The plugins in the bundle are of particular note as well. iZotope has long been recognized for its mastering plugins, and I was happy to see some included! The limiter is especially easy to use and musical, as long as you don't push it too hard (like all limiters). The other iZotope plugs are very nice too and will prove to be very useful in many situations. The Noise Reduction 2.0 plugin is great for cleaning up old vinyl recordings or reducing HVAC noise, hum, etc. in the background. (For more on this plugin, please see the full review in our February, 2006 issue.) Also nice, though not new, is SF9's compatibility with third party Direct X and VST plugins. This opens many, many doors for creative (or corrective) processing!
Performance SF9 performed flawlessly -- not a single hiccup. It sounded great and did exactly what I expected it to do. It's a simple statement, but it's actually a huge plus with me! What more can I say?!
Value
At $399 SF9 offers an incredible package! The Noise Reduction 2.0 plug-in alone sells separately for the same price, let alone all of the other things Sony piled on to make this suite a sweet deal. All told, there is nearly $700 of free addiitonal software included!
Final Comments
I must admit, this review barely scratches the surface. SF9 is a deep program with tons of editing, mixing, and mastering capabilites. I especially recommend it for editing and mastering stems that are already mixed (perhaps in a more fully-featured multitrack mixing environment). And in my opinion, you can't beat the rock-solid stability of SF9!
Ease
of Use
9.0
Depth
of Options
8.0
Performance
9.0
Value
9.0
Overall
Score
8.8
John Howard has been perfecting sound as an audio engineer for over 10 years. When he's not reviewing gear and software for Microfilmmaker Magazine, he's in the studio recording vocalists and bands, as well as doing post for TV shows and films, through his audio post/recording company, Oakwood Sound Design.
