Review: Music Production Suite 7.1 by iZotope

Josh Turvey of NoiseQuest returns with a review of iZotope’s comprehensive bundle featuring 26 plugins for mixing, mastering, and audio repair.

Summary

iZotope’s Music Production Suite is a treasure trove of advanced audio solutions that serves Mixing, Mastering, Audio Restoration, and Post-Production needs with sophistication and dexterity. The included products are packed with innovative features that cater to all genres and experience levels, demonstrating excellence across the entire range.

Pros:

• Excellent selection of tools for Mixing, Mastering, Audio Restoration and Post-Production.
• Inter-Plugin Communication (IPC) between different products maximises the utility and potential of the suite.
• The new features added to Ozone, Nectar, and Neutron streamline their workflows and improve their functionality.
• Equinox (algorithmic reverb) is a brilliant addition to the suite that modernises and streamlines the older reverbs provided by Exponential Audio.

Cons:

• The suite primarily focuses on Mixing, Mastering, and Post-Production. Curated partner products are included for Sound-Design, but iZotope’s selection of creative tools are light in number.
• Older plugins (e.g. Vocal Synth, Tonal Balance Control, Neoverb, and Insight) could benefit from having updated features and refreshed designs to better align the user experience with the newer products in the collection.
• As a comprehensive mastering solution, the experience of Ozone would benefit from having an optional standalone version.
• Mothership plugins are unable to duplicate modules in their processing chains.

Intro

Since the release of Ozone 1.0 in 2001, iZotope has firmly cemented their status as a household name in professional audio. The USA-based developer has spent the ensuing 24 years at the cutting edge of audio innovation, continuously developing tools that set the industry standard and push the boundaries of possibility, particularly within the domains of Mixing, Mastering, and Post-Production.

Despite their ubiquity in professional studios around the world, iZotope’s tools remain true to their roots. Consequently, they are still designed with hobbyists and novices in mind, as well as anyone else who doesn’t have access to studio-grade, professional audio services. The Music Production Suite pools together a selection of iZotope’s most coveted tools, with the sole purpose of simplifying, streamlining, and elevating the music production process. Below, we explore how this suite of premium audio solutions can augment creative and technical workflows.

Bundle Contents

Setting aside the included partner products for now, one of the Music Production Suite’s defining features is the ‘Inter-Plugin Communication’ (IPC) technology that bridges iZotope’s products. The ability to view and edit the settings of one plugin whilst working in another is an incredible workflow that has the potential to create a rich and integrated ecosystem.

In practice, there are some limitations to this functionality. Analysers, such as Tonal Balance Control (see image above) and Insight, can readily read and edit the parameters from various iZotope plugins, but communication between Neutron and Ozone is less consistent—which may be understandable given that they are intended for Mixing (Neutron) and Mastering (Ozone) purposes respectively.

Although this doesn’t present too much of a hindrance, users will be forgiven for envisioning a future that promises seamless communication between all of iZotope’s plugins, so one hopes that this concept is further developed in future iterations.

There are also behavioural considerations to understand when using iZotope plugins. Firstly, multiple plugins (e.g. Ozone, Neutron, RX, and Nectar) function as mini-suites in their own right. These plugins are known as ‘motherships’, and they contain multiple processing modules, each one of which can be loaded into the signal chain within its parent plugin.

These modules are advanced processors that each contain independent parameters and preset menus, so they are also conveniently available as individual plugins (see image above), ready to be inserted directly onto a track within one’s Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). This latter option is particularly useful for quick processing tasks and for keeping CPU usage to a minimum.

iZotope’s plugins often require substantial processing power, so it isn’t uncommon to experience latency when using the motherships—a primary benefit of which provides access to iZotope’s in-built assistants (see image below), as found in: Ozone, Neutron, RX, and Nectar. These assistants are a vital part of iZotope’s ecosystem, and their main function is to analyse the incoming audio and to construct processing chains that optimise and elevate the resulting output.

Naturally, these chains are completely editable, so they are best deployed as starting points that help to guide users in their processing decisions.

Outside of latency issues, the motherships can only load one of each module into their processing chains at a time. Users can work around this quirk by loading the module as an individual plugin, or by inserting another instance of the mothership on the same channel. However, the inability to duplicate modules directly within the mothership feels like an unnecessary limitation given the increasing processing power of modern computers.

Sound Design

Other than the included partner products (discussed later in the review), the Music Production Suite is fairly light on specialised solutions that cater to sound-design and creative workflows. Vocal Synth and Equinox (see image below) represent two iZotope products that excel in this regard, but the lack of dedicated synthesisers (dreams of the long-abandoned Iris 3 refuse to die…) and creative effects processors are noticeable absences.

In fairness, products such as RX, Nectar, and Neutron contain multiple modules that can be deployed in highly creative ways, but users will likely need to explore unconventional approaches when tapping into this potential. The partner products provided by Native Instruments certainly improve the creative potential of the bundle with the addition of delays, saturations, and modulation effects, but inclusions from iZotope’s catalogue would certainly be welcome.

Mixing

When it comes to mixing, few bundles can match the innovation and capability provided by iZotope’s Music Production Suite. As a comprehensive mixing solution, Neutron (see image below) covers the full spectrum of mixing requirements, including—but not limited to—Phase Alignment, Gating, EQ, Compression, Transient Shaping, Saturation, and Clipping.

Additionally, multiple modules within Neutron can divide the incoming audio into Stereo, Mid/Side, and Transient/Sustain signals, thus enabling users to address highly specific processing tasks that target different aspects of the incoming audio.

Neutron also fully embraces iZotope’s IPC technology, which allows users to edit multiple Neutron EQs from one instance of the plugin. This behaviour makes it easy to identify and correct any frequency masking issues that can occur between tracks, such as the common frequency clashes that arise when mixing the Kick and Bass (see image below), for example.

Neutron’s Visual Mixer (see image below) further extols the benefits of IPC. Users can balance, pan, and adjust the stereo width of any track from one central location, thus providing a novel and effective alternative to traditional mix balancing.

The only caveat here is that Neutron (or the free, utility module ‘Relay’) must be inserted onto each individual track so that it can communicate with the Visual Mixer, which is typically inserted on the Master Bus.

Nectar (see image below) is best thought of as a channel strip that specialises in the processing and treating of vocals. Although it shares some overlapping features with Neutron, Nectar contains some specialised modules aimed at vocal production.

A recommended workflow deploys Nectar as part of the production process. Once the necessary settings have been configured, the resulting output can be rendered to audio, which is then processed by Neutron throughout the remainder of the mixing process. Other mixing solutions in the bundle include iZotope’s two, flagship reverbs: Neoverb, and Equinox—an algorithmic reverb that combines—and builds on—the technology developed by Exponential Audio before their acquisition by iZotope.

Mastering

As the first plugin that iZotope developed, Ozone (see image below) is synonymous with the brand, and is likely one of the most iconic mastering solutions ever developed. Other iZotope products have been rebranded or have disappeared from their catalogue entirely, but Ozone remains resolute and steadfast.

The latest iteration expands on its rich set of features, providing upwards compression in the Maximizer module, and introducing Clarity—an intelligent processor that simultaneously tames resonances and enhances targeted areas of the frequency spectrum.

Loaded with smart features, Ozone pushes the boundaries of the mastering process by splitting the incoming audio into three stems (Vocals, Drums, and Bass), thereby allowing users to sculpt elements of the song that were traditionally only accessible during mixing. Its 18 modules seamlessly combine with its assistant feature to create a fully editable processing chain that is designed to help users get started with the mastering process. This behaviour is also mirrored in RX, Neutron, and Nectar, and whilst the various assistants are undoubtedly useful, it is prudent to view this feature as a valuable educational tool.

Relying too heavily on the suggested module configurations runs the risk of over-processing; it can also push the song in an entirely different sonic direction, which may be detrimental to the mix and to the artist’s vision. That said, users willing to learn Ozone will find that it is a highly adept mastering solution, containing virtually unlimited potential that caters to the vast majority of modern mastering requirements. This is especially true when combining its processing capabilities within the standalone version of RX (discussed below), which is capable of loading third-party plugins.

Post Production & Audio Restoration

RX (see image below) is widely considered to be the industry-standard when it comes to audio restoration, and the latest version continues this trend. The Music Production Suite includes the ‘Standard’ version of the software, but this is hardly a limitation, as its features will cater to all but the most demanding users. The ‘Advanced’ version is aimed at high-end studio professionals who specialise in Post-Production and Audio Restoration for feature films, so the version included within the suite is more than adequate for music production.

Multiple processors are included to tidy and repair audio files, including Music Rebalance—an advanced stem separation module that offers incredible creative potential for sample-oriented producers. These processors can be applied to individual tracks or to fully mixed productions that require tweaking before being mastered.

RX also excels as a mastering companion, providing a host of utility modules that offer valuable information relating to streaming specifications (Streaming Preview) and waveform analysis (Waveform Stats). This workflow pairs nicely with Ozone—which no longer has a standalone version—whose modules can be loaded directly into RX. Finally, as with iZotope’s other ‘mothership’ plugins, RX’s modules can be loaded as individual plugins directly within a DAW, so users have an impressive amount of flexibility when working with the software.

Audio Analysis

iZotope has a range of well-crafted audio analysis solutions that provide crucial information throughout the mixing and mastering processes.

Insight (see image above) is equipped with multiple analysis types, also leveraging iZotope’s IPC technology to centralise loudness and spectrum statistics by communicating with other plugins in the suite. This ensures that users can accurately compare different tracks without switching between multiple analysers, therefore offering a streamlined metering experience that makes it easy to identify frequency clashes between different tracks.

Although not a plugin, Audiolens (see image below) is an innovative reference solution that removes many of the barriers one experiences when working with reference tracks in the age of streaming.

Users can capture the frequency curve of their chosen references simply by playing the song from their streaming platform of choice—eliminating the need to download the track. The resulting frequency curve is then immediately available for selection in Ozone and Neutron when engaging their respective assistants. This enables users to match the frequency curve of their projects to the captured reference using the modules within Ozone and Neutron, which is a genuinely useful implementation.

Frustratingly, this level of integration doesn’t apply to Tonal Balance Control, which still manually requires users to upload audio files into the plugin before generating a reference target curve. This feels like an oversight that negates the spirit of iZotope’s ecosystem, so unifying these two platforms feels like a necessity that iZotope will hopefully prioritise.

Finally, it should also be noted that Audiolens is lacking additional features that would elevate the analysis of reference material. For example, users are unable to view and compare loudness, correlation, stereo width, dynamics, and detailed spectrum readings. Nevertheless, its refreshing approach to working with reference material is certainly capable of improving the outcome of one’s final mix and master.

Partner Products

Since Native Instruments announced the full acquisition of iZotope and Plugin Alliance in 2023, there has been a lot of speculation as to how this will impact the three brands and the services they provide. From the outside looking in, there appears to be a clear strategy: Native Instruments focuses on virtual instruments and sound-design; Plugin Alliance specialises in analog emulations; iZotope excels with innovative mixing, mastering, audio restoration, and post-production solutions. So far, the overlap between brands has been fairly subtle, with select bundles from each developer including a small offering of partner products.

Music Production Suite includes the following additions from both brands:

1. Native Instruments: Guitar Rig 7 Pro (see image above), and Effects (Raum, Crush Pack, Mod Pack, Supercharger GT, Replika XT, Solid Mix Series, Driver, and Transient Master).
2. Brainworx Plugins: bx-delay 2500, bx-boom, bx-saturator, bx-subsynth, bx-cleansweep pro, and bx-refinement.
3. Celemony: Although not technically a Native Instruments partner, Melodyne 5 Essential is included in the suite.

Users will likely extract the most value from Melodyne and the Native Instruments plugins. Given Brainworx’s pedigree and the quality of emulations they provide for Plugin Alliance, this collection—although functional—is mildly underwhelming, as it isn’t the best representation of their prowess. It remains to be seen how integrated the catalogues from each developer will become in the future, so it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on this space.

In Use

With the Music Production Suite, iZotope has curated a selection of tools that add value to every stage of the music production process. In particular, their commitment to the advancement of their smart features (e.g. Master Assistant, Stem Separation, IPC etc.) ensures that users of all experience levels can extract value from the bundle. There is a danger that novices will rely too heavily on such features, but used with consideration, they genuinely help to educate, inform, and guide essential mixing and mastering decisions, which is beneficial to users of all experience levels.

Furthermore, whilst iZotope deserves credit for creating solutions that consider the needs of hobbyists, novices, and self-produced artists, it would be wrong to suggest that their tools don’t service the requirements of advanced, audio professionals. As such, there is a learning curve required to maximise the full potential of each tool. This is especially true for the flagship products in the suite (e.g. Neutron, Nectar, Ozone, and RX), whose broad range of features and advanced functionality can take a considerable amount of time to master. Fortunately, iZotope provides excellent documentation, blog posts, and video tutorials that explore all of their products in detail.

Overall, the suite is a pleasure to use, with many of the included products sharing a symbiosis that elevates the user experience and helps to unite the various tools. Should iZotope continue to hone their vision of a completely unified ecosystem, this experience will only improve.

Conclusion

Whilst there are examples of competitive bundles that match and exceed certain aspects of iZotope’s Music Production Suite (e.g. Sound-Design, Mixing, Mastering, and Post-Production), few bundles exist that cover all of these bases with the same degree of sophistication, innovation, functionality, and approachability. These four qualities underpin all of iZotope’s tools, which is a primary reason why they continue to set the benchmark and industry standard across various disciplines within professional audio.

There is an immense amount of utility and value to be extracted from the Music Production Suite, and users will see undeniable improvements to their creations should they take the time to learn how to maximise each tool’s potential. That isn’t to say there aren’t improvements to be made. iZotope’s IPC technology is yet to reach its full potential, and there are products included in the suite that drift behind the flagship tools—both in design and functionality. iZotope has been known to abandon beloved tools and features in the past, so it remains to be seen how this will be addressed going forward. Such is the excellence on display, that one hopes for the continual evolution and integration across the current lineup.

Despite the aforementioned quirks that arise from a bundle of this size, the Music Production Suite remains one of the finest bundles on the market to integrate the Mixing, Mastering, Audio Restoration, and Post-Production processes. No matter one’s chosen discipline or genre, the selection of products included in the suite have the potential to enhance creative workflows and transform the music production process.

Technical Info

1. Download, installation, and authentication is most easily managed through the iZotope Product Portal. A user account is required, and users have the option to authenticate their products locally or via iLok.
2. Mac & PC are both supported: VST3, AU, and AAX.
3. iZotope provides comprehensive documentation for all of its products. The manuals are available online and are easily accessible directly within the relevant plugin or application.
4. CPU usage is well optimised. Process heavy tasks—particularly in Ozone—may result in latency when running multiple instances, and when using the plugin’s smart features.

Disclaimer: This review was conducted on a MacBook Pro M4 Pro with 48 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD (macOS Sequoia 15.5). User experience with the reviewed software may vary with different technical specifications.

Alternatives

1. Total Bundle (FabFilter): Sound-design, Mixing, and Mastering.
2. Mix & Mastering Suite (Acon Digital): Mixing, Mastering, and Audio Restoration.
3. Volume 6 and Flow Mastering Suite (Softube): Sound-design, Mixing, and Mastering.
4. Total Studio 5 MAX (IK Multimedia): Sound-design, Mixing, and Mastering.
5. UAD Signature Edition (Universal Audio): Sound-design, Mixing, and Mastering.
6. Mix Monolith and COS Pro (AYAIC): Mixing.
7. All Plugins Bundle (Mastering The Mix): Mixing and Mastering.
8. Mercury (Waves): Sound-design, Mixing, and Mastering.

Music Production Suite 7.1 is regularly priced $599 USD. If you’re quick you can still pick it up for only $399 USD at part of the Summer of Sound sale at Native Instruments and iZotope, and from distributor Plugin Boutique. Upgrades and crossgrades start from $199 USD. The offer expires June 30th, 2025.

Josh Turvey is a musician, producer and an avid plugin enthusiast. He provides online, 1-2-1 tuition for guitar and music production for NoiseQuest.