New Software Review: Ozone 8 Advanced Mastering Suite by iZotope

June 12th, 2018 by Mike Major

Containing 12 different modules, along with the ability to communicate directly with Neutron 2, Ozone 8 Advanced is iZotope’s definitive mastering suite.

I was a tad late when I finally boarded the i Zotope train about 4-5 years ago.

As a company, they have made it a core part of their business to enable audio professionals to effectively solve almost any problem that they may encounter.

Other trusted colleagues of mine swore by the almost-magical ability that iZotope products have to work transparently with minimal negative effect, but I guess I never had much occasion to climb aboard.

My first encounter with an iZotope product occurred when I needed a few stay “click” noises removed from a final mix of a live recording. Since the mix was a continuous 70-minute audio file, it ended up being easier and faster to remove the clicks from the final mix than it was to re-open the mix, locate the bad edits, and then bounce the whole mix again. (I admit that this may seem lazy, but the scale of the project—4 discs!—and a rapidly approaching deadline made this feel like the correct solution at the time.)

I sent the ailing audio file to a friend (who prescribed iZotope’s RX), fully expecting to notice the changes and be irritated by the artifacts. Well clearly, I’m no Nostradamus, because the clicks were gone and the audio seemed otherwise unchanged. Talk about showing what you’re made of! Then, as now, I find this processor to be akin to voodoo. It often removes the offending noise, pop, or click with no other audible change.

Using my RX experience as an affirmation that iZotope makes high quality products, I bought Ozone 5 several years ago, and have found it to be practically indispensable since. The limiter became my favorite for mastering, and the EQ and multi-band tools can be real lifesavers.

The subsequent release of Ozone 6 was a step up from there, with an improved limiter, some new modules, and better quality all the way around. So naturally, the opportunity to try out Ozone 8 Advanced was a no-brainer.

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Ozone 8 also allows you to import a reference audio file within the UI to enable direct comparisons between what you’re working on and some other known reference. There’s even a Master Assistant, which allows Ozone to offer its suggestions and assistance for processing your music, based on a few user-defined parameters.

In other words, Ozone 8 is a Jack-of-all-trades for mastering and mix sweetening if there ever was one.

The Ozone 8 Standalone Application has all of the same plugin modules and auditioning features, but adds the ability to process multiple audio files independently—each with its own custom processing chain.

Aside from advanced editing, sequencing, and metadata entry (yes, it does basic versions of all that too), you can pre-master a full record within Ozone 8 and never have to open your DAW. Do you want to add other non-iZotope plugins to the processing chain within the standalone app? Of course you can do that, because they seem to have thought of everything!

In the standalone app, you can easily switch between any audio file in the project, plus your reference track, which is absolutely necessary when mastering or trying to match dissimilar tracks. Once you’ve fine-tuned your tracks, you can then export them in practically any file format using iZotope’s fantastic sample rate converter and MBIT+ dither and noise shaping.

This standalone application is unbelievably powerful, and has become the primary application that I use for creating consistent alternate versions of masters like 16-bit wavs, mp3s, AACs and so on.

The Equalizer module—arguably the most basic of the modules on offer—is an uber-powerful 8-band EQ. You are afforded the ability to select the overall EQ type (analog or digital), the type of filter for each band (high pass, low pass, high and low shelf, or bell-shaped), with further choices within each filter (the high pass filter can be set to flat, resonant or brick wall, for instance). To add to this, the filter shape response changes depending on whether the EQ is analog or digital.

If you want access to the sound of any EQ that you’ve ever used, Ozone 8’s Equalizer can probably mimic its curves. And if that’s not enough, you can map a target EQ curve from any other audio file and have it applied to your EQ settings, quickly approximating the overall tone of a reference track. There’s also a handy frequency spectrum display behind the EQ curve to assist you in targeting specific areas of concern with accuracy.

The Vintage EQ, it would appear, is an emulation of a Pultec EQP-1A, along with some features of the MEQ-5. As far as I’m concerned, there can never be enough Pultecs in the world, so this is a welcome addition.

Tame harsh resonances and apply powerful, ultra-transparent multi-band compression with the Spectral Shaper.

The Spectral Shaper is basically a pass-band compressor that allows you to compress a defined area of the audio to deal with tonal issues like excessive resonance or harshness.

The “handles” allow you to set the top and bottom of the range of processing, though it can also be used full range (in which case it is just a compressor). It must be stated that this is no run-of-the-mill compressor, though. Its gentle, low-ratio compression gives it an extremely transparent sound that is highly reactive to the continually changing characteristics of a mix.

In the Spectral Shaper, you are also given the ability to solo the audio before it is processed so you can locate problem areas, and you can even listen to the difference (or the Alpha) between the original signal and what’s being affected. This is very handy! The Spectral Shaper has the typical Attack and Release controls, three compression ratios (Light @ 1.5:1, Medium @ 2:1, and Heavy @ 4:1), and a Tone control, which is basically a tilt EQ.

There are also options for saturation. I know that when I think of an “Exciter”, the old Aphex Aural Exciter units come to mind. This is not that. The Ozone Exciter is effectively a multi-band saturation processor (which is playfully referred to as the “eggs-cider” in the manual) that allows you to go from light saturation to complete obliteration with remarkable control.

Here, you can freely change the crossover points between bands, and choose from six types of saturation for each band (Retro, Tape, Tube, Warm, Triode, and Dual Triode), all with independently variable controls for distortion amount and mix percentage. Although this module is a bit unexpected, it is incredibly powerful.

The Dynamics section consists of a compressor and limiter, which are independently adjustable. There are three detector choices (Peak, Envelope, and RMS), plus the usual Ratio, Attack, Release, and Knee controls, as well as an auto-release option and automatic gain compensation.

The compressor and limiter can be operated in full-range or multi-band mode (up to 4 bands), with complete control over crossover points and pass-band levels. The display allows you to see either the crossover points, a gain reduction trace, or the detection filter curve. And in keeping with the “versatility” theme, the compressor has a wet/dry mix for parallel compression within the plugin.

The Vintage Limiter is loosely modeled on the venerable Fairchild 670, but with more features and digital precision. It has three modes (Analog, Tube, and Modern), a threshold and ceiling control, plus a Character control, which modifies the attack and release times for more options than a plain-old Fairchild (that’s sarcasm).

The 6-band Dynamic EQ is practically as versatile as the Equalizer module with regards to filter types and shapes. It can operate in Boost, Cut or Auto Scale mode, which reacts automatically to the program material and frequency content. Like the Equalizer, it can be operated in digital or analog mode.

The Maximizer is the ultimate limiter in Ozone. This one has become my go-to for mastering duties as I have found that it can make things loud without being too noticeable or aggressive. It has 5 different IRC (Intelligent Release Control) modes that all behave and sound different from one another, so you have numerous choices available to deal with any type of program material.

It has a True Peak ceiling, which accounts for inter-sample peaks that don’t show up in the digital domain but may cause clipping on the analog outputs. The Character control adjusts the attack and release times simultaneously, while Stereo Independence gives you the ability to determine how the detector reacts to the transient and sustain portion of the audio. There’s also a Transient Emphasis control to help restore the transients that may be lost with gain reduction. This one is a powerhouse.

The Vintage Tape module is a full-featured (big surprise) tape emulation that gives you three tape speed choices (7.5, 15, or 30 ips), plus an input drive, bias control, harmonics control, and low and high emphasis adjustments.

The Imager is probably what you expect it to be: a stereo image processor, which can make something sound like it’s somehow outside the speakers. But like almost every other module in Ozone 8, it too is multi-band. You again have control over the crossover points, but also the stereo “width” of each band. It includes 3 nice-looking and useful phase meters (three selectable types) so you can see just how out of bounds you are.

Tonal Balance Control is a standalone plugin that provides you with a bit of a road map for your mixes and masters. It uses “Target Curves,” of which iZotope has included three—though you can import your own reference material, be it one song or a folder full of them.

Once a reference is established, the graphical display lets you know how your mix or master compares to the target curve. This allows you to adjust what’s necessary to bring the tonal balance into… well… balance! There is also a provision for it to communicate directly with other Ozone 8 plugins within a project for direct control based on the user feedback from Tonal Balance Control.

This plugin is so deep that it could warrant an article of its own, so I recommend that you read up on it if you want to know more.

In Use

Like most of you, I have established my “first choice” plugins for pretty much anything I may encounter in a mix. Experience, along with trial and error, have led me to some practically bulletproof ways to make everything sound its best.

The reason I mention this is because with all of my previous experience using Ozone (versions 5 and 6, anyway), I had never really dug into all of the capability that is available for everyday tasks. Ozone has always been a “specialist” of sorts, which I use for those important sections of a mix where it outperforms everything else. But, as it turns out, it is well-suited, if not exceptional, for any type of audio processing.

Most of the Ozone modules are very transparent by nature, but it seems that subsequent versions of Ozone have added more color options, which will probably make it more appealing, albeit, more versatile (there’s that word again). The Equalizer can sound like nothing, or it can sound like almost any EQ you have ever used. The fact that they added a Pultec model to the palette tells me that iZotope understands that engineers want their color sometimes. The same can be said with the addition of the Vintage Limiter and the Vintage Tape modules. There’s nothing transparent about these tools.

My impression of the overall sound and performance of Ozone 8 Advanced is that it is always great, and is sometimes stunningly perfect. The EQ is capable of addressing problems with surgical precision while still making stuff just sound better. The Dynamic EQ has become practically indispensable to me for overall shaping while mixing and mastering. It behaves in such a musical, transparent way that I almost don’t know it’s there… until I bypass it. It’s also such a wonderful de-esser that I often just bypass the other bands and use it to tame those pesky sibilants!

The multi-band dynamics has proven to be my favorite way to keep a bass guitar group in line while maintaining the excitement and size of the instrument. I like to leave as much low frequency information in the bass track as I can to give the mix some weight. Using the multi-band compressor lets me grab the disproportionately loud notes (in the 90Hz-160Hz range) while leaving the lowest two octaves alone. The result is often a clear, controlled bass sound with thunderous low end.

The Exciter is a surprisingly useful saturation plugin, mostly because you can shape different parts of the spectrum with specific types and amounts of saturation or distortion. Sometimes I use a parallel kick channel with distortion to enhance the clarity of the kick drum without using EQ. Being able to utilize different types of distortion in different frequency ranges helps that distorted kick tie in seamlessly with the dry, unprocessed kick tracks.

The Exciter is also useful for helping a less-than-ideal vocal sit in a mix more comfortably. Using various types of saturation and distortion across dverifferent frequency ranges can help to smooth over a peaky and overly-dynamic vocal performance so it will be more predictable and controlled. Placing this in front of a compressor can keep the compressor from having to work as hard, which leads to an apparently more dynamic vocal… even if it isn’t. For someone like me who is easily irritated by over-compression, this is a good way to avoid this scourge.

The Codec Preview is so wonderful for making better-sounding mp3s for my clients. I love the fact that I can directly compare the “before” and “after,” and make the appropriate adjustments. This helps me feel much more confident about what I send to my clients, rather than just throwing caution to the wind and exporting mp3s via batch processes.

With Ozone 8’s intelligent track referencing, iZotope makes it easier than ever to cross-reference your work against tons of other material—and it’s all integrated directly into your existing workflow.

And finally—I can’t believe I’m saying this—but the Master Assistant works much better than I expected. I’m admittedly a snob about mastering in general, and don’t believe that anything automated will ever replace a good, thoughtful mastering engineer with perspective. I fed a few songs into the Master Assistant and chose targets that were as subtle as possible, and it did a pretty good job of “mastering” the chosen tracks. While it was a more aggressive approach than I would ever take (I tend to tread lightly), it didn’t do anything stupid or ruinous. I couldn’t bring myself to feed it a full record’s worth of material to see how it fared. Maybe I couldn’t handle the truth?

To Be Critical

As much as Ozone 8 is a complete solution for mixing and mastering, I do have a few minor gripes.

Most of the modules tie up a fair amount of CPU resources on my 6-core Mac Pro, so I tend to only use them on very specific tasks, rather than spreading them across a full project without concern. This is significant because in effect, Ozone 8 is so powerful and capable that you could do a full mix using nothing but Ozone 8. Steps can be taken to preserve CPU resources by using standalone plugins, rather than the full Ozone 8 suite, of course, but they can be quite thirsty.

It’s worth mentioning that third party plugins can be used in standalone mode, should you not want to work outside your preferred DAW. IRL LL (Low Latency) has also been introduced in the most recent release in an effort to circumvent heavy CPU footprints. Perhaps the newer Mac Pros have enough processing power to make this a reality for some… not so in my case.

Using oversampling also causes a sizable CPU hit (about double that of the non-oversampling amount), though it does sound noticeably better. This forces me to use oversampling in only the most critical situations, but I wish I didn’t have to. I guess there’s no free lunch.

The Maximizer is a fantastic mastering limiter, but the latency in IRC mode IV (my usually-preferred mode) is excessive. For most things that I use it for, it really doesn’t affect me, but it would be nice if it was reduced somehow.

There is also no dedicated de-esser, but the Dynamic EQ performs this task perfectly. Since the Dynamic EQ does not have a “solo” function for specific bands like a de-esser, it’s a bit more difficult to hone in on the target frequency of the offending “esses.” Adding this would be helpful. That said, the Dynamics section of the Spectral Shaper is also fully capable of performing this task (as seen in this video)—and it does offer the ability to solo specific bands. I’m probably being petty.

Summing it Up

When I first used Ozone years ago, I quickly realized that there was no way I would ever want to live without it. With time and experimentation, you could replace almost all of your usual plugins with Ozone 8 and never feel like you’re selling the music short. It really is that good and that complete. With Ozone 8 Advanced sporting a $499 price tag (and Ozone 8 Standard at $249), the price of admission—although not cheap—is easily justified.

With iZotope’s continual eye on improving and innovating, I expect that subsequent versions of Ozone will be even better and more capable than we have ever thought possible. Do yourself a favor and at least try it out. You won’t regret it!

Major is the author of the book Recording Drums: The Complete Guide and is the creator of the video series “The Method to the Mix”.

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