# Ozone 5



## AC986 (Jan 9, 2014)

I get emails saying Ozone 5 is 30% off until January 16th.

Does anyone use this regularly and is it any use for orchestral type samples work?

TIA>Adrian


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## Jetzer (Jan 9, 2014)

It is an amazing, very powerful plugin. I am using it on my master bus on a track today and immediately got an amazing sound by choosing the right preset and tweaking it afterwards. My lousy mix suddenly came alive.

Although I must say I find it easier to use on electronic music than orchestral. Maybe others with more experience can chime in on that. 

Of course if used in a wrong it is also possible to completely ruin your tracks  

This is nice video of Ozone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFsXV5KMZU

I have the regular version btw.


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## ghostnote (Jan 9, 2014)

Great tool. I've mastered a stoner rock album, a couple of other pop/rock songs with it and use it for my orchestral/hybrid stuff. 

I tend to use almost every element (EQ, Exciter, Dynamics, etc.) when it comes to a raw rockband mix, but for orchestral stuff it's always only a limiter and dithering maybe single-band or 3-band compression. The more elements you use, the more it'll sound, let's say, "coherent". For orchestral tracks I'd probably go with a mixture of FabFilter and Slate plugins rather than with Ozone. Try the demo.


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## Richard Wilkinson (Jan 9, 2014)

The stereo widener can easily muck up a mix, but other than that it's fab. I use the limiter lots, and occasionally small amounts of the mastering reverb, eq and exciter.


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## Martin K (Jan 9, 2014)

Hi Adrian!

I use it at then end of my output chain in my template. Great tool and easy to use.

best,
Martin


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## Madrigal (Jan 9, 2014)

It's a great mastering plugin to have, I use the EQ and Limiter a lot. 

However, I would strongly recommend against using the presets since they do not take into account what your mix sounds like in the first place. 

If you wish to put Ozone to good use, you need to know what you are doing. Ozone can be a great learning tool to get there!


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## paulmatthew (Jan 9, 2014)

Adrian , 
It's a solid product. I like having the multiband harmonic exciter and a pre and post eq. You can rearrange the chain of output flow by moving the devices around in the map. there are mid/side eq and dynamics which are also multiband and there is also a history if you want to go back to a previous setting. I really need to learn how to use the mid/side features . 

Ozone is a little daunting at first , but after playing it with it for a while it gets easier to use. I suggest watching videos on every device and how they are used. Alloy 2 is similar to Ozone but it was designed to be a channel strip. 

If you're going to buy , the best price I've seen on it is at Audio Deluxe for $158 or the Mix & Master bundle with Alloy2 (Izotope's version of a channel strip) for $244. Hopefully , you can save a few bucks on it if you go this route when you decide to buy or not.


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## Mike Marino (Jan 9, 2014)

Adrian,

To see it used in an orchestral setting check out this video from Mike Patti's screen cast a while back. He's using the Pro version which allows you to use the individual tools (i.e. EQ, Exciter, Dynamics, etc) independently on channel strips. You can't do that on the Basic version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6bKIJ-chQ&feature=player_embedded (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6bKIJ ... r_embedded)

Hope this helps.

- Mike


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## dinerdog (Jan 9, 2014)

It's in my autoload on the master buss. nuff said. : >


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## paulmatthew (Jan 9, 2014)

Mike Marino @ Thu Jan 09 said:


> Adrian,
> 
> To see it used in an orchestral setting check out this video from Mike Patti's screen cast a while back. He's using the Pro version which allows you to use the individual tools (i.e. EQ, Exciter, Dynamics, etc) independently on channel strips. You can't do that on the Basic version.
> 
> ...


Patti brought out the CamelPhat. :D I love that one and CamelSpace too. I digress, back to the topic. Here is a link to the comparison chart between Ozone 5 and Ozone Advanced 5 http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/whatsnew.asp 

Marino is right . I was not aware the Advanced version had the individual plugins available until I looked at the comparisons myself. I thought the only difference was Insight and few added features on some devices. Good to know.


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## AC986 (Jan 9, 2014)

I go out for the afternoon and come back to a lot of good replies. This is what I love about this place.

Gents I'm downloading the trial as I write. I didn't even know there was trial version. 10 days is good.

Afterthought. Do you gents send your music work in mastered? I was told by my library chaps not to do that too much, apart from e.g. EQ. I use Fabfilters Pro EQ which to me is really transparent. :?


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## IFM (Jan 9, 2014)

Ozone5 is my secret weapon...well not secret anymore.


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## woodsdenis (Jan 9, 2014)

I really don't like it, if you view at as a bargain bundle then fair enough. None of the component parts could be described great. The FF Pro Q beats the eq hands down, as does the FF Multiband and Limiter. Even at $200 you could pick up better component parts, Toneboosters, PSP, Waves etc. cheaper and better.


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## emid (Jan 9, 2014)

Ozone is a very powerful plugin. Your end product will shine if you know what you are doing. There is a learning curve to it, at least for me, but once you know it well, you will love it.


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## KEnK (Jan 9, 2014)

woodsdenis @ Thu Jan 09 said:


> I really don't like it, if you view at as a bargain bundle then fair enough. None of the component parts could be described great. The FF Pro Q beats the eq hands down, as does the FF Multiband and Limiter. Even at $200 you could pick up better component parts, Toneboosters, PSP, Waves etc. cheaper and better.


Intriguing to hear you say that.
I still like Ozone (started w/ Oz4)

At 1st it was really helping me put those final touches on my mixes.
As I grew to learn what it is I was doing w/ those tools,
I began experimenting w/ other "mastering chains".

I got pretty good results w/ other tools- 
so what you say kind of vindicates what I've been doing/experiencing.

Still really like the Multi-band Stereo Imaging and Harmonic Exciter modules.

Anyone aware of any alternatives to these 2 tools?

k


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## paulmatthew (Jan 9, 2014)

KEnK @ Thu Jan 09 said:


> woodsdenis @ Thu Jan 09 said:
> 
> 
> > I really don't like it, if you view at as a bargain bundle then fair enough. None of the component parts could be described great. The FF Pro Q beats the eq hands down, as does the FF Multiband and Limiter. Even at $200 you could pick up better component parts, Toneboosters, PSP, Waves etc. cheaper and better.
> ...



Have a look at Fabfilter's Saturn , Brainworx has some multiband eq's as well as Blue Cat Audio's Blue Cat's Widening Parametr'EQ . I think these could be considered alternatives to what you are referring to.


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## Madrigal (Jan 9, 2014)

woodsdenis @ Thu Jan 09 said:


> Even at $200 you could pick up better component parts, Toneboosters, PSP, Waves etc. cheaper and better.



The developers you listed make amazing products but apart from the toneboosters suite (which is good but often made my Cubase sessions crash), buying the equivalent plugins from those companies will add-up to more than 200$.


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## paulmatthew (Jan 9, 2014)

I think woodsdenis was referring to the Ozone 5 Advanced price. That would be equivalent in pricing to buying separate plugins from say Fabfilter or PSP. It's not clear if the OP was looking at Ozone 5 Advanced or Ozone 5 for information and feedback.


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## woodsdenis (Jan 9, 2014)

Madrigal @ Fri Jan 10 said:


> woodsdenis @ Thu Jan 09 said:
> 
> 
> > Even at $200 you could pick up better component parts, Toneboosters, PSP, Waves etc. cheaper and better.
> ...



That $ 200 is a sale price I think, you can pick up great deals on many products with sale prices. Even Waves plugs can be bought these days at huge discounts. I am not talking about getting all from one manufacturer, but mixing and matching from different ones.

There is nothing in Ozone that could be remotely called best in class, granted a great idea and all in one solution at a reasonable price. Was very good value years ago, these days not so much.

@KEnK The brainworx stereo imager is amazing and completely mono compatible and was on sale for $49 recently.

Finally this your master bus we are talking about, using the best you can afford is vital. If that is Ozone, then fair enough. It's not terrible and you can get good results from it, but do look around and investigate the alternatives.


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## bryla (Jan 10, 2014)

I have ozone 5 (not advanced) and all FF except MB. I always use ozone and supplement with pro-l, Saturn or pro-q as needed. I'm not a master of those tools but I think that the combination is superb. The multibandness and m/s functions of all plug-ins make them really worthful. 

I know it's long but read the ozone manuals! They contain a lot of good mastering info and are actually funny written.


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## KEnK (Jan 10, 2014)

@ Paul & Denis-

Thanks for the tips-

I know that Brainworx does amazing things and is top quality,
but I have a hard time wrapping my head around their interface style.
I end up spending a lot of time puzzling over it, 
though I have gotten good results when I persevere.
(Didn't know they had a stereo imager)

Haven't looked into Bluecat.
For some reason I have the impression that Bluecat and Nomad Factory
are a cut below Brainworx, Waves and Fabfilter- (quality wise)
Correct me if I'm mistaken.

Finally regarding Saturation vs. Harmonic Exciters-

I know there's a gray area between them and I do use Saturation a lot these days-
(It's become an essential part my mixing process)
But a Harmonic Exciter doesn't seem to create distortion, 
so much as "brightness" even when overdone.
I see them as different tools.

Again- thanks for the thoughts
Hope I'm not derailing the thread.
o-[][]-o 

k


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## AC986 (Jan 10, 2014)

Cheers gents. I had a play with it earlier today and it's good. It's certainly an all in one solution to mastering and I think the price probably reflects that.

Denis I think you're on the right track generally and thanks for good advices, but I'm not sure Ozone 5 is really in that field of competition. Fabfilters for instance are very transparent and singularly accepted as very good software quality plugs. PSP are great, particularly their warmer plug.

Wilx I agree. It's a good Limiter. The Limiter on Fabfilters is good but is a lot more expensive.


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## rgames (Jan 10, 2014)

I've had better luck getting good orchestral output mixes with Ozone 5 than Waves plug-ins. Other than EQ from PSP, I haven't used anything else, so can't comment. The Ozone 5 limiter seems to allow more gentle volume push - the Waves plugs seem to go too quickly to a pumping pop sound.

I have, however, run in to some weird stereo image issues using the multi-band dynamics in Ozone. I've also run in to some weird distortion using the Waves plugs. So there are issues all around. That's why there are professionals who do this for a living - it ultimately comes down to the user.

One thing I really do like about Ozone is their philosophy of creating new technology, not trying to re-create old technology. Knobs on a software plug-in? Really? What a pain to use... But hey, whatever works for you...!

rgames


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## markwind (Jan 12, 2014)

Another Ozone 5 user here (not the advanced), I actually just bought it today. The presets alone are incredible powerful by themselves. And come to think I was seriously doubting this purchase because of the other features Advanced has over the normal version. 

Of course everything depends on how the presets interacts with the mix, and admittedly, I have little experience to compare the quality of Ozone 5 with, but nonetheless I am very happy I took the chance. Onto the countless hours of tweaking :D


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## Joe_D (Jan 12, 2014)

markwind @ Sun Jan 12 said:


> Another Ozone 5 user here (not the advanced), I actually just bought it today. The presets alone are incredible powerful by themselves. And come to think I was seriously doubting this purchase because of the other features Advanced has over the normal version.
> 
> Of course everything depends on how the presets interacts with the mix, and admittedly, I have little experience to compare the quality of Ozone 5 with, but nonetheless I am very happy I took the chance. Onto the countless hours of tweaking :D


Enjoy your tweaking, and try everything. For any preset that you like, solo each module separately, and tweak its parameters until you have a good grasp of what the module is doing and how each parameter affects the audio process and output.

But when you are done experimenting, be rather cautious in the amount of each effect that you use, especially in regards to the exciter, stereo imaging tools, and the like. It is easy to be seduced into thinking that "if a little sounds good, even more will sound better." This statement is usually false; "even more" often messes up your mix.

It is often useful to leave your mix for a couple of hours, and then come back and A/B your settings with fresh ears. That can be a good way to discover if you have gone overboard or not. After a break, I have sometimes cut back a certain process to 1/2 the amount that I started with. :shock: Something that makes one aspect of your mix sound appealing might also be the same thing that messes up another aspect of your mix.

Enjoy Ozone, and good luck with your mixes,

Joe


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## markwind (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks Joe! 

I intend to do just that indeed! :D I have been looking into mixing and mastering for over a year now, watched (and learned from) Dave Pensado to death, even bought a small course on mastering which was quite informative as I'm very new to it all. And I do love that 1/2 rule that people often talk about, rings true for me. 

Right now, it really just comes down to me being able to recognize sufficiently what's right and wrong for the sound i'm working on by doing it often. And of course never stop gorging myself on new knowledge! Compositionally but also mixing/mastering-ly . IK Arc2 should be arriving in a few day, and I am working in a treated, yet small, studio, i have faith that it should give me enough flatness of sound to be able to say that's really up to my ears to pick it up and deliver decent quality products. When budget allows, of course, I'll probably be in search of a proper mastering studio. Can't take on the world by yourself


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