Old 02-15-2023, 01:31 PM   #1
airon
Human being with feelings
 
airon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Berlin
Posts: 11,817
Default Deal - Stratus in an Izotope bundle

Here‘s a good deal for a bunch of plugins for 49€.

Among them is the excellent reverb Stratus by Exponential Audio. It uses iLok authorization, so you want to check if you can do machine authorization and not just the dongle kind.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/produ...versary-Bundle
__________________
Using Latch Preview (Video) - Faderport 16 setup for CSI 1.1 , CSI 3.10
Website
"My ego comes pre-shrunk" - Randy Thom
airon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2023, 01:43 PM   #2
Tod
Human being with feelings
 
Tod's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kalispell
Posts: 14,745
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by airon View Post
Here‘s a good deal for a bunch of plugins for 49€.

Among them is the excellent reverb Stratus by Exponential Audio. It uses iLok authorization, so you want to check if you can do machine authorization and not just the dongle kind.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/produ...versary-Bundle
Hi airon, I'm not acquainted with "Exponential Audio", could you give a brief explanation?

I've got iLok on my desktop, is that what you mean by "machine authorization"?
Tod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2023, 05:20 PM   #3
Tod
Human being with feelings
 
Tod's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kalispell
Posts: 14,745
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
Hi airon, I'm not acquainted with "Exponential Audio", could you give a brief explanation?

I've got iLok on my desktop, is that what you mean by "machine authorization"?
Quote:
Among them is the excellent reverb Stratus by Exponential Audio.
Woops haha, I missed the word "by", so they're just the company.

Well that leaves "machine authorization" and I assume that's what's on my desktop.

I've got Ozone 9, but this looks like a good deal.
Tod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2023, 10:05 PM   #4
sekim
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 472
Default

If I could only have one reverb, it would be something from Exponential Audio. Stratus is basically the surround version of Phoenix with a new Juce based UI. As for the package, the latest versions of Neutron and Ozone Elements are completely worthless imo, since they no longer allow access to the processors. In the current versions, you get a stinking commercial to upgrade when you click the icon to open the UIs for the processors. And its "assistant"? Ozone ID'd the theme to Star Wars as being in genre "R&B/Soul" and then proceeded to recommend drastic processing to "bring it up to a quality mastering job"... Never mind its a perfectly mastered blockbuster earning millions of dollars.... But the metering plugin is good though, and Stratus is definitely worth the price of admission, imo. Also, Stutter Edit is very good if you like that sort of thing.

Last edited by sekim; 02-15-2023 at 10:12 PM.
sekim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2023, 11:54 PM   #5
Tod
Human being with feelings
 
Tod's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kalispell
Posts: 14,745
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by sekim View Post
If I could only have one reverb, it would be something from Exponential Audio. Stratus is basically the surround version of Phoenix with a new Juce based UI. As for the package, the latest versions of Neutron and Ozone Elements are completely worthless imo, since they no longer allow access to the processors. In the current versions, you get a stinking commercial to upgrade when you click the icon to open the UIs for the processors. And its "assistant"? Ozone ID'd the theme to Star Wars as being in genre "R&B/Soul" and then proceeded to recommend drastic processing to "bring it up to a quality mastering job"... Never mind its a perfectly mastered blockbuster earning millions of dollars.... But the metering plugin is good though, and Stratus is definitely worth the price of admission, imo. Also, Stutter Edit is very good if you like that sort of thing.
Alright you've convinced me, I've already got all the iZotope Ozone 9 stuff. I've made my own profiles of the Tonal Balance Control and they're far more accurate to use that TBC. So about the only thing of Ozone now that I'm using is the Neutron Verb.
Tod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 02:21 AM   #6
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
Hi airon, I'm not acquainted with "Exponential Audio", could you give a brief explanation?

I've got iLok on my desktop, is that what you mean by "machine authorization"?
Stratus is a complex surround reverb for up to regular 7.1 (there is a more expensive "3D" version for Atmos tracks and so on).
It has a huge amount of adjustability - it's strength and it's weakness, depending on what you want from a reverb.
All Exponential Audio plugins have a substantial amount of presets.

Normally you wouldn't want to buy Stratus for stereo as he has multiple variations for stereo that have been practically given away since his retirement like Phoenix, R2, R4, Nimbus..

These were premium price reverbs - whilst they were good I'm sure users would felt there was a lot of needless overlap and you simply don't need that many different versions. All power to his elbow if they all sold well.

Exponential audio was started by Michael Carnes. He developed some of Lexicon's reverbs then later moved to creating software reverbs with his own company. He sold Exponential to iZotope. After acquiring Exponential Audio algorithms iZotope made their own reverb which looks like it was designed for people who just want to get fast results, as opposed to those who are prepared to tweak to perfection.

https://www.michaelcarnes.net/about
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 02:53 AM   #7
Tod
Human being with feelings
 
Tod's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kalispell
Posts: 14,745
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
Stratus is a complex surround reverb for up to regular 7.1 (there is a more expensive "3D" version for Atmos tracks and so on).
It has a huge amount of adjustability - it's strength and it's weakness, depending on what you want from a reverb.
All Exponential Audio plugins have a substantial amount of presets.

Normally you wouldn't want to buy Stratus for stereo as he has multiple variations for stereo that have been practically given away since his retirement like Phoenix, R2, R4, Nimbus..

These were premium price reverbs - whilst they were good I'm sure users would felt there was a lot of needless overlap and you simply don't need that many different versions. All power to his elbow if they all sold well.

Exponential audio was started by Michael Carnes. He developed some of Lexicon's reverbs then later moved to creating software reverbs with his own company. He sold Exponential to iZotope. After acquiring Exponential Audio algorithms iZotope made their own reverb which looks like it was designed for people who just want to get fast results, as opposed to those who are prepared to tweak to perfection.

https://www.michaelcarnes.net/about
Thanks Softsynth, I've actually got all the reverbs and IRs I could possibly want. Haha, I don't know how many plugins I've got, well into the hundreds, but I actually only use a handful.
Tod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 06:35 AM   #8
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
Thanks Softsynth, I've actually got all the reverbs and IRs I could possibly want. Haha, I don't know how many plugins I've got, well into the hundreds, but I actually only use a handful.
Yeah me too. I haven't obsessed about reverb for a while now ( at least haven't been buying up deals like crazy). I mostly use 3 other reverbs anyway.
Exponential reverbs are good though - I could easily use R4, Nimbus and Phoenix instead - three Exponential reverbs which I picked up through Plugin Boutique for half nothing.

I wasn't interested in iZotope's own version. Honestly I think those three Exponential reverbs would have been better as a single product. Not from a sales potential though I suppose. People don't develop plugins purely out of altruism!

For continued development cannot beat Valhalla Vintage.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 02:08 PM   #9
airon
Human being with feelings
 
airon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Berlin
Posts: 11,817
Default

We‘re completely spoiled for reverbs.

Neoverb is sale as well, which seems to have those algorithms of ExponentialAudio.

I use Stratus in all my mixes, especially in 5.1 mixes. Of course Valhalla stuff as well.
__________________
Using Latch Preview (Video) - Faderport 16 setup for CSI 1.1 , CSI 3.10
Website
"My ego comes pre-shrunk" - Randy Thom
airon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 03:33 PM   #10
fakemaxwell
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 586
Default

If you already have a bunch of stereo reverbs and don't work in surround, there's no reason to get Stratus. But if you do work in surround it's one of...two? Reverbs that easily fold up and down to however many tracks you need. Indispensable for post.

I wouldn't buy anything but Stratus or Symphony now. Everything has been discontinued except those two. Michael Carnes wasn't the best at versioning things.

I would like to see more from iZotope as to where they see their reverbs going in the future. Neoverb is not it.

Would also like to see a surround verb from Valhalla!
fakemaxwell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 04:46 PM   #11
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by fakemaxwell View Post

Would also like to see a surround verb from Valhalla!
Yes, and I think Sean is the kind of guy that might even add that functionality to the existing line FOC, or at low additional cost, or in a new $50 plugin, rather than multiplying the price by the amount of extra channels as some companies seem to do.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 04:57 PM   #12
sekim
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 472
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by airon View Post
Neoverb is sale as well, which seems to have those algorithms of ExponentialAudio.
I also have NeoVerb, and while it sounds good since it uses EA algos, it is a bit of a resource hog. That said, as much as I dislike iZotope's "assistants" for the simple fact the results have been useless for me, the one in NeoVerb is actually pretty good for dealing with pre/post reverb EQ. The good news is it is under iZotope's license model so you can activate on more than one machine. The EA reverb has its own license model and can only activate on a single machine at a time.

As for the EA presets, I find them to be very good and very quick to dial in if they are a bit off. Also I find the EA reverbs are difficult to make sound bad no matter what you do to them. UVI's SparkVerb on the other hand, while it can sound very good and it uses insanely low cpu, its very easy to make it sound really bad.

Last edited by sekim; 02-16-2023 at 05:17 PM.
sekim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-16-2023, 05:25 PM   #13
sekim
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 472
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
Normally you wouldn't want to buy Stratus for stereo as he has multiple variations for stereo that have been practically given away since his retirement like Phoenix, R2, R4, Nimbus..

These were premium price reverbs - whilst they were good I'm sure users would felt there was a lot of needless overlap and you simply don't need that many different versions.
I agree they are all basically Phoenix (the simplest one of the bunch) with a few features added on each successive product. They're all great though, and if you can find them on deep sale, definitely worth getting imo, especially if you need extra license seats for live boxes, backup boxes, whatever.
sekim is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:27 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.