mastering Ozone 7 Advanced- First Impressions

[starise]

With DAWs becoming more  feature laden the decision to buy additional software for a specific purpose is less and less necessary, for instance, Studio One has many mastering tools already included in the professional version of their program. Cakewalk has mastering chains built into Sonar Platinum with everything you basically need to master, so why would a person want another program dedicated to mastering? The best answer - Because there are programs that make the job easier and more efficient. 

 Since mastering is considered to be another area of expertise many simply turn to the pros to master since they would rather trust someone else with their  projects. This isn't a bad idea if you don't feel confident or informed enough to make the choices necessary.. The other alternative is to master it yourself.....as my tracks will show I need to go back and re visit some of my old projects and remaster or remix them, so I'm not there yet either. It really is an art and much different than mixing a song for mastering. 

In my opinion Ozone 7 Advanced is one of those programs that is an entirely justified purchase if you plan to master your own material since it offers a collection of tools and workflow that simply makes the process easier and results in a great end product.

The first condition to mixing or mastering is a good listening environment. Your judgement can be wrong if what you hear isn't really accurate. 

Izotope has come down on the price of the advanced version making this purchase more tempting to the average home studio user. It still isn't inexpensive, yet when compared to paying a mastering engineer for projects it starts to look much less expensive. There is a learning curve as with anything, but once you get past that stage it gets much easier. Buying the basic version is one way to eventually "step up" to the advanced version especially since Izotope offers periodic sales on upgrade paths to existing users.

The advanced version comes with additional plug-ins you can use on individual tracks.I loaded up the compressor, limiter and eq in my vst bin on several tracks and ran them through the paces. I  am very impressed with the quality. There are vintage and modern feel settings. These plug ins are well designed. The compressor and limiter can be set to deal well with anything from light control to a loud hard hitting mix. A proper adjustment and these become transparent. The eq was equally impressive. I didn't hear any artifacts from the filters . These alone bring the value of the program up significantly.

One of the strengths of Ozone has always been the friendly GUI. Version 7 is no exception here.The screen size can be expanded to full screen. There are a good many user presets included to get you started. 

I put Ozone 7 in my master channel, but it can be ran stand alone. It is usually suggested that Ozone works best with a finished stereo track mix bounced to another project and mastered individually from the main mix. I have done it both ways with no difficulty, the main consideration being how powerful your computer is and how well the file dithers.

Under the hood  there is a multiband compressor, EQ, limiter, exciter and tape emulation. In addition there is a post EQ. One of the big changes to version 7 is the ability to add your own plug-ins into the chain. In addition you can move all of these plug-ins around in the order that best suits you. In past versions it was never possible to add third party plug ins.

Another great feature is the ability to hear the mix in real time as it would sound in mp3 or AAC formats at all of the most popular bit rates.. Have you ever made a  mix and after exporting it to an Mp3 the mix doesn't sound the same? This feature allows you to hear it as it will sound when exported.You can make adjustments in real time to offset the deficiencies of compression formats. From my experience the differences aren't usually huge, but there are differences especially at the lower bit rates.

In Ozone 7 it isn't as much about the type of plug ins as it is the GUI and the quality of each element. The multiband compressor offers many options in terms of how you want to treat your program material. You can finely hone each frequency to the best amount of compression. The EQ is  made with well programmed nodes and filters so that there are no bad harmonics allowing you to sculpt  the sound to exactly the right place in the mix with nothing extra. The EQ is a "dynamic" EQ which has the characteristics of both a compressor and EQ. In each case there are many choices. The vintage tape section adds all of the personality of a mix made with real tape. In every way Ozone can replicate the best hardware in the most expensive high end studios.

The presets can get you started. Sometimes a preset is all you need. 

Another feature is insight. Insight is a visual representation of your music in several detailed formats. You can tell where all frequencies are and this helps to pinpoint  the best place to make necessary adjustments. This is very helpful to see exactly where all sound is located.

Here's a link to the site for more info.-

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mixing-mastering/ozone/

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by starise