IZotope RX11 - released

[Guy Rowland]

May 15, 2024 - RX11 is released. Scroll down for the full specs.

Original Post:

RX11 is on the way. Anyone buying RX10 now gets RX11 on release for free. No word on features, except it will allegedly be a ‘big update packed with exciting new features”.

It needs to be big, iZotope have fallen way behind the competition. Will be interesting to see if this corrects the trend.

There’s some early promo deals, but to my eyes they’re not very compelling - https://www.pluginboutique.com/deals/show

[Lawrence]

Different tools but used for at least one similar purpose-how are we feeling about Waves Clarity after time has passed?
I’m still liking it.

[Mike Greene]

It needs to be big, iZotope have fallen way behind the competition. Will be interesting to see if this corrects the trend.

I'm far from a power user, still using RX9 to clean samples because I haven't bothered downloading RX10. (It's in my account, I just haven't bothered downloading.) Honestly, I can't say I can tell the difference between RX9 and RX1. I'm sure there is, of course, but I never found any version of RX to be lacking. (My first RX was such a step up from SoundSoap that I already had my keys to heaven.)

So I'm curious what the competition has been doing that RX needs to catch up with? Mind you, my needs are ultra basic (standard de-noising and maybe eliminating some clicks or a guitar hum), so maybe these features are more for the guys in the audio post trenches. But I do tend to be someone who doesn't always keep up, so just in case there are some "Wait a minute Mike ... are you saying you didn't know about X???" features, it would be good to know what I'm missing.

[wst3]

as far as I can tell the changes all seem to further simplify (can you say dumb-down) the process. Odd, since the process was pretty darned painless to start.

They are continuing to move more and more of the decision making over to their AI agent.

There was a time when iZotope was just the coolest - my intro was three plugins included with some ancient version of Sound Forge. I was so impressed I immediately upgraded to the "full" version. The next upgrade was where it fell apart for me - they took so many of the decisions away from the user. I don't want a wizard to master my mix, I don't even want to master my mix (reminds me of DIY brain surgery, on myself!)

I think some of the competition has caught up with iZotope, but no one (except CEDAR, and let's be rational here) can do a better job with noise reduction. The other one I kinda like is Accusonis - don't remember how I ended up with their suite, but it does a good job! I also have the Waves x- family of NR plugins, and they work way better than I expected. On a par with the others, as if we've hit a plateau for certain areas of signal processing.

I think you are more than safe with version 9. (probably should have led with that?)

[Guy Rowland]

So I'm curious what the competition has been doing that RX needs to catch up with?

I think the most pressing need for better noise reduction has been dialogue clean up rather than music use to be honest. A few weeks ago I ran a demo room at the UK’s Institute for Professional Sound. A parade of excellent sound recordists came in and listened as I demoed Hush Pro (Mac only) on a piece of audio recorded on a lav mic on the beach. I simply turned down the waves roaring against the pebbles until they were completely gone and the dialogue was absolutely pristine. No discernible artefacts. I then turned up the waves and removed the dialogue. It was a perfect wildtrack, with no element of stray dialogue remaining.

The professional sound recordists - who record everything from high end feature films to reality TV - tended to all say one of two things as an instant reaction. The most common was “Holy S**t”. The second most common reaction was “Holy F*****g S**t”. Some actually went pale.

There were many lively follow up conversations on the implications.

RX9 (or 10 - no difference) isn’t remotely in that league for dialogue clean up. So it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

But perhaps more excitingly would be something totally new - the ability to remove PA spill would be a godsend, for example. Another amazing tool would be the ability to feed multiple mics into one plugin and remove the spill of other people talking on each mic. Should be possible. Hush Pro also de-mixes better than RX, others have pulled away from RX which was once innnovative.

I think there’s still tons of scope for NR, unlike EQ, reverb, delay, compression etc. iZotope were once the world leaders, would love to see RX11 restore their rightful place at the top of the tree.

[Mike Greene]

Watched Hush Pro video ... jaw on floor ... okay, I think I get what you were saying.

I can't imagine iZotope was thrilled to see Hush Pro come out, because yeah, that really does raise the bar. Or at least created an additional bar. (I'm guessing it's very specific to solo voice.)

My guess is that the way Hush works is rather than fingerprinting noise and creating two components: noise and "everything-else," with the assumption that "everything else" is the part you want to keep, Hush Pro works in the opposite direction, where they've figured out what the audio spectrum of human voices typically look like, so that becomes the fingerprint.

Thanks for pointing this out, Guy. I gotta say, this does have me excited.

Bill, I'm the opposite of you. Give me the most dumbed down version of a plugin and I'm a happy boy. It's the main thing I like about Ozone, is their mastering "assistant," or whatever they call it, where you feed it an example of a mix you like, then feed it your mix that you want mastered, and Ozone handles things from there. Like the TC Electronic Finalizer, which I also had and loved, where other than input level, I don't think I ever touched any of the controls.

[Geoff Grace]

Hush Pro (Mac only)

It's worth noting that while Hush Pro may work on some Intel Macs, it really needs a Silicon Mac:

Apple Silicon Mac
Hush Pro requires an M1, M2, or M3 Mac for optimal performance. Although high-end Intel machines (such as the Mac Pro) may still work, they won’t receive hardware-specific bug fixes or support. You can run Pro Tools in Apple Silicon Native or Rosetta 2 mode, with comparable efficiency.

(Link Here)

Best,

Geoff

[Guy Rowland]

Thanks Geoff, quite right forgot to mention that. It uses the GPU of the Silicon processors.

I was chatting with the developer (just one guy, very friendly chap) and he was saying “never say never” about a Windows version though it’s unlikely due to the GPU thing and him working alone. I’m hoping he’s successful enough to be able to employ another person or two.

Mike - jaw-dropping, isn’t it?

[Guy Rowland]

Hey, I got an email offer to update my Post Production Suite to the new RX11 for $399. Didn't think I wanted it, but I logged in to see the details and the offer jumped to £951.53. I even cleared the cookies.

Curious, I went to contact support to see what was going on, but there now appears to be absolutely no way of contacting iZotope at all. It's just the endless FAQ pages.

They do seem to be doing absolutely everything they possibly can to alienate their customers. Clearly quite some effort has gone into this.

[soundbylaura]

https://support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/ca ... nd-Account

If you go there and click in Purchase, a chatbot window comes up, and if you click enough "no that didn't help," it opens a support ticket window.

FWIW.

[jester700]

I was chatting with the developer (just one guy, very friendly chap) and he was saying “never say never” about a Windows version though it’s unlikely due to the GPU thing and him working alone. I’m hoping he’s successful enough to be able to employ another person or two.

For Windows users, there's the similarly functioning Accentize DxRevive. These machine learning tools are pretty mind blowing. Kinda like the first time I used RX's spectral editing.

https://www.accentize.com/dxrevive/

[Guy Rowland]

Laura - thanks, well sleuthed.

Hello jester700 - at my IPS demo thing we did have DxRevive and it is extremely good. Quality and artefact-wise it wasn't quite as clean as Hush Pro though, and also inexplicably it doesn't do the reverse where you leave only the noise. But on the plus side DxRevive can be used as a real time plugin which Hush Pro cannot - Hush is also AAX Audiosuite only. We also had the Acon version which was better than RX but not as good as Dx Revive or Hush.

Something about the Hush Pro is transformative. You just think "oh, they've done it". Not "that's really good" or "the best yet" but it's essentially perfect. The faders literally feel like totally isolated perfectly clean sources. That's why it had such an extreme reaction from the pros - we're all used to the trade-offs and imperfections and none of us could hear any.

There is perhaps still room for improvement on the de-reverb engine mind, it was superb on some material but less so on others.

EDIT - forgot, we also had Waves Clarity Vx which relartively had quite a lot of artefacts. That blew me away two years ago comparted to RX, just shows how fast things have moved.

[Lawrence]

So (as I mentioned earlier) it would seem to be time to move on past Clarity, though for my purposes (live mic in a semi-quiet room) it was the best I’ve used.

[Luciano Storti]

Does anyone know what the system requirements are for RX11? I could not find any quick info...

[Guy Rowland]

Does anyone know what the system requirements are for RX11? I could not find any quick info...

EDIT - I just posted they weren't available yet when the next thing I saw was that RX11 has gone live - https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html?

Operating Systems:
Mac: macOS Monterey (12.7.4), macOS Ventura (13.6.6), macOS Sonoma (14.4.1)*
Windows: Windows 10 – Windows 11
*Supported on Intel Macs and Apple silicon M-series Macs (in native & Rosetta).

Plug-in Formats:
RX Elements Plugin Formats
AU, AAX, AAX Audiosuite, VST3.

Notes
All plugin formats are 64-bit only.
RX 11 plugins are not available in VST2 format.
Repair Assistant plugin formats: AAX Audiosuite, AU, VST3.
RX Standard & Advanced Plugin Formats: AU, AAX, AAX Audiosuite, VST3, AU ARA.
Spectral Editor & Music Rebalance AU ARA requirements: Logic Pro 10.7+ on Intel or Apple silicon Macs (Rosetta only).
Ambience Match & De-rustle plugin formats: AAX Audiosuite only.
DAWs/NLEs:
Logic Pro 10.7, Pro Tools 2024, Ableton Live 11-12, Cubase 13, Nuendo 13, Studio One 6, Reaper 7, FL Studio 21, Adobe Audition 2024, Adobe Premiere Pro 2024, DaVinci Resolve 19

RX Audio Editor Notes
RX 11 Elements does not include the RX Audio Editor application. It is included with RX 11 Standard and Advanced only.

Plug-in Hosting
Supported plugin formats within the RX 11 Audio Editor:

Windows: VST3, VST2.
Intel Macs & Rosetta on Apple silicon Macs: AU, VST3, VST2.
Native on Apple silicon Macs: AU, VST3.

[Guy Rowland]

Out today. Here's the new features:

Dialogue Isolate
We’ve overhauled Dialogue Isolate, adding in Dialogue De-reverb and state-of-the art machine learning that enables lightning-fast (real time) processing. Now you can de-noise dialogue or vocals and control reverb in one easy-to-use module, also available as part of RX 11 Standard for the first time. The Advanced version includes a brand new, highest-quality offline processing mode as well as multi-band processing.

Repair Assistant
Clean up tracks faster than ever with enhanced precision. Polish dialogue and sung vocals with ease thanks to new machine learning tech, and make final tweaks with deeper controls. The next generation Repair Assistant goes from trusty helper to lifesaver.

Streaming Preview
There’s no worse feeling than putting heaps of time into a track only to be disappointed with how it sounds on streaming services. That’s where the new Streaming Preview comes in. Now you can hear your tracks the way the rest of the world will hear them and release with confidence. Happy with how it sounds? You’re release-ready. Needs a little work? Jump over to Loudness Optimize or back into your mix.

Loudness Optimize
Have you ever released a song on a streaming platform and felt like it didn’t sound as loud as your favorite songs? Get the most out of your masters with Loudness Optimize, an unprecedented approach for controlling the LUFS algorithm to maximize your music’s perceived loudness after normalization. Just press Learn, and let RX 11 optimize your master. No room for improvement? Sit back, relax, and release your track.

Music Rebalance
Drums too loud? Vocals not loud enough? Bass too muddy? Easily reanimate an existing mix, prep for a remix, or create instrumentals and vocal stems with Music Rebalance, available in Standard and Advanced. Shape your sound with laser focus thanks to Music Rebalance’s improved stem separation, featuring upgraded machine learning based on the most modern neural network available.

Spectral Editor ARA
Remove background noise, clicks, and hum from dialogue or tracks without shuttling between RX and your DAW or NLE with Spectral Editor, thanks to new digital signal processing and essential tools like Gain, De-click, and De-hum. Currently available for Apple Logic Pro (in Rosetta mode). Additional host support is coming in a free update this summer for Avid Pro Tools and PreSonus Studio One

Dialogue Contour (Advanced only)
Adjust the character and expressivity of a voice with new levels of control in Dialogue Contour, ensuring that dialogue edits flow seamlessly. Smooth out fluctuations in pitch or tone in voiceover recordings, and seamlessly piece together Frankenbites to create a cohesive performance.

Mid/Side Mode
Explore a new level of control over your sound with RX 11’s new Mid/Side mode. When Mid/Side mode is engaged, you can visualize and manipulate the center and side components of your audio separately, all in RX’s main window. This opens up greater flexibility for repair tasks, making it possible to address issues only present in the mid channel or just the sides individually, so you’re not processing a part of the audio that doesn’t need work.

Audio Devices Refresh
Refresh audio devices in preferences without having to quit and restart RX, streamlining your workflow and saving you precious time.

Multiple Speaker Detection
Are you working on a single audio track with more than one speaker? Save time navigating through the file by using Multiple Speaker Detection to help find and tag the sections of speech associated with each individual voice. This is incredibly helpful especially when different speakers require different processing.

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html

There's only a few demos on the site. They've made Dialog Isolate look like Hush Pro - from the little example online it doesn't sound quite as artefact free though. There is a free 10 day demo which I might have to try.

Price though - I have RX9 Advanced and the upgrade price for me claims to be £764. (My upgrade prices have all been wrong for ages mind, so I'm not too sure about this)

[Jaap]

I am so tired of the whole Native Instruments - Izotope merge.
Always password is not working and when finally the account is again setup after a gazillion password resets, it shows half of my products, or none at all and always different upgrade prices.

I am happy with RX8 and the whole constant hassle with them makes me not even wanting to look what they improved.

[Luciano Storti]

Thanks Guy. Was looking to get the 50% off on RX10 and then upgrade but I passed, despite having found the specs late last night. Not enough useful features for me to upgrade my copy of Standard, though the M/S function would be useful.

Jaap, yes it's been a problem with the login, especially if you're using a password manager because they are still two separate logins. The yearly updates are tiring for sure, but some of these features are being developed elsewhere quickly, and so I reckon iZotope needs to catch up.

[Guy Rowland]

I've just been through the Production Expert walkthrough. It looks to me like a considerably stronger update than the previous one, and note Dialogue Isolate is now in the Standard version.



So I'm potentially interested - I've contacted support regarding my nuts upgrade prices.

[Luciano Storti]

I've just been through the Production Expert walkthrough. It looks to me like a considerably stronger update than the previous one, and note Dialogue Isolate is now in the Standard version.

So I'm potentially interested - I've contacted support regarding my nuts upgrade prices.

Dialogue Isolate in the Standard version is a good addition. I'm sure they'll make you a better offer, that price cannot be right!

[Guy Rowland]

I've just given the demo a quick spin. It's improved for sure, but despite convincing appearances the new Dialog Isolate ain't no Hush Pro.

Looking at the feature comparison - https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx/compare.html - there's almost zero reason to upgrade to Advanced. Just upgrading RX11 Standard (and keeping my RX9 Advanced license) has everything except for the improved Dialogue Contour and the advanced sliders for Dialogue Isolate.

Plugin Discounts has all the upgrades at good prices - $87 bucks to get RX11 Standard (which does contain the new Dialogue Isolate).

The iZotope store is now basically unusable for me, I don't get any upgrade pricing in it and two support tickets have done nothing to change the situation.

[Luciano Storti]

$87 is quite good... super bizarre they wouldn't respond. Surely, they know that they're webstore has been offering bonkers upgrade prices for a while now? Since the merger with NI things have been... interesting.

[Guy Rowland]

$87 is quite good... super bizarre they wouldn't respond. Surely, they know that they're webstore has been offering bonkers upgrade prices for a while now? Since the merger with NI things have been... interesting.

I sent them 4 wrong upgrade prices, and they sent me a fixed weblink for just the upgrade to RX11 Standard. None of the others. This is similar to before - they don't seem able or willing to fix my account so the correct discounts apply, they just send random offers.

Very odd indeed. Still, Plugin Discounts to the rescue!

[Luciano Storti]

$87 is quite good... super bizarre they wouldn't respond. Surely, they know that they're webstore has been offering bonkers upgrade prices for a while now? Since the merger with NI things have been... interesting.

I sent them 4 wrong upgrade prices, and they sent me a fixed weblink for just the upgrade to RX11 Standard. None of the others. This is similar to before - they don't seem able or willing to fix my account so the correct discounts apply, they just send random offers.

Very odd indeed. Still, Plugin Discounts to the rescue!

Yeah, I stopped buying from their store due to this issue.

[soundbylaura]

$83.11 at JRRShop with coupon code GROUP