iZotope Alloy 2

I bought Izotope’s Alloy 2 close to graduating college for Music Production last year. I got it bundled with Ozone 6 as an investment for the mixing and mastering services I offer. I enjoy mixing with Alloy 2 because it is super user-friendly. Whether you are a beginning mix engineer or a well seasoned professional, this plug-in is a “one stop shop”. Among the modules are a graphic EQ, two separate compressors, an exciter to help give your audio that extra spark, a transient shaper,de-esser, and a limiter. You can view and work on all of these modules at once in “Overview” mode, or click on each module separately to get a clearer picture of what you’re doing. For the amount of plug-ins that come within Alloy 2, the regular price of $199 is very moderate compared to other plug-ins I either have or have considered purchasing. If you can afford it (and need it), I highly recommend purchasing the bundle that includes Alloy 2 and Ozone 6.


UTILIZATION
I currently use Alloy 2 mainly for mixing vocals. I can handle all of my dynamic processing within this one plug-in. The eight bands are more than enough for me to clean up my clients’ vocals without having to grab any other plug-in. Parallel compression is very big in hip-hop, and with Alloy’s two compressors, it’s easier to do that without copying the signal to another track because you can mix in the “wet” signal of each. I prefer Logic Pro X, but if I want, with Alloy 2’s compatibility, I can use inside of Pro Tools, Studio One, or any other DAW on the market. I’ve been using Alloy 2 for about 6 months and I have not had a problem yet.

GETTING STARTED
Installing Alloy 2 takes five minutes. Simply download the demo, activate with your key (no iLok required), and you’re good to go.

The equalizer is probably my favorite module to work with for two reasons: 1) You can zoom in on the graph of the EQ and control how much you are boosting or attenuating with each band. In school I learned that “less is more”, and if you are inexperienced in mixing, by zooming on the graph, you can “limit” your cuts and boosts to how much of the graph you can actually see. The second reason is the sweeping feature. Holding down the “Option” key while clicking and dragging the mouse, you can solo whatever frequency you are hovering over. This is a good way to sweep for frequencies you may be looking for whether you are cleaning up vocals, or trying to find the high end of your kick drum. This frequency solo feature can also be great for helping you to learn what frequencies to check for things like mudiness or harshness.

OVERALL OPINION
Alloy 2 is a 7-in-1 plug-in. Decent 3rd party plug-ins will cost you an average $50 individually. Alloy only costs $199, and is frequently on sale. When I think of comparable bundles, Waves Gold comes to mind. But as far as an all-in-one dynamic processor, Alloy 2 is the way to go!


Pros
Frequency-solo mode
Customize graphs
Affordable

Cons
None so far

iZotope Alloy 2 came free with a group of plug-ins that I purchased not too long ago. I had it on my computer for a while and just never used it until recently. It is a mixing channel software giving all of the tools you need to put a good mix on your music. It comes with over 250 presets right out of the gate that you can use. I do use the presets but after I load them I tend to tweak them to fit the sound that I am looking for. Everything you do with Alloy 2 you will have visual feedback to go with it.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The main tools that come with it are an Equalizer, Exciter, De-Esser, Limiter, Transient Shaper and Dynamics plug-in. These are all good but the only one that I found myself using a lot is the Transient Shaper. The Equalizer is ok but I think it is about as standard of an Equalizer as you can get. Same way with the Limiter, I have used basic Limiters that come with DAW programs that are better than this one is.

OVERALL OPINION

Using these plug-ins does give me a semi vintage sound which is what I like to do. I like to mix the vintage sounds with modern digital sounds to achieve new things and push the limits. That is the only reason I even use this plug-in. If it didn’t come with a bunch of other plug-ins that I purchased I probably would have never went out and bought it because when it comes to mixing I prefer the Waves bundle as my first priority or the Ozone plug-in to mix with. But this is decent, I am not sure what the price of it is by itself but I would not pay more than 115 dollars for it because that is all I feel that it is worth.

Installation nickel, no problem configuration.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

with a 2.66 GHz Quad-core mac and 20GB SDRAM no problem processor.
do I start the session of PT 10 ave an occurrence thirty insert this plug in on audio tracks or Aux, and it works nickel.


This is a beautiful beast, I use since its release with satisfaction but you know something important for users to Protools.
(Maybe also for users of other apps, I do not know)

If a PT 10.3.6 project you edited and writing automation on a track for Alloy 2.01 (32-bit version of the plug-ins that does not work in PT 11) and you want to open this project in PT 11 you will have to do an update to version 2.02 Alloy (version AAX 64 bits)

And by opening this project you will find that automation Alloy written in PT 10.3.6 is misinterpreted in PT 11.0.2

For example:
In 10.3.6 PT with plug version 2.0.1 (32-bit)
I wrote a track on an automation curve any EQ filter set at 200 Hz with 3 dB of gain and Q of 0.20.

When I open the project in PT 11.0.2 (having installed the 64 bit AAX 2.02 Alloy) the automation of the filter curve is not the same as PT 10 and my original bell filter rule 200 Hz was transformed into a HP filter has a frequency of 6000 Hz with a slope of 48 dB / Oct, ie anything.
and the same goes for all the other parameters of Comp de-esser limiter etc ... their automation written in PT10 PT11 is misinterpreted in

The Alloy version 2.02 is supposed to work in both 32-bit under 10.3.6 PT PT 11 AND under 64 bits. They sell this update ensuring that compatibility is maintained between 10 and PT 11.
But this is not the case at all.
I contacted them again and again to find a solution, all they found were as response was to tell me to redo all my editions of EQ, compression, de-esser, etc ... in PT 11.
Izotope thank you, nice, I of every again.

I have sent my project their PT 10.3.6 and found by tests at home, yes there was a bug in version 2.02 but they had not planned new update yet .

Great, I more than to put me on the ear and repeat all the work.

The problem also arises when we wrote automation with version 2.01 in PT 10.3.6 and want to read it again with version 2.02 in PT 10.3.6.

Basically you should NOT do the update with the 2.02 version unless it starts a new project in PT 11.
Hence the automation works.

It is the transfer of a project to PT 10 PT 11 which interprets evil automation Alloy Version 2.02.

Faisez gaffe
Good job to all.

chabb

OVERALL OPINION

Primary defect in my opinion: the imposibilité to define or even a preset custom base that automatically open when the plug is placed in a housing insert. this is the default setting "factory" which is responsible, and must be manually go load the basic preset that you want demmarer work.
there are in the list of presets called a preset <Default> factory, but it can not impersonate.
Me it bothers me.