Audio interface companies often offer packages of free software along with the purchase of a hardware interface or mixer. It can be a way to differentiate their products in an ever-more-crowded market or a chance to make lasting customers for their associated software lines. What's included can also tell you a lot about the type of music maker they imagine will be using their equipment.
Of course, through partnering with hardware makers, software companies can also forge partnerships to get their entry-level plugins into the workflows of the next generation of engineers and producers. And users get the opportunity to test out a range of programs and learn associated skills, all for the price of an interface.
Today, iZotope is announcing that their Neutron Elements, the entry-level version to iZotope's Neutron 2 EQ plugin, will join PreSonus' Studio Magic Suite—the package of free music software available to registered owners of current PreSonus products.
Eligible products from PreSonus' line include the AudioBox USB, AudioBox i-series, and Studio-series interfaces, along with the StudioLive Series III, StudioLive AR USB, and StudioLive RML-series mixers.
In a press release, iZotope says, "Now PreSonus users can easily reach an optimal starting point, identify mix issues, and fully wield creative control over all mix decisions." It highlights Neutron features, like Track Assistant and EQ Learn, that help make mixing easy.
Previous plugins made available through Studio Magic Suite are only able to be used in PreSonus' own Studio One DAW—so this is likely to be the case with Neutron Elements as well, though that remains unclear in the announcement.
Studio One 4 Artist, the entry-level version of PreSonus' recording program, has long been available as a free download to many registered PreSonus hardware owners. The DAW puts a premium on ease-of-use, but the wealth of features in the full Studio One 4 Professional has made it attractive to plenty of actual pros as well.
In a similar gambit toward nabbing a different kind of music maker, Native Instruments recently announced the Komplete Audio 1 and Komplete Audio 2 interfaces. Including a free software suite of NI's own synths, drum machine software, and effects—as well as an entry-level Ableton Live 10 Lite and a few free months' subscription to the NI-owned Sounds.com sample library—it's giving new producers a taste of the possibilities under the larger NI umbrella.
For those who'd like Neutron Elements without the purchase of PreSonus hardware, it's currently on sale through Reverb. Already registered with a PreSonus device? You can visit the iZotope–PreSonus Magic Bundle page to download the software. PreSonus' latest versions of its Studio series interfaces were just announced at NAMM this January.