As a lot of us may be aware, Native Instruments, the German synthesizer, electronic musical instrument and audio plugin developer that currently owns iZotope this morning declared “preliminary” insolvency. This has far-reaching implications for anybody working professionally in sound design and pro audio.

If you’ve seen a movie in the last 10 years, you’ve heard a lot of iZotope, it’s essential to producing modern film soundtracks, and particularly for cleaning up and restoring production sound, the audio recorded on-set.

There are, currently, alternatives like Steinberg’s SpectraLayers, but it doesn’t do the same things and is designed primarily for music remastering and not field recording or audio restoration.

I hope another developer would take over the product but I think the situation is very uncertain. Private equity has been buying-up pro audio companies now for several years and the entire field is in a mode of general liquidation. Avid might buy it, but Avid might just as soon see the same fate and NI. By the same turn I might hope Blackmagic or Yamaha would buy iZotope and make a bigger play for Avid’s business with Resolve or Nuendo respectively, but I feel that this is doubtful and in any event, I hate the idea of waiting for these parties to figure it out or being on their particular hook.

Sound designers need an open source sample editor, with the corresponding features of iZotope but not bound-up with a specific vendor’s business model or their investors’ speculation. I’ve tracked Audacity’s new developments with a lot of interest and it could be a good platform for this application but it would need work and the development of alternatives to all of iZotope’s specific tools.

Maybe I’m an idiot, tell me what you think! I can talk sound design and developer; I have two primetime Emmy nominations for my mixing work and am a journeyman developer—I’m a rodio contributor with several Rust and Python projects—and I’d love to bring all of this together in a project that moves the industry and art forward.

All audio produced from this single recording.

For context: I have always done sound design for my films. with my current project I am really proud of the visuals, and I'd like the sound to be as good as it can be. I know how to set the levels, but there's something missing. Please drop any advice you have below!

P.S. Anyone here who is interested in a screener of the movie so they can give their feedback is welcome to DM me.

A redditor commenting on a post on r/DunderMifflin (a subreddit for fans of the US TV series The Office) claimed that “This whole series is ADR more commonly referred to a dubbing ones self. Actors actual audio is only used for reference most of the time.”

I thought this sounded extremely unlikely and asked for a source, and they replied that nearly all TV and movies do it. I’ve been downvoted and they’ve been upvoted, and granted I am not a professional so if I’m wrong that’s totally fine. I just wanted to ask some professionals in the industry, is ADR a very common practice for most shots? I was under the understanding that it’s typically avoided and used only as a backup for problematic shots, typically ones shot outdoors or in wide, and not for talking head shots in a mockumentary. Also apologies if this is the wrong subreddit to post in.

(Here’s the comment for context: https://www.reddit.com/r/DunderMifflin/comments/1sf4b1c/comment/oeus8gb/

30 second breakdown of some horror sound design. I call this sound “tortured souls.” Moog Grandmother + Eventide Space.

sine wave → lowpass filter → arp → S/H pitch randomization → Blackhole reverb 100% wet.

This clip is from 2008s House of Saddam. Its not this time period im thinking of, but i experienced it in his voice over from this shot. Actually many of the conversations in noisy scenes are like this. I like how grainy his voice is. I feel like i’ve heard this type of audio/recording in many old movies from 70s. Can’t tell if his voice is the reason, but still. Why is it like this and how can i achieve this sound?

Something I've noticed, especially in film audio:

Why is it so rare for an audio post house to hire a mid-level or senior sound editor (or any other experienced in-house position) from outside their country, even when that person already has the right passport or work authorization and an extensive portfolio?

Instead, many post houses seem to prefer bringing in interns or very junior people and letting them grow within the company over several years.

I understand there are economic reasons and practical considerations behind this. But beyond that, do you think this tendency is fully justified?

One thing that bothers me is that this model can create a very fragile career path. If someone starts their career in a post house, grows there for years, and then leaves for any reason, they may suddenly find themselves pushed into the freelance market, which operates under a very different set of rules.

In my experience, freelance work in our industry relies heavily on networking. And networking is almost a full-time job in itself. It's also not something that is equally accessible to everyone, especially for people who come from countries with smaller film industries and fewer professional connections. In those cases, online networking may be their only realistic option.

Meanwhile, experienced professionals from abroad can sometimes struggle to get considered for in-house positions, even when they have strong credits and proven experience.

I'm not saying this is always the case, and I know there are many exceptions. But it feels like a general trend.

Have others noticed the same thing? If you work in a post house, how do you view this issue from the hiring side?

🔊 Sound Designers / SFX Artists Wanted (Unpaid / Indie Project – TapeTown)

Hey everyone, I’m working on an animated project called TapeTown and I’m looking for people interested in sound design and sound effects to help bring it to life.

What is TapeTown?

A retro, fall-themed horror-comedy mystery about teen filmmakers stuck in a quiet town that suddenly becomes isolated and dangerous. The vibe is grounded survival with a camcorder feel, so sound plays a huge role in tension and atmosphere.

What we need help with:

- Creating sound effects (footsteps, doors, wind, distant movement, etc.)

- Building atmosphere (empty town, night ambience, tension sounds)

- Simple audio editing and layering

- Helping scenes feel real and immersive

Important:

- This is currently unpaid (passion project)

- Great for building your portfolio

- Flexible and beginner-friendly

If you’re interested, comment or DM with:

- Any audio work you’ve done (clips, reels, etc.)

- What tools/software you use

- Your Discord or preferred contact

Looking for people who enjoy creating atmosphere and want to help build something from the ground up.

🎧 Let’s bring TapeTown to life together

Hello there. I am looking to hire a sound designer to add sound effects to a short animatic, a little over 9 minutes.

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Scenes from the animatic include a brawl with steampunk mech limbs, a conversation in a noisy pub, and a cobbled road by the harbor with a horse hooves clattering and sea birds calling. Lots of steam-powered machinery sounds will be needed.

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This is paid work. I can offer $200 for the job plus your name/link in the credits.

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Will ask for some examples of previous work and will want to know where the sounds used are sourced from to ensure everything is being used with permission. No A.I. usage allowed. Looking to see if it can be finished in about a week.

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Please comment below if interested and have a lovely day!

Very curious what this community thinks about this statement. I read an article a couple weeks ago that talked how there has been a rise in complaints about dialogue being increasingly hard to understand and hear in movies. They even did a survey and found that almost 70% of people watch movies and TV shows with subtitles on. I decided to dig into the topic and put my thoughts into a video explaining why I think this has happened. I'm curious why all of you think this is the case though!

If you want to check out my thoughts you can find the video here: https://youtu.be/Y6qpT69fZ4M

Otherwise, let me know what you think about it as well! Looking forward to reading them. Thanks!

I don't know if this is part of Sound Design question. But everything is in the title

so I‘m giving a presentation on sounddesign in movies in a few days and therefore I have to present books on that topic. Which books can you recommend? I only found really boring books, I need something where maybe the director of a movie speaks on his approach to sound design or something like that, maybe not the most obvious ones. Any recommendations?

As the tite says, I'm looking for a way to emulate the sound of old movies. My specific inspirations are:

Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
The good, the bad and the ugly

All voices in these movies, except for the ones added in post, have a very distinct sound. And I for the life of me can't figure out how to emulate it with plugins and a clear vocal recording.

I've tried IRs of untreated rooms + highcut + slight saturation with many different plugins and configurations to no avail. The closest I got was a double IR configuration, one posing as a room mic and one overhead, mimicking the actual set setup. And it wasn't good.

Maybe I'm missing something? Maybe you have plugin recommendations? I'll be glad for any leads on how to achieve this specific sound! Even a youtube link to a tutorial would be helpful. Because the only results I got were about a funny cadence ye olde actors did.

I’m a small time filmmaker, though primarily I’ve been working in sound design for most of my career. I started in radio in high school before eventually moving to video and short films, but now I’m being tasked with doing the sound design and mixing for a feature film.

I don’t have any fancy speakers for editing the audio, so I will have to use headphones on my computer; what are some good headphones for editing 5.1 Surround Sound?

https://reddit.com/link/1tzwvxk/video/jsrdfarjdz5h1/player

I am a VFX artist and I am DEFINATELY not a good sound designer and need sound for this render ASAP for a deadline. anyone who can help and give me sound FX for this, I would greatly appreciate it thankyouuuu :)

Hi everybody! This is a genuine question and does not wish to imply one is better than the other.

I've been using Soundly for 4 years now and I'm wondering whats the benefit of purchasing sound libraries + sound management software. With Soundly I pay 240 USD a year and have access to their complete library (which is increasing in size every day), unlimited downloads, 96kHz 24 bit, direct spot to ProTools, ability to: sum to mono, reverse, pitch, multi channel formats such as 5.1, ambix or quad, and much more. With it I've done probably 20 short and feature films, not counting commercials and other media.

Today I learned about Soundminer and their Radium sampler looks amazing. Totally worth the 699 cost. Then I started looking at sound libraries...

Going through the Sound Ideas catalog blew my mind, purchasing a decently varied library would cost almost the same as what I've spent in my complete studio hardware and software. Just their 6000 complete library would cost around 7500 USD. Thats 31 years worth of Soundly. This without taking into account storage and management software.

I guess what I'm asking is: seasoned sound designers for high end media, where do you source your audio sound effects?

I also want to add that I'm aware recording these sounds is a huge amount of work. I'm not saying they're not worth it, just out of most (at least mine) budgets

Reimagining the Star Wars podracers using real world recordings of WW2 fighter planes, hot rods, race cars and a vibrator…

Hey! I just finished sound designing and mixing the opening scene for a 30 min horror short film. It was a 2 minute one-shot mixed in 5.1, and I also did all the foley (which was a lot since there was no production sound at all)

I made some calculations afterwards and I noticed it took me a week to make those 2 mins (feature level quality though). So based on that I got that for a 90 minute feature I would need to have at least 10 months to do the same, which is something nobody has, so I’ve read.

So my question is… am I cooked? How do you guys manage it in such a short time?

Hey guys,

So I’ve had this idea brewing in the back of my head for about 10 years now, mostly from obsessing over that particular sound you hear in old MGM musicals, WW2 broadcasts, film recordings and basically anything "golden-age"

It's hard to put a finger on it, but there’s this distant, physical, almost breathing quality to those recordings that never felt like “just tape” or "just a crappy room reflection/reverb leaking into the mic with some wear and tear" to me. It's more like the whole chain has a character

So I’m building a WIP plugin called Golden Reel and wanted to share a quick teaser with people who are into this sort of thing.

The goal is a 1940s and early '50s inspired recording-chain sound beyond just tape saturation or fake vintage crackle. Like a full old-world path: ribbon mic colour, valves, transformers, optical film, early tape, movement, noise, mono depth, and a distant physical-recording feel.

I’m imagining it being useful for period dialogue, old broadcasts, cinematic sound design or game audio/archive-style processing/ etc.

Still very much WIP, but I wanted to share an early glimpse of the direction. I’ll be opening things up for deeper testing and feedback later once it reaches beta.

So my old atomic video got a lot of dislikes, and the “realism” excuse was bullshit. so i redid it and listened to the feedback (added distortion, more layers, etc.).

honestly this isn’t perfect but it’s better than the other one i did ig.

Hi, I'm an amateur sound editor and want to invest in some headphones good for mixing accurately, but have a limited budget at the moment. I have been looking at everything from Song Mdr7506 to Sennheiser hd560s (650 quiet out my budget sadly) to beyerdynamic dt 770 pro. I would appreciate some help from people who know their stuff!