Audio restoration plugins

[JCBigler]

I've been looking at audio restoration plugins and software.

Waves Restoration (as part of Diamond Bundle), Izotope RX4, Acon Digital Restoration suite. Not thinking about RX4 Advanced at this point because it's nearly $1,100.

Waves Restoration is on sale through the end of the month, and is included with Diamond which may be on sale next month also. (I already have Waves Platinum). So, currently, Waves Restoration and RX4 are about the same price. The Acon Digital Restoration Suite is $79.

Given the same price, is RX4 a huge improvement over Waves Restoration? Is Acon Restoration any good for $79?

Other products in the same price range that I should consider?

[Craig F]

Cedar and iZatope are the top picks
I haven't tried Acon
Waves, just trying to get on the bandwagon in my book

Search through the Post & Surround section for more opinions

[Eric Lambert]

The post engineers at my facility use Izotope and love it. I use it occasionally for vocals and it never disappoints.

[nst7]

RX4 does some things that Waves doesn't do. The Waves stuff came out many years ago. However, that doesn't mean it's bad. The last time I compared RX to Waves was a few years ago. At that time I felt that the Waves stuff, where it did a similar function, left the original audio more intact vs. RX. That may have changed in newer versions of RX, and as mentioned, RX definitely does some things that Waves doesn't do. So anyway, I like the Waves stuff.

I strongly suggest that between buying Waves Restoration now, and upgrading to Diamond next time it's on sale, I would just upgrade to Diamond. If they do their sales the way they have been, by the time discounts from Audiodeluxe kick in, it should only be about $50-75 more to upgrade to Diamond, vs. the price of buying Restoration now. And of course Diamond includes Restoration, plus a whole bunch of other good plugins. So to me it's a no-brainer.

[mesaone]

The ACON stuff is good. For the price, it's fantastic. Obviously it can't do all of what RX4 can do, but it can repair noise/hum/click/clipping.

[JFreak]

How come nobody has mentioned Sonnox? Perhaps because it's on the expensive side, but it's good.

[SDDP]

Originally Posted by nst7

RX4 does some things that Waves doesn't do. The Waves stuff came out many years ago. However, that doesn't mean it's bad. The last time I compared RX to Waves was a few years ago. At that time I felt that the Waves stuff, where it did a similar function, left the original audio more intact vs. RX. That may have changed in newer versions of RX, and as mentioned, RX definitely does some things that Waves doesn't do. So anyway, I like the Waves stuff.

I strongly suggest that between buying Waves Restoration now, and upgrading to Diamond next time it's on sale, I would just upgrade to Diamond. If they do their sales the way they have been, by the time discounts from Audiodeluxe kick in, it should only be about $50-75 more to upgrade to Diamond, vs. the price of buying Restoration now. And of course Diamond includes Restoration, plus a whole bunch of other good plugins. So to me it's a no-brainer.

Also if I might add, if you buy the waves restoration now and when Diamond comes out, they will give you credit for owning it towards the sale of Diamond (when it goes on sale and it does quite often). So you get the best of both worlds. I had Restoration, dorrough, Gold and another one, and when %50 off Diamond came out ( got it even cheaper from a local dealer), Waves took all the plugs I owned and gave me credit towards it) then when Mercury had %50 off, took that and some other plugs (that were not in Diamonds bundle that I owned) and got Mercury + SSL.

And now I still get their emails about sales on this plug or that new one, etc and get excited to check it out or/and want it.. To realize.. wait... I got Merc!
(which has it all)

End of story.

[maxgain]

+1 for RX4. Started out on RX3, love it.

[simon.a.billington]

Originally Posted by SDDP

Also if I might add, if you buy the waves restoration now and when Diamond comes out, they will give you credit for owning it towards the sale of Diamond (when it goes on sale and it does quite often). So you get the best of both worlds. I had Restoration, dorrough, Gold and another one, and when %50 off Diamond came out ( got it even cheaper from a local dealer), Waves took all the plugs I owned and gave me credit towards it) then when Mercury had %50 off, took that and some other plugs (that were not in Diamonds bundle that I owned) and got Mercury + SSL.

And now I still get their emails about sales on this plug or that new one, etc and get excited to check it out or/and want it.. To realize.. wait... I got Merc!
(which has it all)

End of story.

That sounds mad!! I think I've got to start moving my way towards bundles too. The begin to make the most sense in terms of investment when it comes to Waves.

I'm just not a huge fan of a lot of their retro interfaces. Superficial I know, but I would like to see them update all their vintage looks to something more contemporary. That way it makes people want to use it more, instead of opting for their shinier newer stuff more.

It's all psychology, but psychology matters when it comes to user experience.

[Transister kid]

CEDAR have just released the DNS One with a learn option and a new version of Retouch that works in Pro Tools or standalone, anyone tried it yet? I may upgrade my DNS and give it a try.