I have no idea why it took me so long to write a review on Rx7, Izotope Rx7 solved my worst nightmare: Isolating different elements without accessing multi-tracks or stems, I'll discuss more on that in a moment.
Izotope Rx7 is a quick and easy tool for fixing audio issues, it also serves as an audio repair tool for movies and Tv shows, which restores damaged noise, clicks, crackers, etc to pristine condition.
This review guide is all about the essential features of Izotope Rx7, its usefulness, and if it really does repair damaged audio issues.
What Does Izotope Rx7 Do Differently?
The reason Rx7 stood out from the sheer loads of audio tools is the way it uses assistive audio technology, for example, the Repair Assistant can detect noise, clipping, and crackling, and it also offers different processing suggestions to choose from.
The Music Rebalance tool that comes with Rx7 identifies bass, vocals, percussion, and other instruments in a mix, and allows for independent gain adjustment of each element.
Izotope Rx7 Feature Breakdown
Rx7 isn't only a tool but a suite of modules interconnected to work and communicate across your audio session.
Note: Some features are only for the advanced editions, make sure you check out the edition you want at the end of this review guide.
Let's start with...
Oh-Lord! - Repair Assistant
If you have been using Izotope products lately, then you should be aware that Izotope has advanced its machine-learning technology. The repair assistant represents the latest advances in Izotope's assistive audio technology.
Rx7 Repair Assistant intelligently detects common audio problems in the selection, for example, it can detect clicks, hum, noise clicking, and much more.
Having done that, it then provides three processing chains tailored to solving the problems detected during analysis. You also have the option to bypass suggestions such as clipping and other issues using the repair assistant preferences.
If no problems are detected, you will see "No Problems Detected" in the dialog, which is fine, if you feel you need basic cleanup processing, you can use the ones generated by Repair Assitant during the analysis pass.
Up Next...
Balance the Elements - Music Rebalance
Music Rebalance is my favorite tool in Rx7, it looks skeptical at first. I was amazed at how a tool could be so fantastic when I tried it out, just the perfect tool I have been looking for so many years.
The function of music rebalance is to identify and separate elements in a mix- Bass, Voice, and Percussion using a machine learning algorithm.
That is not all, any element that is not identified as Vocal, Bass, and Percussion would be categorized as other.
Cases Where Music Rebalance Can be Used
- Music Rebalance can be useful for rebalancing the gain of a particular mix element when the stems aren't available.
- It can be used to isolate a single mix element by reducing the level of other elements, e.g in cases where you want to create a remix of a song, and you aren't provided the stems, in the context of an acapella, you can use music rebalance to reduce the levels of other three elements (Bass, Percussing and others). If all you want is only the instrumental, then you reduce the gain of only the vocal element.
Does it Work In all Case
No!
Some audio files won't work accordingly, audio tracks are made differently. I would say it works in 90% of the cases.
What else do we have in music rebalance...
Sensitivity Control
Sensitivity can be useful in cases where you want a specific or more element to be narrowly defined. Each element has its own sensitivity knob, let's say you want the vocal element to be barely heard, all you need to do is lower the value of the vocal sensitivity and vice versa.
Note: Sensitivity control work in relation to one another, setting all sensitivity controls to something like 6.0 has the same effect as setting all sensitivity controls to a value of 8.0, you get the idea ;)
Coming up next...
Correcting The Contours [Dialogue Contour - Advanced Only]
Rx7 is specifically designed for post-production professionals, one of the ways it solves the demanding needs of post-production pros is by remodeling the performance of a line with Dialogue Contour.
Dialogue Contour remodels/corrects the intonation of performance, it can also be used for manipulating the pitch envelope of a dialogue selection.
Cases, where a dialogue contour can be useful, are when some words aren't flowing or don't fit with the rest of the dialogue in the clip.
This feature comes bundled with Rx7 repair suite only, if you are a music producer (Just like me), who only cares about audio issues in a mix, then you simply do not need this option.
Optimize the Reverb [Dialogue Reverb]
This is tailored to remove unwanted reverb from dialogue clips using advanced machine learning technology.
Dialogue reverb is pretty straightforward:
- You use the learn button to teach the de-reverb tool how much reverb is in your signal
- When the learn operation completes, the reverb profile and tail length control will be set to their suggested values. Feel free to tweak to your desired value.
This tool is designed specifically for post-production professionals and bundled with the Advanced edition.
Other Useful Tools in Izotope Rx7
Variable Time: Useful for correcting timing issues or adjusting the time stretch of a portion of an audio selection without altering its pitch.
Breath Control: Can be used to control the level of breath between words and phrases.
De-click: Clean up vinyl clicks, soften up clicky bass guitars, and more. The new low-latency algorithm enables you to use De-click right within your DAW or NLE without introducing sync issues.
De-clip: Repair digital and analog clipping artifacts to restore distorted audio.
De-hum: Remove ground loop hum and line noise.
De-ess: Tame overly aggressive sibilance. The new Spectral De-ess mode transparently attenuates sibilance with iZotope’s Spectral Shaping technology.
and more...
► System Requirements:
Operating Systems:
- Mac — OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion (Pro Tools 10 only), 10.9.5 Mavericks - macOS 10.15 (64-bit only)
- PC — Win 7 - Win 10
Plug-in Formats:
- Standalone Application, Modules: AAX, AU, RTAS, VST, VST3
Supported Hosts:
- Audition CC 2018, Ableton Live 9 - 10, Cubase 9.5, Digital Performer 9, Final Cut Pro X*, FL Studio 12, Logic Pro X, Nuendo 8, Premiere Pro CC 2018, Pro Tools 10 - 12, Reaper 5, Reason 10, Studio One 3 - 4