iZotope Spire Studio - portable hardware mic / recorder

[Guy Rowland]

Now this looks interesting:



https://www.izotope.com/en/community/bl ... imple.html

Has a built in mic, 2 XLR/TRS combo sockets and connects to an iOS control app. For me personally, I'd like to see one more element - a plugin that you can use in any DAW to connect to it. That would be amazing. As it is, refreshing to see a completely new take on solving some existing problems.

[wst3]

I hate to sound like a grumpy old man - but I do not see this as a step forward for serious recording, and I really wish they would stop with some of their over-the-top marketing.

I get it that they are passionate about audio. They are, I've met several of the folks who built the company, lost a friend over an argument about their marketing several years ago, and my best friend's son worked there for several years (sadly that did not qualify me for a discount!).

To a certain point I admire both their technical skills (their equalizer and multi-band compressor remain two of the most musical plugins I use), and their marketing savvy. But I stop short of their over-reaching claims.

Their plugins are remarkable. But no software is ever going to change the typical engineer into a mastering engineer. Mastering is a process, and that process requires skills and experience that most of us do not have. It also requires a careful "calibration" of the mastering engineer's ears and brain to their listening environment. That listening environment has very different (in some ways more relaxed_ requirements from a tracking or mixing environment. I'd argue that tracking and mixing are much more closely related than mixing and mastering.

I guess that sets me up to be cynical about their marketing claims. Maybe too cynical? You be the judge.

But no audio device that runs off a 5V, or 3.3V, or 1V power supply can be called professional. There are certain laws of physics that one runs up against when operating an audio circuit on such a limited power supply.

There are trade-offs, always, and higher voltage power supplies are not a panacea. But they offer advantages that these very low voltage power supplies simply can't offer. At least not yet.

I have no doubt that eventually there will be low voltage microphone preamplifiers that rival the best of the classic designs. But it is going to require a great deal of "clever", and possibly some serendipitous good fortune. I do have doubts about line level audio on 5V or lower power supplies, but certainly there is very little that qualifies as impossible.

So call it a fantastic portable recording device for capturing ideas, which it appears to be. Maybe find a way to spin "good enough" to be a feature - if anyone can tell someone their baby is ugly it's the marketing department at Izotope.

Just don't call it professional, please, unless you can publish specifications to back up that claim.

And now I'll get off my own lawn!

[Marius]

I have no idea how useful it'll be for music, but looking at this I immediately think it ought to make a terrific podcasting setup. I'll be eager to try it if I can!

[Guy Rowland]

I disagree on almost everything there, Bill. I don't know if you're an RX user, but that is simply in a class of its own, and on each release they innovate - something completely new to restoration. Daily I can work miracles I never dreamed of a few years ago. If I only had one plugin for PT, it would RX, absolutely no question. In fact, I could survive quite happily with just PT HD with its stock plugs and RX. Oh ok, and one good brickwall limiter.

If all that sounds like marketing hype, apologies, but that's my experience. And because of that experience, I cut them a fair bit of slack - I think their RnD is astonishing. I don't love everything they do, mind. Their instruments can suck - Breaktweaker was a shambles from all sorts of perspectives. I have Ozone but rarely use it, Neutron I very much like in the limited way I use it, I think I'll be using it more as time goes on.

Obviously I've not tried Spire yet, but given what I've seen them do, I see no reason why it couldn't be capable of professional results, with the caveat that is is used in the way it is designed - a sketchpad, but able to be used further down the chain if desired. (No idea about what power it uses, btw, but its self contained, right?) That's absolutely what I got from their blub, I'd never expect to use it as a main mic or anything.

But produce something professional and usable? Sure, in theory.

[byzantium]

I haven't looked in detail (and yes lots if marketing blah from izotope (they seem to be on a serious drive these days with offers (I succumbed recently to the cheap elements bundle))), but superficially there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between this and the excellent Zoom portable recorders ? (like the H6 (which I have)), except for the genius idea to wireless-in a phone app / display to it, so it becomes much easier to operate and use (?).

[Guy Rowland]

Paul - as you say, the wireless transfer is new and not to be underestimated for an instant grab-and-use product (in theory anyway). I have a simple Zoom thing, and a) it's pretty fiddly in use, and b) the wind noise is horrific even with a fluffy. I'm not sure Spire is set up for outside recording, so maybe it's not set up for outdoor use either. But if you can just press record and it delivers something potentially usable, then that's a thing of beauty. As Marius said, could be fantastic for Podcasts.

The devil is always in the details with these things - a product is only as good as its weakest link for any given task. As well as a DAW plugin, a Mac app would be very handy too.

[Marius]

I think the key selling point is that the hardware signal processing and app side of things work together to give you better results than you'd expect from an otherwise basic mic setup like this. Solid signal + iZotope processing magic at the press of a button is an appealing proposition, as long as they price it reasonably and deliver on the promise.

[wst3]

I disagree on almost everything there, Bill. I don't know if you're an RX user, but that is simply in a class of its own, and on each release they innovate - something completely new to restoration. Daily I can work miracles I never dreamed of a few years ago. If I only had one plugin for PT, it would RX, absolutely no question. In fact, I could survive quite happily with just PT HD with its stock plugs and RX. Oh ok, and one good brickwall limiter.

Please re-read my post, I have nothing but praise for their engineering. I use RX, and the only tool I've used that can beat it is CEDAR, and I can't afford CEDAR. OK, I also use Zynaptiq Unveil and Unfilter, they are in the same league as RX, complimentary products really.

My gripe is not the engineering or products, it is the marketing, pure and simple.

Obviously I've not tried Spire yet, but given what I've seen them do, I see no reason why it couldn't be capable of professional results, with the caveat that is is used in the way it is designed - a sketchpad, but able to be used further down the chain if desired. (No idea about what power it uses, btw, but its self contained, right?) That's absolutely what I got from their blub, I'd never expect to use it as a main mic or anything.

But produce something professional and usable? Sure, in theory.

Perhaps I've become overly sensitive to marketing hype, what I got from the video and web site is that this will replace great microphones and preamplifiers. I don't believe it will. I'll certainly give it a try, but I will remain skeptical. There remain some things we can't do, and one of them is run line level signals on +5VDC. So usable, maybe, professional, I doubt it.

[wst3]

I haven't looked in detail (and yes lots if marketing blah from izotope (they seem to be on a serious drive these days with offers (I succumbed recently to the cheap elements bundle))), but superficially there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between this and the excellent Zoom portable recorders ? (like the H6 (which I have)), except for the genius idea to wireless-in a phone app / display to it, so it becomes much easier to operate and use (?).

It's a clever idea. I agree.

It could be useful in many ways. I agree.

But it is not a replacement for a properly designed microphone and preamplifier.

By way of example, I recorded the sitz probe for a show I'm working on this past weekend. I used my Tascam DR40, which is very similar to the Zoom H6. The Tascam lets me use the built in microphones along with external microphones, very handy sometimes!

So I used a Royer SF-12 as my external microphone. The difference in audio quality between the Royer and the built in microphones is remarkable. So I went back and used a Millennia Media HV37 preamplifier in line, and the improvement was even more remarkable.

There is a difference!

[Guy Rowland]

Bill - have to say that RX greatly exceeded the hardware Cedar's abilities for NR way back in RX3 days. The only advantage for hardware there is real time. Zynaptiq are indeed an excellent company, though they've never improved on their original Unveil, which I find a little disappointing, and some of their more recent products seem a bit ill-focused, such as Wormhole. For useful innovation, I do genuinely put iZotope at the very top of the tree.

Anyway, my main point of disagreement with your post really is that you implied that everything they say is OTT marketing hype. I don't think it is. They can't praise RX highly enough - it's warranted. I don't find anything remotely objectionable in the Spire Studio description either - in fact it seemed very down to earth, and I liked the description of the event that led to the idea for the product. Your post seemed - forgive - a bit chip-on-shoulder, based on Ozone, and that whole other debate as to mastering tools vs the job of a mastering engineer.

You did say:

maybe too cynical? You be the judge

;-)

But no matter, what counts is the product of course, and neither of us have a clue yet whether Spire Studio will be an RX or a Breaktweaker. I do see a very different approach to the Zooms etc, a bit of thinking outside the box, and I like what I see thus far.