Izotope Iris 2 Sampling Re-synthesizer
Izotope Iris 2 Torrent
Izotope Iris 2 Review
Izotope Iris 2 Review

The spectral processing found in Iris 2 was first used in iZotope's award-winning RX audio restoration software. Iris 1 also uses Radius RT for real-time pitch shifting, to preserve your sample's timing while transparently adjusting pitch. Iris 2 is Izotope’s sample-based synth that uses spectral filtering. With a large number of samples and a great modulation system, it is easy to use and very powerful at the same time. By Rob Mitchell, July 2015. IZotope is a Massachusetts based company that has been on the software development scene for over ten years. .Open me, DAWg. $upport The Channel Distribute Your Music Today With DistroKid!

Iris 2 is Izotope’s sample-based synth that uses spectral filtering. With a large number of samples and a great modulation system, it is easy to use and very powerful at the same time.

By Rob Mitchell, July 2015

iZotope is a Massachusetts based company that has been on the software development scene for over ten years. They are the producers of many excellent products, some of which include RX 4, Breaktweaker, Insight and Ozone. Izotope is well known around the world as a leader in audio software production, many of their titles are used for audio repair/editing, mastering, sound manipulation, and much more.

For this issue of SoundBytes, I will be reviewing iZotope’s Iris 2. In a nutshell, it is a sample-based synthesizer that uses spectral filtering, has many modulation possibilities and has built-in effects. You’re able to layer up to four samples from its huge 11 GB library, or you can import your own. It is able to produce regular synthesizer sounds like those you’re probably accustomed to hearing, but it can also create some “other-worldly” sounds through its spectral editing and modulation capabilities.

Installation Requirements

For the PC, Iris 2 requires either Windows 7 or 8. For the Mac, it requires OS X 10.7 (or later). The formats available include 32- and 64-bit Audio Units, VST, VST3, RTAS, and AAX. It is also available as a standalone application.

They don’t mention this in the requirements, but more RAM (memory) is always a good thing. I have two computers that I tried it on; one has only two gigabytes of RAM, and the other has eight gigabytes. Even though it “worked” on the one with only two gigabytes, I would recommend at least four gigabytes as a good starting point. Otherwise, it might get tough to work with longer samples, or if you try to use more than one instance at once.

The installation of Iris 2 was easy for the most part, as it uses a serial number for authorization. They have included instructions on how to authorize Iris 2 online, or to a portable hard drive. In addition, it may be authorized it to an iLok, which lets you use it on multiple computers.

Downloading the sample content will take you an extended period of time, given the 11 GB of samples and hundreds of presets. It took me a long time even with my decent internet connection. The best part about it is they broke up that large number of files into smaller sections, so it doesn’t all have to be downloaded at once. When that is all finished, it is easy to get it installed and running with no hassles.

Getting Started

One you have started Iris 2, using the standalone version or having loaded it in your DAW of choice, you will see the main display. Along the top is the browser section, where you can load in a preset to check out how it sounds. Clicking on the preset name brings up a browser window, but it also has a more detailed browser you can get to by clicking the “Full Browser” button. The simplified version displays the categories and presets, and the Macro Control section.

Izotope Iris 2 Sampling Re-synthesizer

If you use the Detailed browser, you’ll find that it has many more options to load in files. These include three separate tabs: Patches, Samples, Osc Waves. The “Patches” tab is for normal browsing through the different patches that are available, and with the “Samples” tab, you can skim through the individual samples. Using the “Preview” function, it makes it easy to hear them so you can decide if it’s right for your patch. After clicking on the file name, it plays automatically for you until you click on another file. The “Osc Wavs” tab has all the synth wavs that will work well in setting up a regular/classic type of synth sound. The Arp, Minimoog, Odyssey, Wasp, Andromeda, and others are represented here in sample form with various waveform types.

In the middle of the Detailed browser you can see the individual samples that are loaded for a patch. You’re able load or clear a sample in each of the four sample sections. Over to the right are the Macro Controls. These can be assigned to different parameters for manipulating the modulation quickly and easily. The presets they’ve included have macros already setup for you.

To the right of the preset display/browser area, you’ll find the Undo/Redo buttons, and the Voice Mode section. These modes include Mono, Legato, and Poly (polyphonic). MIDI Assign is easy to use with your MIDI controller. Just click on it the MIDI Assign button and then click the name of the parameter you wish to assign. The name you clicked on will change to a red color, and you then move a slider or knob on your controller.

The next three knobs control the Global controls: Glide, Intensity, and Output. Glide will add a portamento amount between the notes, and it can be used for all three of the Voice modes. This means that Polyphonic portamento is available, and gives you the possibility for some interesting preset design. The Intensity control uses iZotope’s compression and limiting to affect the sound, which gives it an extra boost before the final output stage. Output is the overall volume control for Iris 2.

Just to the right of those Global controls, you’ll see the Pool selection area. This is an easy way to mute or solo each of the four samples you have loaded and to adjust volume levels. You’re also able to get a larger view of the individual samples by clicking on their respective numbers, or you can see all of them at once using the “All” button.

The “Mix” button opens up a new screen with the main controls for all four samples visible at once. Normally, you can see just one sample’s controls on the main screen in the column to the right of the sample display. The Mix function lets you see all the levels, tuning, panning, and Send effects available for each sample in one display. It also includes the Master section to the right.

Editing Samples

Samples can be loaded in many different ways, and Iris 2 can load WAV and AIFF formats. Loop start/end points can be set along the bottom of the display, as well as crossfade, offset, and delay amounts. As I mentioned earlier, the samples can be loaded from the full browser, but they can also be loaded by dragging/dropping the file on to the spectrogram area.

What is the spectrogram area? It is the window where you are able to edit the sound file you’ve loaded, and it shows you a view of frequency content over time. The lower frequencies are towards the bottom, and the higher ones are toward the top. There also is a control to adjust how much of the regular audio waveform is shown in that same display, so they can both be viewed at once. This is accomplished by using the slider at the bottom right of the spectrogram area.

Iris 2 has various editing controls allowing you to select different parts of the audio in the spectrogram area. One quick way to change the sound is to erase certain parts of the frequencies, which acts like a custom filter. In contrast to that method, selecting sections of the audio will make it so it will only play back whatever you have selected.

Some of the other controls included here: zoom in/out, time selection (rectangular selection from left to right), time and frequency (which adds in the top-to-bottom frequency amount) frequency selection, and a lasso selection tool. The lasso selection allows you drag around an area to make whatever shape you wan