZotope’s innovative take on sample resynthesis, yet it’s over two years. During this time users have had the opportunity to play with and comment upon this unique, spectrally filtered graphical synthesizer.

If Iris 2 were a Hollywood sequel, its aim would be clear: to supply more of what you enjoyed in the original movie. In that sense, it’s bang on the money. Iris 2 is larger, more polished and addresses several weaknesses, but does it match the charm and impact of its older sibling?

Getting Started

After weighing up the upgrade offer, owners of Iris 1 will doubtless have spotted that version 2 costs slightly less than theirs did, but is approximately three times bigger. Iris 2 is quite a large download: 11GB if you choose to take all the available content. Fortunately, if you have monthly broadband limits, you needn’t grab it all at once. It’s neatly divided into ‘Core Content’ installation and sound libraries, with seven different categories available: Abstract, Environments, Instruments, Objects, Synthesizers, Toys and Voice. Within each you’ll see sub-categories, their names usually informative and often intriguing.

Once installation is complete (it’s a choice between iLok or a challenge/response authorisation), you might wish to move that 11GB lump of data from the system drive to an alternate location. (I speak as a Mac user fussy about such things). If so, you’ll also need to update the library pointers within Iris 2 via the ‘manage libraries’ option. That done, you’re ready to explore.

Thanks to a subtle makeover, Iris 2 has become darker and classier, but otherwise the interface is as welcoming as ever. During the manual library copy, I noticed one of the aforementioned weaknesses had already been tackled. In this version the samples are all 24-bit WAVs, ie. no longer in a proprietary format that can’t be used elsewhere. The original Iris data is included too, remastered and slotted in amongst the fresh material. I was particularly struck by the potential offered by the many long-duration samples of classic synths (many of which you wouldn’t even need to loop), as well as environmental sounds, machines, voices and a cross-section of instruments. These can all be adopted by any sampler for use as you wish, as well as providing great beds that support some of the more unusual material in Iris 2. Looking through the list, I was curious to check out the recordings of angle grinders, popcorn and a tomato being stabbed.

Although the original content is duplicated, the two versions of Iris are kept entirely separate so there’s no need to adjust any old songs. Having made the leap and upgraded, I’d expect most users to gradually phase out the earlier version, once they have imported any user patches (one at a time, I’m afraid). The import process requires at least version 2.01 or the program will totally fail to recognise the earlier proprietary sample format. And in another source of potential confusion, the update from 2.0 to 2.01 ignores any change of base library location you might have made, reverting back to the default location on the system drive. Doh!

Spectral Filtering

For the full low-down on iZotope’s graphical slant on resynthesis, please refer to the original Iris review from the July 2012 issue. In a nutshell, you’re given Photoshop-style drawing tools to create spectral filters that home in on selections within existing audio. This apparently simple process unleashes sounds you may never have known were lurking within.

Previously, a patch consisted of three samples plus a kind of sub-oscillator that you could persuade, with a spot of manual intervention, to behave like a regular sample layer. In version 2, the manual element has been eliminated, leaving four identical layers, each of which can be populated from the treasure trove of synth waveforms, cellos, circuit-bent toys or onions being peeled. It can still be CPU-greedy though, especially if you use all four layers and the high-quality ‘Radius RT’ playback mode.

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The most obvious step forwards is the major upgrade given to modulation, in the form of extensive inter-connectivity and a redesigned interface. Colour is employed to identify each modulation type and over 100 parameters can now be modulated by a generous selection of sources including five LFOs, five envelopes, MIDI CCs and Iris 2’s own macro knobs. While this is the same number of LFOs and envelopes as before, they can now be freely allocated and the sources distributed to pretty much every important parameter. You can do crazy stuff like have an LFO modulate its own shape, depth and frequency, or have velocity modify the times of envelope stages. In addition you have free reign over the ‘deeper’ effect parameters, accessed by neat pop-up menus.

Amongst several methods of assigning modulation, I have to applaud the ‘click on source then click on destination’ technique of adding connections. It’s elegant and far easier than the more commonly seen drag-and-drop, especially when traversing a large monitor with a temperamental mouse.

Further changes can be found in the effects section, which has undergone a buffing-up and layout change to accommodate modulation points. The primary enhancement is an improved and cleaned-up delay, which now has a maximum time of 4000ms (as opposed to 1500ms formerly). Modulate the left and right delay times, say, with a couple of LFOs running at slightly different speeds, then control LFO depth with the mod wheel and you’re heading into sound-design territory even before making your first graphical selection.

Within the Spectrogram area, a few graphical selections are the first stage in discovering something entirely new from any audio source.

The plate reverb is a reasonable balance between quality and CPU and, while I’d probably still take Logic’s built-in reverb in preference, this now offers such pleasures as transitioning from bathroom to warehouse over the lifetime of an envelope. iZotope have plundered their favourite effects from elsewhere too, lifting distortion and modelled filters from Trash 2, but while all these benefit from the extra modulation possibilities, the effects remain fairly straightforward. The user has the choice of a send-type system or a blanket master effects configuration to process all layers equally. The modelled filters (inspired by Moog, Korg, etc) are only available as a master effect; you can’t use a different one for each layer.

The master section’s brand-new spectrum analyser is both a visual treat and an invaluable tool for making sense of the spectral selections. However, when you turn to the basics of operation, other than the modulation upgrade, there are no major boosts. The four samples are layered and mixed as before and, although they can be confined to specific key ranges, this never resembles the performance of a typical sample player, which is hardly a concern — the world has plenty of these

2021.05