iZotope has launched Photon, a standalone app and ARA2 plugin for AI stem separation and audio cleanup. It's the first iZotope release since Boris FX acquired the company in July 2026, after Native Instruments, iZotope's former parent, was sold to inMusic. Boris FX calls Photon the first research collaboration between iZotope and Boris FX.
iZotope already offers stem separation in RX 12 and Ozone 12, but Photon is its first dedicated stem separation tool.
"Whether you're cooking up a remix, adjusting the kick volume, exporting a quick acapella, untangling multiple speakers in a podcast or interview, or cleaning up spoken word, Photon delivers," iZotope said. "Choose your model, let the magic happen, export, and you're done."
12 models, run locally
Photon uses 12 custom-trained machine-learning models that run on your computer's GPU. There are no cloud uploads, credits, or cutoffs. You can click anywhere in a clip and hear results in seconds, without waiting for the whole file to process. Models include:
- Music 4 Stems and Music 4 Stems Ultra: vocals, drums, bass, and other, with Ultra giving sharper separation.
- Drums 5 Stems: kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, and cymbals, from a drum bus or a full song.
- Voice 2 Stems: voice and music, for acapellas, instrumentals, and karaoke.
- Voice Separator: splits up to six speakers into their own stems, plus room tone and background.
- Cinema 4 Stems: dialogue, music, sound effects, and other, from audio or video files.
- Voice Restore and noise models for echo, wind, traffic, background noise, and indoor/outdoor noise.
Workflow
- A layered waveform shows each stem in a different color, and you can preview, adjust levels, and solo or mute stems before export.
- New and updated models download through the Model Manager without reinstalling.
- The ARA plugin works from the entire clip rather than a real-time buffer, and a processed audio cache carries results across every instance of a clip.
- Audio exports as WAV, FLAC, or MP3. Video exports in its source format, with the video untouched.
Photon is also the first iZotope product to install through the Boris FX Hub.
System requirements
- macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon (M1 or later); Intel Macs aren't supported
- Windows 10 or later, 64-bit, with a GPU that has at least 4 GB of VRAM
- 16 GB RAM recommended
Price and availability
Photon is available now from iZotope for $349, or $259 as an intro price until December 7, 2026. It's also available by subscription for $19/month or $119/year, and owners of RX Elements, RX Standard, and RX Advanced can get crossgrade pricing.
Why it matters
Stem separation used to be a feature tucked inside larger iZotope suites. Photon makes it a standalone tool with fast local processing, drum-level splits, and multi-speaker separation, which should suit remixers, producers, and podcast and post-production editors. It's also iZotope's first release under Boris FX ownership.
Image in this article is from iZotope.
