Izotope Plugins Review

[Margy Eilbeck]

Othertrusted 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.

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.

In terms of features, Ozone is deep, which is plainly clear by the size of the manual. If you really want to dig into all of the features of Ozone 8, I recommend that you read it, or at least scan through the overview to get a sense of its power. However, I will share some highlights here that showcase how powerful Ozone 8 can be for almost any audio professional or enthusiast.

Aside from the 12 processing modules mentioned earlier, there are a few standard features that exponentially increase the capabilities of Ozone 8. There is an incredibly useful (and almost necessary, these days) Codec Preview, so you can listen to what happens to your audio after being converted to mp3 or AAC in real time. Likewise, you can also audition and compare different levels and types of dither and noise shaping.

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!

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 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.

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.

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.

I am a mix engineer making the transition to mastering. I read all the reviews and was hoping for shades of a Neve Portico II MBP. Not so much. If I want to nit pick, the compression of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor blows away the Masterdesk compression. I have never been a fan of fixed ratio compression, so there is an inherited limitation that comes with this plug in. That being said, the parameters of the Masterdesk plug in are subtle, specifically for mastering. If you combine Masterdesk with Shadow Hills, it becomes more of an all-in-one solution, keep that in mind. I would like to see the Neve Portico II MBP as a plug in. I want SILK.

This plugin is the best mastering plugin I've used. I own other mastering software, but this beats them all. I can consistently produce better mastered tracks in less time. I use it on every master bus.

I've always found the art of mastering to be a bit of an enigma. Plugins like Izotope's Ozone can help provide a starting point but you're still left with a veritable minefield of complex parameters to tweak in the chain. Masterdesk not only puts these under the hood but would appear to have taken the strain and pain out of the guesswork too that's so often a part of this post processing for lesser mortals. You're left with a very intuitive system of controls to deal with that can only lead to a great result.

It's not cheap and constitutes a significant investment but when it's a plugin you can see yourself using on, more or less, every creation to deliver that polished and balanced analog tone quickly and easily, it will pay for itself in next to no time.

The Brainworx bx_Masterdesk allows you to "finish" your mix in a way that will allow it to stand alongside mastered material in terms of colour and loudness. It's not a replacement for a properly mastered track by an experienced mastering engineer but it will get you in the ball park. I use it as the last thing on my mix bus in all my mixes now. i used it every day during the 14-day trial period and couldn't go back once the trial expired. I had to buy it.

One thing I have noticed and it might be DAW specific (Studio One 4.1 in my case) is that entering a value manually by double clicking the large volume control doesn't make the knob move or appear to make a difference at all, meaning I have to use the mouse to set the volume to a specific value. This can be a tad finicky. Other than that one small foible, I thoroughly recommend this excellent plugin.

uno dei plug-in pi costosi ma il suo lavoro lo vele tutto.

In una splendida grafica semplice ed intuitiva avete tutto ci che serve per fare un mastering di qualit. Fantastico il De-Esser, il Turbo Limiter e le Compressioni TMT, il suono rimane sempre molto naturale (grazie anche alla Compressione Parallela)

Con l'ausilio di un buon equalizzatore (a me piace il Pultec-Pro Legacy), io mi diverto a rimasterizzare vecchi album degli anni 70 / 80 rendendo loro nuova vita e nuovo sound.

Consigliato a tutti quelli che vogliono un plug-in semplice ed efficiente senza dover perdere tempo e soldi in numerosi altri plug-in

UA plugins are my favorites because they're great tools. To get the most from them you really have to know what you're doing, but they always deliver. This one is different. It's kind of like magic. Maybe I just say that since I'm a mix engineer and not a trained mastering engineer. But this plugin just pulls together and finishes mixes with a simplicity I haven't encountered in any other plugin. Goodbye Ozone!!!

This has changed my musical life. I am getting so much better at mastering now. This is just that extra cream on the top. I have been experimenting with many chains using other UAD mastering plug ins like Manley Massive Passive. For example, the dance settings on that fit very well and the BX Saturator too with the Materdesk. It can handle a little API 2500, handles anything. Just got to be careful not to make the mix too bright before you put this final Masterdesk on the buss. UAD, please look furthrer into this mastering. It is a wonderful area to explore for us and I would be very interested in other alternative mastering chains like this. I reckon you guys could get some very different interpretations of the mastering sounds. This is where we all need the help. These days we got to DIY big time and be the jack of all trades and the master of em too. Thanks for this. It has really put the final touch on my mixes and made them sound so even and everything coming to life. I am able to use guitars with software and hardware synths and they will all work together just fine. That takes some doing and you guys have achieved it here. I am gertting some Hot Hose vibes with the Deep kicks and lovely Moogs and Gibsons working together because of this. It takes out all the horriblr bumps that I could never iron out, like a terrible creased shirt and now it is total smooth silk.

This is an excellent mastering option. It's designed to master material that was recorded within a wide margin of "acceptability", but if you need to do some serious RX to the mix, throw a couple other plugs in the chain before Masterdesk and get it in the ballpark - something you'd have to do anyway. Once you're anywhere near having the kind of mix you want, this thing will let you get the rest of the job done in a heartbeat, with guidelines for what's happening in your process so you wind up with exactly what you're looking for. I've used Ozone for a lot of masters over the years, but I see no reason to use anything other than this now. Can't recommend it highly enough.

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