--- title: "iZotope Photon: AI stem separation and voice cleanup that runs on your GPU, the first release under Boris FX" url: https://djoscarhernandez.com/en/notes/izotope-photon-ai-stem-separation-and-voice-cleanup-that-runs-on-your-gpu-the-first-release-under lang: en type: NewsArticle section: Music published: "2026-11-08T14:33:36+00:00" modified: "2026-11-09T15:00:54+00:00" publisher: Osky Networks image: https://oskydj.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/calamardo/news_item/2026-11-08/e73-portada-3c233b91.png alternate_es: https://djoscarhernandez.com/es/notas/izotope-photon-separacion-de-stems-y-limpieza-de-voz-con-ia-que-corre-en --- # iZotope Photon: AI stem separation and voice cleanup that runs on your GPU, the first release under Boris FX > On November 3, iZotope launched Photon, a standalone app and ARA plugin for separating stems and cleaning up audio with 12 machine learning models that run on your own machine's GPU. It's the first product the brand has put out since Boris FX bought it in July, and also its first tool dedicated solely to stem separation: RX 12 and Ozone 12 already had separation, but as just one more feature. For anyone making edits, mashups, acapellas or sampling drums, and for anyone rescuing audio from an event or a podcast, the question is the same: is another stem tool worth it when there are already several? Here's what it brings. On November 3, iZotope launched **Photon**, a standalone app and ARA plugin for separating stems and cleaning up audio with 12 *machine learning* models that run on your own machine's GPU. It's the first product the brand has put out since Boris FX bought it in July, and also its first tool dedicated solely to stem separation: RX 12 and Ozone 12 already had separation, but as just one more feature. For anyone making edits, mashups, acapellas or sampling drums, and for anyone rescuing audio from an event or a podcast, the question is the same: is another stem tool worth it when there are already several? Here's what it brings. ## What Photon is According to [iZotope's official announcement](https://www.izotope.com/community/blog/introducing-photon), Photon is "a standalone app and an ARA plugin" for separating stems and cleaning up audio. Its 12 models were custom-trained and process everything locally: no uploading files to the cloud, no usage limits and no waiting queues. The company presents it as the first joint research project between iZotope and Boris FX. There's some background worth knowing. [audioXpress](https://audioxpress.com/news/izotope-introduces-photon-for-gpu-accelerated-stem-separation-and-audio-cleanup) explains that Photon is the continuation of **SoundApp**, the Boris FX application tied to CrumplePop, and the [Boris FX announcement](https://borisfx.com/news/meet-izotope-photon-ai-stem-separation-noise-reduction/) itself calls it "iZotope Photon (formerly CrumplePop SoundApp)". It didn't come out of nowhere: it's a product that already existed, now with iZotope's research team on top of it and the brand that carries the most weight in audio restoration. ## The models: six to separate and six to clean The models split into two families. **Demix** separates an already finished file: - **Music 4 Stems** and **Music 4 Stems Ultra**: vocals, drums, bass and "everything else". The first is for quick adjustments and the Ultra is for when a stem has to stand on its own. - **Drums 5 Stems**: splits a drum kit, or the drums from a full song, into kick, snare, hi-hat, toms and cymbals. - **Voice 2 Stems**: voice on one side, music on the other. iZotope sells it for karaoke or for removing background music from content. - **Cinema 4 Stems**: dialogue, music, effects and the rest, in audio or video. - **Voice Separator**: up to six voices on separate tracks, plus room tone and background. **Denoise** cleans up voice recorded in real-world conditions: Voice Restore (noise, levels, mic tone and echo), Indoor and Indoor Noisy (the latter for loud places like factories or event halls), and Outdoor, Outdoor Traffic and Outdoor Wind for outdoors. ![Diagram: the 12 iZotope Photon models divided into Demix (separation) and Denoise (voice cleanup), with their system requirements and prices](https://oskydj.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/calamardo/news_item/2026-11-08/e73-diagrama-02c6d59c.png) ## How you work with it Three details of the workflow, according to iZotope's documentation, change the day-to-day: - **You listen before exporting.** You jump to any point in the file and Photon starts processing from there; you don't have to wait for the whole file to finish to know if the model works. - **Inside the DAW, via ARA2.** The plugin receives the entire clip instead of real-time audio blocks, so it has all the context. iZotope lists it for Pro Tools, REAPER, Cubase and other ARA2 hosts, plus Sequoia and Samplitude on Windows. You can stack models and compare without reprocessing. If your DAW isn't among the ARA2 hosts, you're left with the standalone app. - **Direct video.** The app opens MP4, MOV, MKV, MXF and MPG (ProRes included), processes the audio and exports a new video with the original picture untouched. For audio it exports WAV, FLAC or MP3. New models arrive through a **Model Manager** with no reinstalling. In the FAQ on the [product page](https://www.izotope.com/products/photon), when asked about guitar or piano models, iZotope only answers that "there are always more models in development". No dates, no commitments. ## Requirements, price and the fine print According to the [product page](https://www.izotope.com/products/photon): | Item | Mac | Windows | |---|---|---| | System | macOS 14 or later | Windows 10 or later, 64-bit | | Processor | Apple silicon (M1 or later), no Intel Macs | Intel Core i5 5th gen or better | | GPU | Uses Core ML | Required, minimum 4 GB of VRAM | | RAM | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended | It also asks for 10 GB or more of free disk space. On price, the perpetual license costs **$349** and includes 12 months of updates. [audioXpress](https://audioxpress.com/news/izotope-introduces-photon-for-gpu-accelerated-stem-separation-and-audio-cleanup) reports a launch price of $259 until December 7, 2026. There's also a subscription at $19 a month or $119 a year, with a discount for new subscribers. Anyone who already owns a paid iZotope product gets *crossgrade* pricing (the biggest discount is for RX owners), and the [official blog](https://www.izotope.com/community/blog/introducing-photon) says that offer ends December 7. There's a full 14-day trial with no limit on files or exports. Two more facts from the [Boris FX announcement](https://borisfx.com/news/meet-izotope-photon-ai-stem-separation-noise-reduction/): anyone with an active subscription to CrumplePop, Boris FX Suite, Vegas Pro Ultimate, Sequoia or Samplitude Suite gets Photon for free. And Photon is the first iZotope product installed from the **Boris FX Hub**, which according to the product page will be the installer for all of iZotope going forward. ## My take What's interesting isn't that another stem separator exists, because there are plenty already. What matters is **where it runs**. iZotope explicitly sells it against the model of uploading files, burning credits and running into limits: everything runs on your GPU and nothing leaves your machine. For anyone working with embargoed material, client mixes or recordings that aren't theirs, that's not a marketing detail. It's the difference between being able to use it or not. For DJs and producers, the juiciest model is **Drums 5 Stems**: pulling a clean kick or snare out of a finished song used to be delicate work with RX or settling for whatever you got. Voice Separator and the Indoor models are aimed more at people recording events, interviews or podcasts in noisy places. What we still don't know is how it sounds next to the competition. Neither iZotope nor Boris FX has published comparisons and I couldn't find independent tests. iZotope itself admits in its FAQ that results depend on the recording and on how much the sources overlap. The requirements leave out Intel Macs and PCs with GPUs under 4 GB, so check your machine first, before the launch price wins you over. And a reminder no model solves: separating the stems of a commercial song doesn't give you the right to publish them. I haven't tested it; all of this comes from the official iZotope and Boris FX documentation and the coverage cited. ## Sources - [iZotope: Introducing iZotope Photon (Nov 3, 2026)](https://www.izotope.com/community/blog/introducing-photon) - [iZotope Photon: product page, requirements and FAQ](https://www.izotope.com/products/photon) - [Boris FX: Meet iZotope Photon](https://borisfx.com/news/meet-izotope-photon-ai-stem-separation-noise-reduction/) - [audioXpress: iZotope Introduces Photon for GPU Accelerated Stem Separation and Audio Cleanup](https://audioxpress.com/news/izotope-introduces-photon-for-gpu-accelerated-stem-separation-and-audio-cleanup) - [Mixdown: iZotope launches Photon, a stem-splitting tool built with new owner Boris FX](https://mixdownmag.com.au/news/izotope-launches-photon-a-stem-splitting-tool-built-with-new-owner-boris-fx/) - [MusicRadar: iZotope launches Photon](https://www.musicradar.com/music-tech/choose-your-model-let-the-magic-happen-export-and-youre-done-izotope-launches-photon-the-companys-first-plugin-developed-with-new-owners-boris-fx)