Plugin Boutique is offering Tonal Balance Control 2 by iZotope as a free download for a limited time. This deal runs until May 26th, so be quick if you want to pick up one of iZotope’s flagship metering tools at no cost.
Tonal Balance Control 2 is a visual analysis plugin that helps you maintain a consistent and professional frequency balance across your mixes and masters.
It compares your track’s tonal balance against 12 different target curves, each based on thousands of professionally mastered songs from a wide range of genres, including rock, hip-hop, jazz, EDM, and more.
You can also load up your own reference tracks to generate a custom curve, and I’ve found it particularly useful when trying to match the vibe of a specific mix for a larger project. I was working on a demo album recently and used this to match the loudness and tone of the different mixes.
I’ve also used it as a mixing aid when traveling because it helps visualize the issues in a mix, even if I’m mixing in non-ideal conditions.
However, it’s not a magic wand. I’ve noticed that it often suggests you’re missing high-end, even if that’s not necessarily true. It can feel like there’s a constant push toward adding more “air,” which might not always be what the track actually needs and can make things sound artificial.
Tonal Balance Control 2 offers both Broad and Fine view modes—Broad view shows the overall balance across low, low-mid, high-mid, and high frequencies, while Fine view zooms in for more precise metering.
I also like that it plays nicely with other iZotope tools. If you’ve got Ozone 9 or Neutron 3, you can tweak your EQs directly from within Tonal Balance Control 2, which is a workflow bonus.
And even if you don’t have the full suite, it comes with iZotope Relay, which lets you control pan, gain, stereo width, and high-pass filtering on individual tracks. Relay communicates with Tonal Balance Control 2, giving you a complete picture of how each track contributes to your overall tonal balance.
By the way, if we also have an excellent tutorial on achieving tonal balance in your mix.
Tonal Balance Control 2 runs on macOS (10.13.6–12.3.x) and Windows 10–11, and supports AU, AAX, VST2, and VST3 formats—all 64-bit only.
Head to Plugin Boutique and grab it for free before the deal ends on May 26th. You’ll need to register, but it’s worth the two-minute detour.
The plugin is also available for free via Native Instruments and iZotope during the Summer of Sound sale.
Get the freebie: Plugin Boutique / Native Instruments (FREE until May 26)
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Last Updated on May 26, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
