iZotope Ozone audio mastering plug-in

Price - $ 249.99 MSRP

Download from -

www.izotope.com

Pros - Comprehensive set of mastering plug-ins, great user interface

Cons - Direct X only at present

Ozone version 3.07 now runs under - Windows (98, 2000, ME, XP)
Mac OS X 10.2+

And in the following formats - Pro Tools 6.1+ (RTAS/AudioSuite/HTDM), VST, MAS, Audio Unit, and DirectX

Verdict - An excellent mastering tool with lots of control and great sound.

The iZotope Ozone mastering plug-in reviewed

The Ozone plug-in provides a comprehensive selection of typical mastering processors in software form. A master control panel provides access to the six processors and includes diagnostic displays for signal spectrum, stereo correlation, stereo phase and input and output signal levels. All the processors can be individually bypassed, there's also a master bypass and a presets selection button. Adjustments are made by clicking one of the selector buttons and the controls for the selected process then appear in the main plug-in window. iZotope say they have purposely avoided realistic emulation of hardware knobs and switches in favor of a clean, easy to use, intuitive interface. All the processes use 64bit algorithms for the cleanest, most detailed, sound possible.

The six available processors are -

Paragraphic equalizer

Ozone's interface for the paragraphic eq allows eq curves to be drawn and manipulated directly using a mouse. The spectral distribution of existing recordings can be captured, using the snapshot feature, then applied as an eq curve to any other recording.

Mastering reverb

Smooth reverb tails are ensured due to the use of 64bit algorithms.

Loudness maximizer

An essential tool for producing competitive commercial recordings, the loudness maximizer uses loudness curve eq and predictive limiting to increase perceived loudness.

Multiband harmonic exciter

The four band exciter adds extra harmonic content generated from the original signal. Depending on the frequency band this can add warmth and sparkle to a dull and lifeless mix. For the exciter and all of the other multiband processes, the cross over points between the bands can be adjusted for frequency, overlap, slope and various other parameters.

Multiband dynamics

The multiband dynamics section divides the audio signal into four bands and allows discrete amounts of limiting, compression or expansion to be applied to each band.

Multiband stereo imaging

If the overall width and balance of the stereo image wasn't quite right in the original mix the multiband stereo imaging processor allows some correction to be made without having to re-mix the track.

In conclusion

Overall this is is an impressive collection of tools with a great deal of parametric control, too much to go into in detail here. For example all the processes have an analogue emulation or a pure digital mode. There is also built in bit depth conversion with DC offset removal and three types of noise shaped dither algorithms.

With this plug-in you get excellent sound quality and more great features for less money than some other more well known mastering packages. Currently it's only available for the Direct X API but a Pro Tools version is promised soon. (current OS and formats listed in the Verdicts box above) It's also worth looking at iZotopes other products - Trash, Spectron and Vinyl (Vinyl is a free download).

(c) 2003 Terry Relph-Knight - updated 04.05.05

Mastering - audio magic

Ever wondered why your home recordings don't sound as punchy or as polished as award winning professional recordings ? Part of the answer lies in mastering, an extra process that takes place after the original track has been recorded and mixed.

Mastering engineers employ an arsenal of tools to enhance the sound of the mixed tracks before they are committed to the final CD or DVD. In commercial studios these tools are usually racks of outboard compressors, limiters, equalisers and reverb's.

iZorope provide some excellent guides in PDF form on their website which are worth reading if you would like a better understanding of the mastering process. Here is the URL -

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html