iZotope’s Trash, one of the most popular plug-ins of the early DAW era is back - but before we go any further, let’s get the record straight: this version of iZotope Trash is a brand new plug-in that does not update the old Trash 2 and both will coexist in our folders, but this means that there’s no backwards compatibility between the two. Trash 2 received its last update in 2022 and was discontinued right after that after nearly two decades of service, leaving many users lamenting its demise and since there are no more updates for it there’s a good chance that it will be effectively be gone for good for many users once a major tech shift or operational system update comes into play - which is precisely what happened with Macs once Apple introduced their own M-series chips.

With that out of the way, let’s check out the new Trash.

Following in the footsteps of the now-discontinued Trash 2, this new plug-in is a three-band multi-effect plugin based on two engines: Trash and Convolve, each with four slots arranged on two X/Y grids. On the Trash engine, each slot holds a particular type of distortion, and on the Convolve side each slot houses an impulse response, with the X/Y grid controlling the blending between each of them on their respective engines. The two engines are arranged in serial fashion and can be placed after each other i.e. distortion feeds convolution or the other way around, and each of the three frequency bands can have its own set of configurations for each engine.

As for the engines themselves, they are both extremely flexible and can deliver a vast array of different sounds, with the Trash providing much more than the expected fuzz and the Convolve providing much more than the usual reverbs. There’s a lot to be found here, and iZotope did a great job providing many flavors to be loaded on each slot, with the Trash options going from tube-subtle to high-gain toasty extremes and the Convolve engine providing not only acoustic-based impulse responses but also IRs from hardware units and some very creative ones suited for sound design as well.

Right below the engines we have an envelope for modulating the distortion engine’s X/Y grid and the lowpass filter right next to it. Wrapping it up we have input/output gain trims, a limiter with a fixed setting to prevent overloads and an auto-gain function that matches input and output levels. Overall it’s quite a streamlined feature set when compared to the old Trash 2, but quite a powerful one nonetheless.

The scores

Sound quality: Simply put, this is one of the best sounding distortion plug-ins out there, both in terms of sheer quality of the processing but also when we consider how flexible it is and how many different types of distortion it delivers. It can easily go from subtle-warm-tube to extreme clipped-fuzz and anything in between with just a few strokes. The quality of the algorithms is top-notch, and I can see it replacing a number of plug-ins - if you’re looking for a distortion-powerhouse to take over such duties, this could very well be the one.

Ease of use: This is an area where the new plug-in far outshines the old one, with a cleaner and more intuitive interface that lends itself better to a more straightforward operation. Having the Distortion and Convolve sections side by side (instead of having to click on their tabs to access them) makes for a much faster workflow that doesn’t overwhelm the user despite offering some considerable depth and flexibility. One small gripe that I have here is that the interface can’t be resized, which should be a given these days. Fortunately the interface size is big enough for all parameters to be easily read at a glance, but on the other hand it doesn’t leave much space for other plug-ins on my 1080p monitor - your mileage may vary depending on your screen size and resolution. Lastly, the CPU load is not exactly light, and although the plug-in runs with zero latency it is grabbing around 3-4% of my M1 Mac Mini running Ventura/Pro Tools 2023 - not negligible but also not a hog by any means, so multiple instances can be loaded on most computers without running into any issues.

Features: Now here comes the tricky part, because if you are overly attached to the old Trash 2 plug-in (like I was) you’ll probably find this one a bit disappointing since there’s now three frequency bands instead four, and the second stage of distortion, the filters, dynamics and delay modules are all gone - we do have a filter, but it’s a rather simple lowpass whilst the old one had two full-blown parametric EQs, and the dynamics and delay modules were scrapped altogether. I don’t miss those last two since this is first and foremost a distortion plug-in, but I feel like the filter could offer at least highpass and bandpass options. The second distortion stage and the fourth frequency band are features many will sorely miss, and it’s understandable since they opened up a lot of possibilities. I honestly don’t miss them since I find three bands and one stage of distortion more than enough for my needs, but the complaints from the user base are totally understandable here. If you can get past that or if you’re new to Trash, the feature set on this new version is quite interesting and most importantly, it’s super effective in fulfilling its core purpose: making things distort. In that regard, I don’t really miss the features that were scrapped, and most importantly, I think the new Trash is definitely a better “distortion” plugin overall. The new modulation system is a welcome addition and its implementation is quite an elegant one that makes it very intuitive to use, but unfortunately it’s limited to one envelope follower with only two destinations - I think at least a second envelope or an LFO for rhythmic modulations and more assignment options could be added to the fold.

Bang for buck: Priced at $99 MSRP, Trash is a very enticing proposition but it comes at a time where the plug-in universe is densely populated like never before, so it can be a difficult choice to make depending on how your plug-in folder looks at the moment. However, the way it approaches the topic of distortion is quite unique, and when we put all it offers on the table it shows an immense flexibility that is hardly matched by anything out there. If you’re on the fence about it make sure to try the free version, which is not only a neat plug-in on its own but it also offers a great way to demo the essential aspects of the full version. In case you own the old plug-in or previous versions of iZotope’s Music Production Suite, you’ll get a very substantial discount that should easily put it in the no-brainer territory.

Recommended for: mixing engineers, musicians and producers looking for a one-stop solution for all their distortion needs.

Pros:

• Superb sounding distortion algorithms
• Interesting selection of impulse responses
• Extremely versatile
• Easy to use for the most part
• Sensibly priced

Cons:

• No backwards compatibility
• Limited filter and modulation options
• Interface is not resizable

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