There are ever so many mastering plugins available these days, and almost all of them are powerful enough to get you in trouble if they’re overused. That said, iZotope’s Ozone is the grandaddy of them all, and has improved with every version. Since machine learning was introduced into the plugin in 2017, it’s made a good attempt to keep user overuse to a minimum, which we’ll cover in a moment. But first let’s cover what makes this one of the most popular mastering plugins on the market.
An Ozone Overview
Ozone is actually the ultimate collection of mastering tools, designed to help you achieve competitive loudness and fidelity with precise control and world-class audio quality. It’s a bundle of 20 individual plugins, a time-saving AI Assistant, and countless tools that give you control over parts of your audio that you never thought possible, all within the single plugin ecosystem.
Ozone 12 comes in three editions: Elements, Standard, and Advanced, with Advanced including 21 individual plugins. All editions include the AI-powered Master Assistant, the intelligent tech that helps guide you to a perfect master, if you let it. The whole trick with using it is to follow its suggestions and not be tempted to improve on them, as that’s when users tend to overdo things.
What’s New
Ozone has always been very flexible, with version 12 introducing a number of new modules. The first is the new Bass Control module that’s an AI-powered tool that lets you easily balance low-end energy, adding drive, punch, and balance to your finished mix without the guesswork.
Next comes the new Unlimiter, which is a groundbreaking “undo” button for overly compressed audio. Using cutting-edge machine learning, it can bring back lost transients and transparently revive tracks. Just set the threshold, or click the Learn button, and turn up the missing peaks to restore punch and open up your tracks for easier, cleaner mastering.
Have you ever wished you could fix a mix without going back to and doing a remix? With the new Stem EQ, you can unlock control over your master by separately EQing the vocals, drums, bass, and instruments in your stereo audio file.
Since its introduction in 2017, Ozone’s AI-powered Master Assistant has been a creative co-pilot, saving you time and taking the mystery out of mastering. Now, with the new Custom Assistant workflow, you can truly make it your own. You can pick between dozens of genre targets, toggle specific modules, and set loudness levels to create a module chain that’s personalized to your creative vision.
The new IRC 5 Maximizer mode now allows you to push your levels hotter than ever before. This is Ozone’s most advanced limiting algorithm to date, allowing you to effortlessly craft clean, open masters, even at high LUFS, without the pumping or distortion.
Ozone 12 still includes the Imager, Spectral Shaper, Match EQ, and the Vintage Compressor, EQ, and Tape modules, so you won’t be missing any of your favorites.
iZotope Ozone is currently on sale for $149 for Ozone 12 Standard (normally $199), and $329 for Ozone 12 Advanced (normally $499).
You can find out more here, or watch the video below.
