Spire Studio was a somewhat unusual product when it was announced. It looked like a very futuristic object, but it was basically a recording interface that could be easily squashed in a very competitive segment with very low margins. At the same time, it was designed as an extension of a wider ecosystem, connecting musicians to software and cloud services, and offering an hardware front-end for AI-based tools, which is currently the main focus for iZotope.
When Spire Studio was introduced, in 2017, iZotope had another level of ambition, which was to create a fully wireless environment for portable recording. Basically, enabling songwriters and musicians to capture, edit, and collaborate seamlessly – at home, or on the road. That initial vision was somewhat hindered by the available technology and processing power, even if it was clear that it was revealing a vision of what could be possible. Actually, the effort was initiated long before, in 2015, with the introduction of the Spire Recorder for iPhone, a free 4-track recording app.
Years later, with a global pandemic clearly showing the possibilities of remote collaboration, and the potential of connected creativity, it made sense to update the original Spire Studio project. Basically, because Spire - as a system - was a perfect recipe for the circumstances of working from home and do-it-on-your-own. Because even famous musicians that used to be surrounded by talented technicians, suddenly where forced to work with what they had. And Spire was designed for musicians to focus on creating music rather than the headaches of traditional recording setups and gear.
Combining a streamlined, intuitive workflow, powered by intelligent audio processing and cloud-based production tools, Spire Studio makes it simple to record ideas, build up tracks, and collaborate with other artists and producers. From start to finish, Spire users have access to creative effects, visual mixing tools, and AI-powered enhancement features that get songs ready for release to fans, friends, and family.
Serving as both a recording studio and a virtual recording assistant, Spire has been adopted by a wide array of artists for their home recording needs during the pandemic - resulting in sold-out inventory. And this motivated iZotope to get an updated version out as soon as possible, using the opportunity also to update and further innovate the underlying technology.
With the introduction of the new Spire Studio to the Spire ecosystem, iZotope updated the recording hardware and even the free Spire companion app for iOS and Android, while offering six free months of Spire Pro for iOS - the paid subscription version of the app, with an exclusive collection of AI-powered features.
The updated Spire Studio interface ($499 USD) continues to offer ease of recording anywhere with a compact, wireless vocal and instrument recording device, offering an onboard studio-grade omnidirectional condenser microphone and two phantom-powered combo inputs (1/4-inch/XLR). New in the updated version are the ultra low-noise preamps that protect further against interference and distortion, increased onboard recording storage for up to 8+ hours (twice the storage of the original), plus faster processing and connectivity, allowing extra-fast setup times when pairing Spire Studio to the companion Spire app via new Bluetooth functionality (the original connected only via WiFi). And even the free version of the Spire app on iOS now supports 8-track recording.
Other updates to Spire Pro allowed additional usage enhancements, including improved battery performance (4+ hour use on a single charge) and a brighter/updated display. The combination of updated software and new preamps allow automatic level-setting and tone-sculpting based on the instrument or voice being used via a unique Soundcheck feature that leverages technology from iZotope Neutron and Nectar - making it able to detect the type of sound source being recorded to set levels.
Following the tracking process, users also have access to new intuitive creative controls for building, mixing, and producing a song with the companion Spire app, along with faster feedback cycles with collaborators through the cloud-based Mix Notes and easy text or email sharing of previews, project files, mixdowns and stems.
By evolving to the new Spire Pro app, users get automatic removal of unwanted background noise, pops, clipping, and plosives with cloud-based repair technology from iZotope RX. The recorded vocals benefit from a personalized Soundcheck feature with more processing options using iZotope Ozone AI-based tools. Also new with Spire Pro is the randomized "Inspire Me" feature that adds iZotope effects to any track, including reverbs, flangers, chorus, and distortions from iZotope Trash.
iZotope's Spire Studio (2nd Generation) is now available for $499 USD MSRP.
www.izotope.com
