Hidden Secrets of Izotope RX Explained - Production Expert

12/14/21, 9:49 AM Hidden Secrets Of iZotope RX Explained | Production Expert
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Monday 12.06.21 Hidden Secrets Of iZotope RX
Posted by Damian
Kearns Explained
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In this article we share 5 tips and tricks that even the most
seasoned user of iZotope’s RX software might not know. Think
you know RX well enough? Looking for some new technique to
amaze and enlighten? Read on!
The Fab 5
I’ve been using iZotope software since someone first showed
me the original RX. Over the years, I’ve experimented a lot with
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various tools in the standalone software, the heart
of RX. 
music and post production experts.
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https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/hidden-secrets-of-izotope-rx-explained?utm_source=Production+Expert+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=1a8a… 1/11
This article represents a fun collection of 5 unique functions I’ve

found that I think you might just want to know about.
More Reverb Please

Recent iterations of iZotope’s RX software contain the stunning
Dialogue De-Reverb Module, crafted atop machine learning and
developed using a mountain of real-world test audio files.
Before this modern wonder came into being, RX offered the
venerable De-Reverb Module, which as I shall explain, actually
does at least one thing its successor cannot! I feel it’s likely part
of the reason De-Reverb hasn’t been ‘De-Commissioned’.
First, send some reverberant audio

from your DAW or drag and drop a
file from your desktop onto the RX
standalone’s spectrogram. From the
modules list on the right side of the
spectrogram, open the De-Reverb
module. Make a selection and hit
‘Learn’. The module usually does an
admirable job of figuring out how to
deal with your sound but if not,
move the sliders up and down for
each band, soloing to fine tune the amount of reduction.
You’ll get a decent result. It doesn’t take long (This is not the
interesting bit).
The thing that differentiates De-Reverb from Dialogue De-

Reverb is there’s a negative end to the ‘Reduction’ slider. You
can actually add reverb as well as take it away! The three audio
files below demonstrate the original sound, the reverb-reduced
sound and the reverb-increased sound. I recorded myself in a
hallway for the purpose of this test. I’m sure you’ll agree, this
has wonderful possibilities in terms of matching dialogue or
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Damian Kearns Original Reverberant Dialogue
Damian Kearns De-Reverb Less Reverb
Damian Kearns De-Reverb More Reverb
A Clean Sweep?
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The Signal Generator is tucked away as a utility in the RX
standalone software. What makes this signal generator special
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is it’ll add silence to timeline selections and the tones it creates

can be shaped in a variety of ways.
I’ve used the signal generator to create tone sweeps for

recording impulse responses and interesting pitch sweep
effects like digital button sounds. The great thing about this
generator is that the duration of the sweep is determined by
the length of the timeline selection in the RX spectrogram! You
can make any duration of sweep with tonal shapes ranging
from sine, triangle, sawtooth and square wave. In this example
file I did quick 1kHz to 6 kHz sweeps up and down using sine,
sawtooth and triangle shapes. As a sound design tool, Signal
Generator is found gold!
Damian Kearns Up down, Sine, Sawtooth, Triangle

Copyright (C) 2021
Rotate This!
Encountering a lopsided waveform for the first time can be
unsettling when it’s extreme. Often seen in brass recordings,
sometimes encountered in dialogue or even stereo music,
asymmetrical audio recordings are viewed as unbalanced
between the positive and negative excursions of the waveform.
In this example, I have slightly more energy above than below.
Trusted content from My true peak reading in the Waveform Statistics window
independent 
says 
1.01 dB
music and post production which is close to full scale. I open the Waveform
experts.
Copyright (C) 2021 Statistics window (Option+W) before sending anything back to
Pro Tools since RX is a 32 bit floating point editor (peaking

above 0dBFS is possible) and I usually mix at 48 kHz, 24 bit
(peaking above 0dBFS not desirable in a fixed bit depth audio
file). If I send any file back to Pro Tools that’s peaking above
0dBFS I will clip the audio.
Sometimes my levels are otherwise

where I want them to be but I just
need a little more headroom. By
rotating the phase to balance the
waveform I don’t affect the sound
but I can buy myself that extra
space below full scale. Even in this
modest example, I earned myself
.74 of a dB. I’ve had instances when I’ve managed to recover 3-4
dB of headroom using Phase rotation. Lopsided sounds can clip
more easily than evenly balanced audio files so this trick, as
abstract as it may seem, has practical implications.
Plug It In

Copyright (C) 2021
Every time I install a copy of RX, I go through the Preferences. In

the Plug-ins tab, I enable ‘Audio units’ and ‘VST plug-ins.’. After a
few moments, all the AU and VST plugins on my system
populate and are available for use inside the RX standalone
software. This only needs to be done once per user profile. As
you can see in the picture above, not every plugin loads
properly but the majority have no issues.
Enabling plugins not only allows me to use my favourite plugins

inside RX without leaving the program, it also allows me to use
plugins in two formats Pro Tools does not support, AU and VST.
With plugins engaged, I can now access and use software
offerings not available to me inside my DAW. I can also use AU
and VST versions of my favourite tools to help RX dramatically
extend its range of processing options.
In this example I used a plugin found in Logic Pro X to apply

distortion to a piece of dialogue. The waveform looks a little
lopsided (If only I knew a trick to even that out!). RX has now
imbued the power of Logic plugins onto a Pro Tools user! Of
course, you can access the RX standalone software from most
major DAW’s.
Copyright (C) 2021 And For My Final Trick
I shall make modules disappear!

That module list along the right side of the spectrogram looks
pretty crowded to me.
Copyright (C) 2021
If you click the light gray ‘down’ arrow next to the word ‘All’ near
the top right of the spectrogram (under the ‘Repair Assistant’
bubble) you can quickly select a quick filter to reduce the
amount of visible modules. For example, ‘Dialogue & Voice’
leaves our module list looking like the second image above.
I created my own filter by clicking on the three little white lines

to the right of the filter presets (again, near the top right corner
of the spectrogram).
Adding a new filter allows me to customize the name, then the

whole module list turns into a load of checkboxes that can be
de-selected to reduce screen clutter. This really tailors the list to
speed up module selection.
Final Thoughts?
Since the day I started exploring the deeper aspects of RX when
I purchased RX2 many years back, I’ve thought the real power
of iZotope’s RX software lies in the mastery of the standalone
tools. We don’t all have loads of time to poke around inside
software so I hope this quick read has added a trick or three to
your workflow.
There are plenty of creative ways to use this software which is

why it has become the universal toolbox for sound editorial.
Damian Kearns is Post Production Editor for Production

Expert. Damian has been working in sound for picture at
Canada’s top studios and major broadcasters for the past 27
years. As a freelancer, Damian also owns and operates his
own studio, 217 Audio.
Read More →
tags: iZotope, iZotope RX

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mattrixx • 7 days ago

Great article Damian... Have been using this for many years and
still finding things.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Damian Kearns > mattrixx • 7 days ago

Thanks mattrixx. I can see there might well be another
couple of these in my future, based on the response.
There's a lot lurking inside RX.
PatchBay • 8 days ago

Stellar! Exactly the kind of content I'm always hoping to find on
Production Experts.
music and post production experts.Damian Kearns > PatchBay • 8 days ago
Copyright (C) 2021 Thank you! When I was writing this, I had a sense this
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/hidden-secrets-of-izotope-rx-explained?utm_source=Production+Expert+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=1a8… 10/11
y g ,
would appeal to a very niche group of interested readers. It
turns out I was wrong! D
PatchBay > Damian Kearns • 8 days ago

Wrong? Don't let it happen again! :)
Damian Kearns > PatchBay • 8 days ago

Copyright (C) 2021
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/hidden-secrets-of-izotope-rx-explained?utm_source=Production+Expert+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=1a8… 11/11

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12/14/21, 9:49 AM Hidden Secrets Of iZotope RX Explained | Production Expert

WIN A SHARE OF $30,000 WORTH OF AUDIO ×

LATEST | BLOGS | TUTORIALS | FREE PLUG-INS | REVIEWS | PODCAST | APPLE | RESOURCES |

This article represents a fun collection of 5 unique functions I’ve

More Reverb Please

First, send some reverberant audio

The thing that differentiates De-Reverb from Dialogue De-

Damian Kearns Original Reverberant Dialogue

Damian Kearns De-Reverb Less Reverb

Damian Kearns De-Reverb More Reverb

is it’ll add silence to timeline selections and the tones it creates

I’ve used the signal generator to create tone sweeps for

Damian Kearns Up down, Sine, Sawtooth, Triangle

Trusted content from independent  

Pro Tools since RX is a 32 bit floating point editor (peaking

Sometimes my levels are otherwise

Trusted content from independent  

Every time I install a copy of RX, I go through the Preferences. In

Enabling plugins not only allows me to use my favourite plugins

In this example I used a plugin found in Logic Pro X to apply

I shall make modules disappear!

Trusted content from independent  

I created my own filter by clicking on the three little white lines

Adding a new filter allows me to customize the name, then the

There are plenty of creative ways to use this software which is

Damian Kearns is Post Production Editor for Production

tags: iZotope, iZotope RX

Production Expert Comment Policy

6 Comments Production Expert 🔒 

 Favorite Sort by Best

Rate and comment ★★★★★

LOG IN WITH OR SIGN UP WITH DISQUS ?

mattrixx • 7 days ago

Damian Kearns > mattrixx • 7 days ago

PatchBay • 8 days ago

PatchBay > Damian Kearns • 8 days ago

Damian Kearns > PatchBay • 8 days ago

Trusted content from independent  

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