Naturally with all this going on, jumping into the deep end can be a little intimidating. That’s why there’s a good list of factory presets to play with. Unlike a lot of plug-ins you run across, these presets are actually pretty useful on either voice or production elements. You can tweak away to your heart’s content, and when you get in over your head, just revert back to the preset settings. Presets are broken down in groups involving individual modules (excellent at teaching what each module does), and a group of combo presets involving multiple modules.
So enough already, what does it sound like? Well that’s a toughie because it really quite unique and doesn’t sound like anything else. I hate to describe one product by comparing it to another’s as it’s not fair to either, but Spectron is so unique that it may be the best way. It’s a little bit like the old Glymedyne Sci-Fi Deluxe shareware plug-in for Cool Edit Pro, but it sounds many times better, and the graphic interface opens up many more sonic possibilities by being a lot easier to adjust. It’s a little bit like Prosoniq’s Pi Warp in that it does alien and sci-fi sounds really well and is easy to use, but again sounds a lot better and is a lot grander in the scope of what it can do. Using those two examples really doesn’t do justice to what Spectron is, or can do for you, but if you’re a fan of textured and warped sounds, you’ll have a clue about the possibilities and you’ll be limited only by what you can’t think up.
If you are tired of the ordinary sounds you can get with your current native, hardware, or plug-in effects, and need something that sounds truly different — even not-from-this-world different — Spectron is for you. If you’re a dedicated parameter tweaker, then Spectron is for you. There are a lot of options available to you with this plug-in, and you could spend all day fine-tuning a sound and wind up with exactly what is playing in your mind. If you don’t have the time or can’t be bothered to adjust parameters, the preset selection is useful. You are just a couple of mouse clicks away from something really unique. If the PD’s bugging you for something wild on your station voice to really make those call letters stand out, then Spectron is for you. As the sales blurb goes “…Spectron can be swirly, funky, electronic, organic, ambient, trippy or retro. It can be a delay, chorus, filter, flanger, panner, morpher — but not like any you’ve ever heard before…” As I said at the beginning, I’m a big fan of clever, and iZotope’s plug-ins are usually just that. Spectron is no different, and is arguably the best of the bunch in terms of cleverness.
iZotope Spectron is available in DX format only, so if your computer doesn’t run Direct-X you are out of luck, unless you can find a wrapper. There is a demo available at http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/spectron/tryspectron.html, which I highly encourage you to download and play with. You can buy Spectron on download for $99 (US) or on CD for $20 more. Check their website for details, and check back to see if they come out with a preset sharing area like they have for the Trash plug-in — though I guess that would depend on how many of us send in our favorite presets.
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