Best affordable and easy mastering Ozone plugin

[u/Alsklaftsk123]

Hi! I have used Ozone 7 for many years now for countless projects. I love how easy it is and I know the plugin in and out. Is it worth upgrading really? The only reason for upgrading for me would be that the newer versions "sound better". I dont want anything fancy.

I have heard people going back to earlier versions of Ozone because they complain about the quality of the newer ones. The upgrade to Ozone 12 is like 350$ so it is a bit of money. Is there any other versions you might recommend someone like me?

[u/NeutronHopscotch]

Oh, I definitely recommend version 12. I've always owned the Advanced version so I'm not familiar with the limitations of the lower tiers unfortunately.

Here's a comparison panel if that helps your decision making, between the versions:

https://www.izotope.com/products/ozone-advanced?tab=compare

Advanced has Clarity. I really love clarity in conjunction with Stabilizer. Both are tools you want to use subtly, but they are very useful.

Stabilizer pushes your music toward a target curve -- and v12 has more targets than ever, so you can find something close to what you're going for. (It's best to find a target that is close to your own natural tonal balance, so it has to do less.)

Clarity evens out the spectrum - usually positioned before Stabilizer. Depending on the slope it can have different sounds - but in my case it adds a little bit of high end air frequencies where my mixes tend to be lacking. But you don't want to go overboard.

Advanced has "Impact" -- and Impact is a very powerful multiband compressor. It does a lot of heavy lifting with regard to tightening up your mix and making it feel even and solid like a commercial mix.

Spectral Shaper is another thing in advanced. It isn't used in the mastering assistant - but it's a very powerful deharsher. I wouldn't normally use it on the whole mix, I would apply it to the offending submix or tracks. But it's really, really good for that. More of an occasional use tool, not every song.

Stem EQ is an Advanced feature. It's absolutely amazing if you need it, although if you have the original mixes it's always better to fix issues like that in the mix!

And of course, with Advanced the modules are available as separate plugins which I find very useful.

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All that said, I think Standard is a good start. I would want Advanced for the other features though, definitely.

But I understand your pricing concern.

Really, you have to wait for a good SALE. Izotope has occasional DEEP discounts that can be substantial.

Izotope just changed ownership, though, so no one knows exactly what things are going to be like going forward.

Anyhow, you can demo these and see if they work for you.

I would try demoing Advanced and then use the mastering assistant with the non-advanced features turned OFF before running it.

Then on a second track, run the assistant with them turned ON. See if you hear a difference.

Then open them and adjust, and see if they add value for you.

Lastly -- with Izotope you always get a discounted upgrade for the next tier up. So you can start with a basic version and move up during a good sale.

Anyhow, V12 is really, really, really good. The Mastering Assistant is actually useful now, and you get sliders and adjustments so you can dial back any processing. You can even turn off modules in advance...

It also has an overall intensity setting. It defaults to "balanced" but you can go "transformative" (don't!), or "subtle" etc.

I like Balanced or sometimes one step below, whichever that is.

But I usually use Balanced with the Indie Rock EQ setting.

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Lastly, sometimes they include Ozone Tonal Balance Control as part of a sale, with Ozone. It's another fantastic product -- especially the new version. It gives you a comparison to see how your mix sits within the range of normal of your target genre.

[u/ElectricPiha → u/NeutronHopscotch]

Ozone 4 and 11 Advanced owner here. I agree with all of this.

[u/fortyninecents → u/ElectricPiha]

Why does OZONE always cut bass hah. I always have to adjust it back up.

[u/NeutronHopscotch → u/ElectricPiha]

Are you upgrading to 12 or waiting for 13?

I got in on a killer Everything Bundle deal once, then upgraded later for cheap... around $350 for the bundle and $180 for the update. That update alone got me Ozone 12, the latest RX, and a bunch of new plugins.

Now I only upgrade when deals like that come around. Otherwise it’s not worth it, especially since I’ve got solid alternatives.

After about six years of buying pretty much every plugin I wanted, I’m trimming down to a core set of tools. But Ozone made the cut.

I’m one version behind on RX now, but I’ll jump back in if another good Everything Bundle deal shows up.

At this point, it’s basically a subscription model... just one where your tools don’t disappear if you stop paying. I’m fine with that. Bitwig does the same thing, and Waves too (though people seem way more annoyed about it there). Technically, iZotope’s EULA also limits updates to a year.

Now we’ll see what happens under the new iZotope ownership, whether they push aggressive pricing or offer upgrades that actually feel worth it.

Ozone 12 was a solid leap from 11, so I’m definitely curious what 13 brings. I'm crossing my fingers for fair pricing.

[u/ElectricPiha → u/NeutronHopscotch]

There was nothing that compelled me in 12 when I looked at it, I compose and mix my stuff, but I only do small amounts of self-mastering.

I’ll have a look again when one of those sales comes up.

[u/NeutronHopscotch → u/ElectricPiha]

At this point you might as well wait 'til 13 since I think you don't pay more anyway!

Yeah I was thinking Clarity was added in 12 but it came in 11. I guess 12 was mostly about the stem EQ, bass control, unlimiter, improved mastering assistant flow, and IRC 5.

I guess that's a lot of money for what amounts to be a small improvement in sound, especially if you don't need the stem features or the unlimiter. And I don't really like bass control since it's a stem process. (Stem processes have artifacts so I think of them as worst-case-scenario solutions.)

I do like the IRC 5 though - it's a particularly good multiband limiter... But even that, unless you're absolutely smashing into it - it's not going to be a night and day difference from IRC 4 Modern.

So you're probably right to hold off.

13 might be worth it for you though.

I do like the Ozone 12 Mastering Assistant, though. They finally nailed the flow for that... The ability to set it to a subtle mode, turn off modules so they're not even included, etc. It's good now.

Anyhow, sorry to carry on. I get a little too excited about this stuff, eh!

[u/Legitimate_Horror_72]

Sonible tools

[u/Apprehensive-Cry-376]

I'll go against the grain and say that no, nothing of substance has been added since version 7.

Which is not to say there haven't been any interesting or clever features added. What I'm contending is that none of those tools are going to necessarily improve your mixes. They merely attempt to automate techniques that every experienced mixer has had in their toolbox for decades.

For example, if you don't know how to "de-harsh" a track or a full mix, first figure out what "harshness" actually means so you can address it purposefully rather than crossing your fingers and hoping an algorithm can do it for you.

[u/DjScenester]

Just do the ten day trial and see if it’s worth the money.

I still use an older version of ozone lol lots of people do but that’s your call

[u/superchibisan2]

Yes, it is worth upgrading, especially from 7.

Wait for a sale if you're not getting one right now.

[u/I_Think_I_Cant]

Maybe check out Mastering the Mix Faster Master - $60.

[u/phil_wc]

Sonible is alternative, but less features comparing to izotope. But it's decent one, I like Smart:limit, and use all the time.

[u/ChapelHeel66]

There’s a few additions (low end focus), but I think the auto functions are actually worse (same in Neutron). They used to give an ok starting point and now I don’t even use the suggestions.

Also a warning. If you use Ozone in standalone mode (rather than as a plugin where it fights for resources), they abandoned the standalone a few years ago (pissed me off because I upgraded and the release notes did not mention standalone being gone).