mastering software

I am thinking of picking up iZotope Ozone 5 mastering software to add to cubase artist 6.5. Has anyone had any issues or problems associated with this product? Everything is running great with my Cubase Artist, and I don’t want to screw it up with a plugin. Is Ozone 5 all that it’s made out to be? Thanks

I have WLE8 and I think that it is very good, plus it’s integrated with Cubase - kinda sorta. At least they come from the same barn, if you know what I mean. The cheapest OZ5 version is $250, right? The fullblown WL8 is $399 ($499?) and WLE8 is $99. As I understand things, OZ5 has many presets that will let you get to some OK mixes without too much trouble, and WLE8 is a hands on type of thing that may be more difficult for the novice. Eh, so consider all of this maybe. I really like and appreciate WLE8 and think it is a total bargain for ‘mini’-mastering. True, learning curve is involved but the results are there. (Um, ‘mini’ refers to ‘home studio mastering’ which will always be a step down from pro studio mastering. Here, face it, you do not have the bank for a couple of $4000 EQs and a $4000 bit reducer.)

I have thought about the $250 version of OZ5 to use as a plugin to both WLE8 and C6.5.5 but have not made a move.

The sales guy (kid!) at the Guitar Center said it works with all versions of Cubase. But once I open it, I’m stuck with it. Just bought it tonight (on sale $199.00). I’ll see what happens!

Hm, that looks like a pretty attractive price. I’m downloading the trial version right now to see how that goes. I see the software for sale at a few different sites, do you know how long this will last? Had any problems?

Follow up: Ozone5 works very well in C6.5.5. I also works fine in WLE8, however it gets a bit sticky as you adjust something in Ozone5 and then try to start/stop the playback of the project. At this point you have to actually click on the wave file in the project. Eh, a bit of a drag but not a deal breaker for me. I may end up with Ozone5. :sunglasses:

Some have reported that it uses some computing power and I agree, IT DOES. However, with a little thought I could see running two instances of Ozone5 in Cubase on the Master bus, one as a Master Limiter and another as a dither. Eh, YMMV. Also, in my case, I would save the dither program for WLE8. Of course there are many ways to use a valuable plugin that is resource heavy if you are inclined. I can maybe see doing separate submixes for drums, vocal, and guitar with Ozone5 and then bringing them back into the project for a mixdown. I do like the sound of the presets for these various instruments, yes.

Oh well, let me know how you are doing with it.

i absolutely love izotope ozone. use it on all my tracks and its really got a lot of great capabilities. utilize the harmonic exciter. it does wonders, especially on the low end. idk what style of music you are mixing but for hip hop i usually put a delay between 1-2 ms on band 1, the amount between 1-2 and adjust the mix parameter til it sounds perfect. besides that i really only mess with band 2. also, the presets on there are very nice as well.

Seige, yes, I have spent more time with it today and I see the light. :slight_smile: It is a very powerful and helpful software tool. I’m off to GC to make the purchase right now. If anybody else is reading this post, I can suggest you do the same. What it can do to a track or a mix is beyond my Steinberg tools and even my Waves tools.

I will also add that the Sound on Sound review of the product makes a point in the first or second paragraph to say that the basic Ozone5 is limited to NOT using the individual plugins. I’m not sure that I totally understand/appreciate this comment because I did not download Ozone5 Advanced. However, I will assume that somehow the various efx within Ozone5 Advanced can have a separate and individual plugin window that can be loaded to a particular track or bus. (??) Cool, I guess, however, I CAN USE THE INDIVIDUAL PLUGINS IN OZONE5 by simply opening Ozone5 and using JUST ONE PLUGIN. Pretty simple thing to do and I have monitored the CPU usage enough to see that within the Ozone5 plugin, each individual plugin has it’s own draw on the computer - it’s not as if the entire range of plugins are turned on when you open it. Um, well you get my point, YOU CAN USE JUST ONE PLUGIN IN OZONE5 if you want.