What's the word on Spectron?

Gothboy · Post by **Gothboy** » 04 May 2008, 14:25

I've decided I don't really need any more synth plugin's...for the moment anyway

and what I do need now are a few really good sound shaping/warping effects. I've got it down to 3: U-hes' Filterscape(which comes with an additional synth plugin instrument and an EQ), MFM2 and Izotope Spectron. But I also pretty much figured out I won't be able to get a newer more powerful Mac this year. I'm going to max out my RAM to 2 GB instead and go with some much needed sound design Tools(I have all the free ones but they only go so far)...but I read a review of Spectron that goes like this and it scared me:

"Spectron
by dan c from san diego ca, May 2005

I've had it(Spectron) only a day now and I'm less than impressed.
The presets are CPU hogs and must be taken down to 128 or 258 bands to get
any effiency. I was suckered in by the MIdiman namebrand and super cool
galactic interface. If it only sounded as good as it looks. I thought it
would be my new Delay workhorse in SX but it brings my 2.3 AMD to its knees before
can experiment with even a modest mix of Vsti's and Waves pluggins.
Maybe with time and more CPU this investment will pan out."

Then I went back on this forum and read a few more cpu-scaring reviews....and these were from back in 2003-05....so it's either gotten better or worse with this Spectron cpu-wise since then. Since NIs' Spektral delay is no longer available I don't know of something that rivals Spectron. Any suggestions or comments most welcome.

Is this Spectron really a cpu hog? There's really no system cpu requirements posted on the izotope website so I thought I'd post here to get the real scoop from any users.

willb · Post by **willb** » 05 May 2008, 14:04

There are some very cool things you can do with spectron, but it lacks the polish of the other izotope offerings IMHO. (I got it bundled.)

The reports you hear about CPU are basically true. I didn't use it much on my G4 powerbooks because it was impossible to audition many things in real time if anything else was going on. Now, on the MBP, I still get crackling and dropouts.

I do, however, use MFM2 and Filterscape (and even used Filterscape on a 667 mhz tibook!) -- either would be an excellent choice for creative sound mangling. In an ideal world, you'd be able to get both, but if you need to pick, you should consider whether the additional EQ modulation and filtering options in the filterscape bundle outweigh the extra feedback effects, flexible delay routing, and comb filtering of MFM2.

Gothboy · Post by **Gothboy** » 06 May 2008, 09:11

I don't understand how this Spectron could look so cool and yet have this rep for crackling and dropouts as well as being almost unusable!? It's been out now for what, 5 years now and is now being re-sold through M-audio who usually only sell stable instruments and plugins. The system requirements listed there for Mac are:

G4
10.2

......that's it!

Same for Trash!? Why the scant info for system requirements?
I sent an email to Izotope about the spectron issues but have yet to hear back from them...I guess I won't know until I try the demo out.
What I need is an effect for mangling background vocal parts as well as for instrument sound design. I've already demo-ed the MFM2 and it's just amazing. You're right though.....it's hard to pick...the MFM2 or Filterscape. I hear from Urs that they will eventually be RTAS.

MitchK1989 · Post by **MitchK1989** » 07 May 2008, 16:24

just try the demo!

I'll try it on my MBP soon...

Gothboy · Post by **Gothboy** » 09 May 2008, 07:42

This is the reply from Izotope:

We are aware that some users have had a hard time with Spectron's high CPU usage, and there are ways to lower Spectron's CPU usage if you need to. I can't know for sure how Spectron will perform on your machine, there are many variables. I would recommend trying the demo as you suggested and see what you think for yourself. Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised.

....well at least they're aware of the high cpu issue! But no word on trying to fix things......hummmm.

Alexey Lukin · Post by **Alexey Lukin** » 09 May 2008, 22:33

A simple way to lower the CPU usage of Spectron is to reduce the number of frequency bands in Options. You can also make sure that only those modules that are used are enabled.

Kroy · Post by **Kroy** » 11 May 2008, 02:58

You should consider Reaktor. You'll have access to dozens of great sound mangling tools. You'll never get bored because there are always new ensembles to download and explore. Because of this Reaktor is very cost effective. It's very stable on my system and has been for some time. It sounds great - fat and very very hifi.

If you buy it you can PM me and I'll explain the best way to save settings with a song.

Incidentally, some of my favourite reverb plug-ns are Reaktor ensembles.

You'll also have a truck load of amazing new synths to explore. Listen to some of the demos at NI. Some of the synths are very innovative, eg Steampipe.

You'll never regret buying it. I've bought loads of plug-ins over the last 8 years and Reaktor is one of the last ones I'd let go of.

bassntreble · Post by **bassntreble** » 13 May 2008, 10:35

FWIW, system requirements for Spectron are the minimum system requirements. So it'll run, how well is entirely dependent on patch complexity. Same with Reaktor. Reaktor can be a cpu hog with large, complex ensembles.

For what spectron does, it does it really well and at a high quality level. admittedly one must dig into the manual and create effects as the presets decent but not one-size-fits all. The plug is very deep and requires a thorough understanding of what each section does and how the modulations affect parameters. You can do some pretty amazing stuff with this but it's not just tweak parameters till it sounds good. There are right click options for every section that enable modulations and show parameters.

If you're looking for a select preset and go plug, this may not be for you. If you want to craft effects that are outside the realm of the ordinary, start on page 1 of the spectron manual and prepare to spend some time getting comfortable with it.

Gothboy · Post by **Gothboy** » 17 May 2008, 17:57

bassntreble wrote: If you want to craft effects that are outside the realm of the ordinary, start on page 1 of the spectron manual and prepare to spend some time getting comfortable with it.

Well, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not a preset kind of programmer/user....sometimes I'll use a preset and tweak from there..but mostly I create my own sounds.

Somehow Spectron seems right. I want to do things with vocals that are beyond the realm of the usual vocoder type stuff.