Izotope VEA: How Does It Compare With Clear, dxRevive, and VoicEx

Izotope VEA is a plugin that seems to be their response to the latest plugins aimed at helping podcasters, KZbinrs, and other content creators clean up their audio. Plugins like Supertone Clear, Accentize dxRevive, and Cedar Audio VoicEx have surpassed RX's noise and reverb reduction algorithms. Hear how well Vea compares to these plugins when it comes to handling challenging podcast audio.
Don't miss part 2 of my Izotope Vea review where I demonstrate it being used as a voice enhancement tool on good recordings. • Izotope VEA As A Voice...
Izotope VEA: tinyurl.com/IzotopeVEA
*Supertone Clear*: tinyurl.com/supertone-clear
Accentize dxRevive & dxRevive Pro: www.accentize.com/dxrevive/
Cedar Audio VoicEx: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...
Schedule A One-on-One Coaching & Consulting Call ($95/hr): calendly.com/tansyasteraudio/...
Improve your podcast editing skills at Podcast Editing School: www.tansyasteracademy.com/pod...
Improve your business acumen as a podcast service provider at Tansy Aster Academy's Pro Group: www.tansyasteracademy.com/pro...
Learn how to use Izotope RX to clean up podcast audio with my course, Izotope RX: A Practical Guide for Podcasters - www.tansyasteracademy.com/izo...
For podcast production services: www.tansyasteraudio.com
For branding and growth strategies: tansyaster.com/
My Equipment:
Camera: Canon R8 amzn.to/3vdFBjq
Lens: Canon RF 28mm amzn.to/3tvFbV0
Lights: Elgato Key Lights amzn.to/475KIPS
Mic: Earthworks Ethos amzn.to/3Rwmad3
Preamp: Cranborne Audio EC-1 amzn.to/47aj9F5
Interface: Universal Audio Apollo x8 amzn.to/48uZUXE
Headphones: Ollo Audio S4X 1.3: tinyurl.com/Ollo-S4X-headphones
*Get a free case and extension cable when you order directly from Ollo. Add the affiliate pack (tinyurl.com/ollo-affiliate-pack) and use the coupon code "tansy" when you order your headphones.
Ollo Audio S5X: tinyurl.com/Ollo-S5X (this code automatically gets you the freebies above plus Waves nx virtual room)
Follow me on Facebook: / jesse.mccune
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
@EarthworksAudio
#earthworksaudio
#earthworksmicrophones
@olloaudio
0:00 Intro
0:30 About VEA
3:36 Getting Started With VEA
5:51 About The Comparisons
6:58 Comparison 1
10:25 Comparison 2
12:45 Comparison 3
16:30 My Thoughts

[@edmazur2084]

excellently done....made hearing the diff soooo easy... thank you.

[@jesse.mccune]

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad it was helpful.

[@joeffl9]

Thanks for the comparison of all of these. The differences really stand out side by side. I listened to the first set of samples on my TV's low to mid price soundbar. I couldn't tell a difference for any except dxRevive. So I stopped that and tried it on my computer with headphones and could hear more detail, and the differences you mentioned. I received the promo email from Izotope yesterday and listened to the samples they provided. I wasn't impressed but thought maybe the samples were just too short to really get an idea of the performance. And at least they have a free trial, but thanks to you, I don't have to bother with that. I can't really comment on Izotope's legacy since I'm new to serious scrutiny of audio. But I know from experience in other interests that when a once leading company gets behind then tries to play catch up they often miss the mark at first. I would speculate that Izotope started with a price and engineered based on that. I would think with their history and body of work (not to mention knowledge of the competition) they could have come up with something better. Or just left it alone and pushed their plugins.

[@jesse.mccune]

It's amazing how much detail gets lost in room sound and the space between the speakers and our ears when compared to listening on headphones. I'm glad I was able to take one for the team by demoing this and creating the video. We can hope Izotope hits the next one out of the park, but I have a hard time thinking they will. Things have gone downhill since Izotope was acquired by Native Instruments. First, they moved to annual updates, though they skipped 2023 (presumably because they were hard at work on the cutting edge VEA plugin). Then, they eliminated online tech support chat. The only good thing that seems to have come out of the Native Instruments purchase is the visuals of the VEA plugin. Izotope was known for having very sterile, boring, utilitarian UI. They would never have created a pretty looking plugin like VEA.

[@ES60Hz]

Thank you for that invested comparison; now I know better about each and how it compares, but I tell you the truth, I think that VEA is marketed more as a voice enhancer tool rather than a noise reduction tool, so maybe it is a bit unfair comparison.

[@jesse.mccune]

The marketing isn't super clear. It talks about being made for content creators and podcasters to help them create more professional sounding content. I think that since it has noise reduction, many of us expected this to be a tool along the lines of other noise reduction tools out there. I created a second video that goes more in-depth on using this to enhance the voice on decent to good recordings. I'll add a link to the description and see if I can add a banner to the video to make it more clear that there is a part 2.

[@JanneAirDotCom]

Judging by your video (great job by the way) I wouldn't touch VEA even if it was free. I'm surprised that people don't praise dxRevive that much. I for one (as a field recorder as well) really appreciate the vibe it gives you: it's like a lav mic on a perfect position compared to others. I understand that it's off-putting in certain situations but I much rather add some EQ and reverb etc to the sound to make it seem worse if it needs to be, rather than having the plugin be worse but "more natural" like VoicEx.

[@jesse.mccune]

Thanks for the feedback. It's always good to hear when someone feels I do a good job on a video. Having worked with VEA a little more, I feel it can be useable in some situations. If someone has pretty good audio, it can be an effective EQ for those who don't have the monitoring or the skill to do quality EQ work themselves. I think Izotope did a poor job of making it clear what this product is and isn't. I see Izotope and noise reduction and I think RX. This is not that and I think they missed the mark on this because it doesn't do anything particularly well in any use case. I think Accentize has helped themselves by adding a mode that removes the EQ in dxRevive Pro. For me, my other big gripe with dxRevive, is I don't find Accentize's noise reduction to be very good or transparent...and that applies to all their NR plugins. Their noise reduction sounds fine on speakers, but not so good on headphones, and that's where my audience and clients live.

[@JuanitoCardona]

Thank you !!!!

[@jesse.mccune]

No problem. I’m glad you found it helpful.

[@samphelps856]

Dxrrvive isn't a noise reduction tool as much as it's a resynthesis tool. It's not removing the background, it's literally rebuilding the speech. Yes it's first module is noise reduction (can use this in the pro version) but that's just to clean the signal so the synthesis is more accurate. The more clear the original is (regardless of what's in the background) the better job it will do, it doesn't do well with lo-fi recordings.

[@jesse.mccune]

I look at dxRevive as Adobe’s Speech Destroyer in plugin form. Great for things that need that resynthesis and we’re prioritizing salvaging the recording over all else.

[@jpaulnicholas]

I actually love Revive - I just run an eq plugin after it in the chain to shape it up a bit.

[@jesse.mccune]

I definitely see a lot of love for dxRevive.

[@Rio-uv1gs]

Supertone Clear 👍🏾

[@jesse.mccune]

Clear is what I use most of the time.

[@cajamanual6713]

I'm not sure if I get it. This is a virtual audio interface? means that I can use and modulate my voice in live when I'm Using discord or zoom to talk with friends and they will listen my voice modulated or is just for recording audio and modulate it later?

[@jesse.mccune]

I'm not sure what you mean by modulating your voice, but I'll try to explain what VEA is. It's a plugin used to enhance recordings of your voice. It can remove some noise, apply EQ, and adjust the volume. It's not a voice changer if that's what you're looking for. If you're looking for a voice changer you can apply in real-time, check out Supertone Shift. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6HVqqenhsylf9U

[@MattStevens9824]

I think he's asking if it can be used as a live filter real-time to filter out ambient noise.

[@jesse.mccune]

@@MattStevens9824 VEA is a plugin. Outside of some very specific cases, plugins aren’t going to be useable live because of the latency they introduce.

[@lemonaudio]

Some KZbinr make some "extreme" comparisons (like someone is meters/feets away with ultra high diverse noise floor) -> Ok no problem -> In this very special case you have to look for the best provider/result. But let´s be honest. That is a very special case. And most of this software is not trained for that. It´s trained for regular cases. And in regular cases -> I can just speak for myself -> You want a mediocre but more likely "good voice recording" to get rid of artefacts. And and this case VoiceEX is master. It´s not that case where you need 100% or maybe more to be tuned in. I´m talking about cases where it should sound naturaly, like 30% to max. 50%.

[@jesse.mccune]

That’s why I choose the clips that I do. Anything will work to clean up a really good recording with a little noise floor. For those of us editing other people’s recordings, the examples I use are par for the course. They show of the strengths and weaknesses of each plugin. VEA needs something that’s 75-80% of the way there. Clear can handle enough that it’s my first choice because of items lighter CPU usage. dxRevive gets used on Zoon recordings that aren’t worth putting any effort into salvaging. VoicEx gets used when Clear can’t get the job done. It almost doubles the render time when I use 2 instances on a 60 minute interview. It’s not bad, but I’ll go with Clear if it gets me close enough.

[@omerylmaz958]

you can tone down that eq with dx revive pro. The pro version is where it really shines as you can get rid of the frequencies you dont want the ai to not process

[@jesse.mccune]

I tried it out and thought about it. What I realized is that I just want to turn it off and it didn’t seem like that was possible with the Pro version. I could only turn off processing for certain frequency ranges.

[@omerylmaz958]

@@jesse.mccunehe bands to 4 and play around as you wish. The algorhtm is really good at bringing the low end but sucks in the mid to higher frequencies. What i do usualy to use dx then eq after. Nou can get pretty impressive results that way.

[@cosmingurau]

Wait, is that Jesse Plemons in the second comparison?!?!?

[@jesse.mccune]

It's not. I had to go back and listen to the clip, but I can hear the similarity.

[@cosmingurau]

@@jesse.mccune Whoever he is, he can make a quick buck as a non-AI deepfake of Meth Damon's voice

[@alyaagad2958]

Thank you so very much. You have saved me a lot of wasted time and effort. ❤

[@jesse.mccune]

Glad it helped.

[@theslunk]

Would definitely love to use dxrevive but unfortunately, they're focused on development for macs.

[@jesse.mccune]

I didn't know that. I know how frustrating that is. There have been plugins and apps I've been interested in that are PC only.

[@Tomaslav16]

Благодарю за Обзор.....))) упражнялся с VEA часа полтора! так и не нашёл куда его применить в своей сфере реставрации ! Занимаюсь реанимированием "Тяжёлого" аудио-т.е. восстановление фонограмм несколько раз перезаписанных с кассет VHS на другую кассету!. Пока алгоритм моей работы остался прежний! подготовка файла к шумоподавлению, Немного Acon Vitalize что бы просто восстановить верхнюю середину, потом 3 прохода dxRevive Pro - Один в слабом Studio, Два в Retain, удаленеие остаточного Hiss с помощью Acon Extract Dialogue-и потом SonybleLimit и дальше руками в iZotope. Все функции VEA ни вместе ни по отдельности не пригодились......Жду твоих следующих обзоров!!! Удачи)))

[@jesse.mccune]

Kudos to you for putting in an hour and a half with this plugin. As you found out, it's not going to replace anything in your existing workflow. You have my sympathies with the type of work you're doing. The audio quality from multi generational VHS recordings can't be too good. Hopefully, Google Translate did a good job, and my response makes sense 🙂.

[@Tomaslav16]

@@jesse.mccune Наоборот!!! мне очень нравится возвращать почти из забытья...эти ШЕДЕВРЫ))) когда всё получается чувствуешь себя ОСОБЕННО ЖИВЫМ)))))

[@jesse.mccune]

I can only imagine the feeling when you salvage something challenging. That's a much better use for these types of tools than me sitting here cleaning up people's podcast recordings. At least more rewarding.

[@alancooper7018]

Hold on a sec, firstly you are comparing chalk with cheese, audio noise and reverb reduction require highly specialised algorithms to achieve anything that might be considered good! Clearly for €29 you just wouldn’t expect it to compete with the likes of Cedar for 30 times the cost. As a tool that will provide a reasonable suggestion for frequency and dynamic changes to improve your vocals then for the money VEA hits the spot! Non the less I found the comparison very interesting thanks.

[@jesse.mccune]

Your comment exemplifies why I made a second video showcasing that VEA is capable of what you describe. The EQ section is pretty good, especially for people who are intimidated or new to EQ. I recommend it to people looking for an easy to use EQ who don't want to pay for Sonible's smart:EQ or even pure:EQ. The reason I compared VEA to these plugins is the way that Izotope marketed VEA gave the initial impression that it should compete with these. Supertone Clear was available at $29 initially, so I wouldn't be out of my mind to think it could compare. The two biggest needs for content creators working with audio is noise and reverb reduction, so it seems baffling that Izotope uses a gentle noise reduction algorithm and ignores reverb altogether. I wasn't expecting it to completely replace RX, but I did honestly expect more from an Izotope plugin aimed at content creators because that is the space that plugins like Clear and dxRevive thrive in. VoicEx is thrown into the comparison because it's a similar plugin to the others, though aimed at pros rather than content creators.

[@alancooper7018]

@@jesse.mccune thanks for the reply I will give your second video a look at!

[@robnecronomicon1570]

Nice comparison! I'd seen Via on Gear Space but at the price, it seemed like a bit of a toy. I think you've hit the nail on the head here with Izotope. They were once the industry leaders and now they are just coasting (to use your own words). There has been nothing innovative from them in years, IMO. The same could be said for Native Instruments sadly. :(

[@jesse.mccune]

I feel they swung and missed badly on this. With plugins like Clear, VoicEx, and dxRevive on the market, why didn't they include reverb reduction? They could have knocked it out of the park by creating a real time plugin offering noise reduction, reverb reduction, mouth de-click, and voice de-noise. If they did that well, it would give VoicEx a solid run for the money. But, instead, we get this.

[@Maradnus]

they have been taken over by NI now.. so they went from being a standard.. to just a nother tool in the.. but for the price if all you need is a quick fix I think its fine. But if you are serious then there are obviously better options.

[@jesse.mccune]

@@Maradnus There's been a noticeable change since RX was sold, and not for the better.

[@lemonaudio]

GUYS, VOICEX is on COMPLETELY ANOTHER LEVEL. Please!! If you don´t hear it than you don´t need it! That´s how easy and short it is. I´ve heard many other comparisons, included Demo´s by myself, and I can truly assure: YES it´s much more expensive, but the quality is on another step. Like Izotpe is on about the same level as Waves. But VoiceEx is unbeatable when quality is important. I mean just hear, look at the price and then you will understand.

[@jesse.mccune]

I thought to myself “there’s no way this can be that much better”. In many cases, it’s not. But there are times it can do things nothing else can. And in those instances, it saves so much time.

[@AnkitWP]

KZbinrs using cheap mic or phone's mic can have decent audio quality with dxrevive.

[@jesse.mccune]

They can if there isn't much noise on their recordings. I feel Accentize's noise reduction algorithms are their biggest weakness. I hear too many artifacts in them for my liking. Either way, it's easier than even to have decent audio with minimal effort or skill.

[@pjlira]

The video was very helpful. No, it is not worth the 29 dollars. dxRevive is WAY superior!!!

[@jesse.mccune]

I’m glad it was helpful. I expected something better from Izotope.

[@fmazzariello68]

full licence now $799 ....still can't compare. On the other hand I do agree that dxRevive is much better!!!

[@jesse.mccune]

They're all better than VEA when it comes to noise and reverb reduction. In the followup video I did, I test VEA strictly as a tool for enhancing the voice. Its tuning of the voice (EQ) is actually pretty good for those who aren't good with EQ or looking for a quick way to clean up the voice on a decent recording.

[@In-The-Cold]

VEA is not a noise-reduction plugin. According to iZotope, it's an enhancer with basic noise reduction functionality. Why would they do another RX for $29? This is a cool little helper for podcasters who want consistent levels and a more polished sound and I think VEA is doing a pretty good job at that.

[@jesse.mccune]

The reason I feel this is a missed opportunity for Izotope is because the competitors are putting out plugins that handle noise and reverb reduction as well or better than RX in real time. I see no market for this plugin. Those who know what they’re doing will have better tools than this. Content creators with no understanding of working with audio are likely to already have tools that do this. A lot of them are working with things like Descript, Adobe Podcast, or Auphonic. They wouldn’t know what to do with a plugin. As a podcast editor, I’m looking for ways to expedite my workflow. One of the biggest bottlenecks is using the RX editor, so yes, there’s a reason for them to start repackage some RX modules into a plugin. I would pay for a plugin that includes quality noise and reverb reduction, mouth de-click, de-plosive, and voice de-noise as long as I can control each one individually.

[@Gongtopia]

You may be right that VEA is aimed at the ‘average Joe’ podcaster and not someone more pro, but if so, Izotope really missed by not making the noise reduction better, because that’s something that the average podcaster usually needs. Make it better and charge $49 for it, which is still a deal for the casual user.

[@samphelps856]

How did you afford VoiceX? Lol

[@jesse.mccune]

I don’t even want to think about it.

[@fmazzariello68]

VEA $ 29.00 .......dxRevive $ 1.200 or more !!!!!! How can You compare them????????

[@jesse.mccune]

Price isn't always an indicator of quality. Look at Supertone Clear as an example. I bought it for $29 and it has replaced RX Advanced for my noise and reverb reduction needs. I will take Clear at full price ($99) every day over dxRevive Pro at $299. I even choose Clear over VoicEx most of the time. Izotope marketed VEA as "This easy-to-use tool is perfect for podcasters and content creators of all skillsets, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro" and one of the main selling points is its noise reduction, so I compared it to other noise reduction tools. I feel Izotope failed with the marketing on VEA. They oversold and underdelivered.

[@caprising4445]

The one built into davinci is better than that

[@jesse.mccune]

Same with FCP's native audio enhancements. This should really be a freebie plugin, not paid.

[@ply6921]

Useless. I use a trial on various voice recordings.

[@jesse.mccune]

That seems to be the consensus.

[@richardsisk1770]

Not impressed with VEA. Thanks! I wouldn’t use it if it was free.

[@jesse.mccune]

That's my take. At least Waves released Clarity VX in two versions, so it wasn't such a let down when we discovered the cheap version wasn't that good. I'll pay for a quality plugin, but I'm not going to buy a cheap plugin that doesn't do anything well.

[@georgyj111111]

Vea is a joke.

[@jesse.mccune]

I hope they didn’t put too many resources into developing this.

[@user-xp1ds3yx1o]

Set speed to 1.75

[@jesse.mccune]

Yes, play at faster speeds when I'm not demonstrating audio because I am not a fast talker and I'm not going to edit TikTok style. I would recommend 1.5 as it feels the most natural to me.

[@fantanoSucks]

VEA & VoiceEx both sound badly clipped. Ugly distortion. Clear is in the middle & DXRevive is definitely the overall winner for me.

[@jesse.mccune]

Thanks for the feedback. Which clips are you hearing the clipping on? I'm also curious what type of device you used to watch the video. On my end, I'm not hearing clipping or distortion on any of the examples with any of the plugins and I checked both on KZbin and the source video.

[@fantanoSucks]

on a cellphone they sound clipped, on pro monitors not so bad. But middle clip the guy clearing his throat sounds 100 years old with VoiceEx

[@jesse.mccune]

I'm not sure why it's sounding clipped on your phone. I think it's interesting how we all hear things differently. The guy clearing his throat, to me, sounds like he's 100 years old on all the clips. I hear VoicEx as the cleanest and most realistic of the 4 clips. dxRevive smooths it out some with its eq and spectral porcessing, but to my ear, no longer sounds like a true representation of his voice.