iZotope Ozone 5 Analog Modeling Plug-In
Put the finishing touches on your tracks with this plug-in's seven audio processors for mastering, designed to bring classic analog sound to your mixes.
Overall User Ratings (based on 57 ratings)
Submitted December 11, 2012 by S R in Central New York, NY
""Can't beat it for the money""
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If you are interested at trying to master your own projects, or simply want to add some polish to your mixes, this is the software for you!
Sound
I was very impressed with the audio quality of Ozone 5, and when added to my mixes, was amazed by its ability to bring out subtle nuances that I hadn't heard before.
Features
The software contains many useful features to cover most mastering tasks including useful "starting point" presets that fit many different type musical genres and situations. I was especially impressed with the pre and post EQs, which also include a feature that allows the user to similarly match the EQ of your mix with the EQ of a commercially produced song. Also included are some excellent mastering effects as well as the obligitory compressor/limiter/maximizer used to boost volume levels.
Ease of Use
As mentioned previously, Ozone 5 comes with some very well thought out presets that can help the new user get up and running very quickly. However, there is a definite learning curve to using this software, and the best results will come from taking the time to learn each feature and how they can be" tweaked" to fit the needs of your mix.
Quality
The designers of Izotope Ozone 5 seemed to really put a lot of thought into the layout of each module and where each fits in a mastering workflow. The software appears well designed and certainly high quality.
Value
In comparing the cost of Izotope Ozone 5 to other similar mastering software, many of which cost hundreds of dollars more,I feel it is an exceptional value.
Manufacturer Support
I haven't had a need to contact Izotope tech support so can't provide first hand experience regarding their customer service. However, others I know who have dealt with Izotope have reported fairly quick email responses to questions or concerns. I have been told that there is no phone support, but as noted previously, can't substantiate that personally.
The Wow Factor
There's nothing more appealing than purchasing a product, and finding that it does what it promises.. Ozone 5 will not disappoint!
Musical Background:
Keyboardist, professional musician
Musical Style:
Christian, Classic Rock
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Submitted March 1, 2005 by a customer from beachhunt.com
"Amazing bang for the buck..."
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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
Sound
Very clean, and version 3+ has more algorithm choices, if you don't want it to be quite as clean. The MBIT+ dither used in Ozone beats any other dither when it comes to headroom, sound, and shaping.
Features
It's an all-in-one. Normally, all-in-ones tend to skimp on each of the modules, so they can get everything to "fit" in one plugin, but Ozone works well, through and through. You have complete control.
Quality
64-bit processing is higher than just about anything out there, and the additional bits really make a difference for processing. With the great-sounding MBIT+ dither, you don't have to worry at all about the conversion process back to 16-bit.
Value
Amazing value for $200. There are single plugins that cost more and don't do as much as Ozone (and certainly don't do it as well).
Musical Background:
Mastering Engineer, Hobbyist Musician
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Submitted July 30, 2013 by Bob P in Cleveland, OH
"It ain't Nashville. But then, nothing is."
OK, your home studio mixes are not going to sound like they were done in a top Nashville studio with thousands of $$$ invested in outboard gear and a Grammy-winner mastering engineer. (At least not if you have any kind of ear at all.) But that said, this product did very quickly relieve more than 2 years of frustration trying to get my home studio mixes to not suck completely. I tried tons of free VST/AU plugins and trialed several commercial ones. This is better than them. Could be why it's not free and not cheap. Getting discounted from zZounds made me cringe less at the expenditure. So far I'm quite happy that I went with it. You can download a trial version from Izotope and try that before you drop the buck.The presets are a good way to get started because you quickly learn that there's a huge variety of possibilities in this product. They might even be enough for some mixes. To really get it right you're going to have to learn the interface for the various components: EQ, for example, is not simple to tweak. Izotope provides a PDF Guide to Mastering on their site. Study this to learn what to do to get better results than mere presets.There's more to this than just mastering. You can use it on individual tracks or sends. You don't have to use everything it's got... maybe just some EQ or dynamics on tracks. The more you use it, the more CPU you use. Even on just the master track it can hit your CPU pretty hard. Probably not for a wimpy computer.Software installed and worked flawlessly on Mac with my Reaper DAW. It's even there and usable in GarageBand. Can't speak to stability on Windows. Can't speak to the support... haven't needed it.My mixes are almost all acoustic string instruments and vocals, with some occasional drums and horns. 12 tracks would be a big project for me. Almost immediately, Ozone 5 moved me exponentially in the direction of the sound I really want to hear in my mixes. Cleaner, wider, richer, with nice sparkle. What I really want to hear is my music in a top Nashville mastering studio, but I have neither the talent nor the $$ for that. For me and my Popeye the Sailor music ("I yam wot I yam") Ozone 5 is delivering results that I don't cringe when I hear, and which my fans (both of them) think sound great.
Musical Background:
Former full-time pro musician, now serious hobbyist
Musical Style:
Americana, folk, bluegrass, acoustic
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Submitted June 22, 2011 by a customer from verizon.net
"If your looking for professional sound at a reasonable price, ozone is the way to go."
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as long as i am a poor musician i will continue to use ozone for all my mastering purposes.
Sound
as far as i know ozone works great. I produce trippy electronic minimal house jams in ableton live 8 and ozone definitely puts on the finishing touch. Im still learning the entire program but even as a beginner i am able to achieve the specific sound i am looking for. Sound quality is superb. I have not used many other mastering plug ins so im not sure how to compare it to other software but ozone is the bees knees hands down. very clean and clear sound. very professional.
Features
the graphic equalizer if for sure the most handy. there are also a lot of presets which help significantly in learning the program yourself. There are a lot of very specific controls for very specific frequencies so you can get pretty intensive in the mastering stage of production.
Ease of Use
even some of the presets sound dank. its very easy to modify once you learn the program and very easy to use with other products, such as ableton or cubase. The manual is clear and informative it is just learning your personal feel for mastering and your personal taste in the sound you are trying to achieve. but ozone makes that pretty easy, there is only a small learning curve i would say to begin with.
Quality
quality is outstanding. no crashes, no bugs, no messed up anything. works perfect every time. very reliable product.
Value
ozone is absolutely worth the price
Manufacturer Support
The company has a website with contact info which is very helpful. especially the customer service hot line. easy to reach and very friendly.
The Wow Factor
looks really cool and professional. the layout of the program is very electronic and tripsy.
Musical Background:
active musician
Musical Style:
electronic house minimal psychill
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Submitted April 19, 2011 by a customer from optonline.net
"A must have for home recording!"
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Sound
Hey Kids,
I love this software..It really makes a difference even when just using the presets. I am slowly learning how to use it properly. Many of the presets seem to be a little too bright so I reccomend tweaking it a bit. I will never go to mix without it now!! I'm spoiled!
Features
Many useful features...there is a learning curve though..
Manufacturer Support
I did email them a question...they got back to me within 1 day.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Rock, Alternative, Electro
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Submitted April 27, 2014 by Dave R in Boston, MA
"Best Plug In You Can Buy"
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Been using Ozone 5 for about 6 months now, it is a MUST have. The matching EQ alone should be worth the price.
Musical Background:
Professional DJ
Musical Style:
Pop and Rock
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Submitted December 22, 2007 by a customer from mindspring.com
"Avoid Ozone 3. Its interface and instructions are absolutely self defeating, self contradicting, useless and a guaranteed waste"
Bills itself as user friendly. It is anything but. Pretty but almost useless graphics to anyone but a quantum physicist, and even a doctoral audio engineer would have trouble with the arbitrariness and lack of explanation of it.
Sound
Sound potential very good
Features
Seems to have excellent festures but they're nearly unusable by anyone except doctoral audio engineers
Ease of Use
The user interface is AWFUL. User "manual" is worse. Try interpreting 5,000 year old Mesopotamian cuneiform fragments spread over 1000 years and 1000 miles and you'll get the idea. There isn't even an 'all clear' or 'resort to default' command ANYWHERE except in one tiny area, and once the user tries something they're stuck with it every time they open Ozone 3, no matter what else is tried.
Quality
This I leave blank because there's no way to know, the interface and instructions are so terrible, and lacking in self- or cross-reference
Manufacturer Support
Time will tell. Past experiences were interesting in that they acknowledged the worst failings of their interface and user manual very quickly.
The Wow Factor
Looks great visually. Ratings mean nothing however
Musical Background:
Audio restoration/remastering
Musical Style:
N/A
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Submitted January 2, 2012
"Wow, why can't they all be this good!"
I just wish my other software had the same amount of time spent 'getting it right'. I buy it again if I lost it.
Sound
For the money, I have not heard better.
Features
Reverb, multiband exciter, multiband spacial processor, multiband dynamics, pre and post 8 band eq, maximizing limiter with heaps of options, mid and side band processing... there's more but I'm out of breath. More importantly it is all very usable and sounds great.
Ease of Use
I love the interface... use simple presets or dig into the interface and tweak till your hearts content.
Quality
Make my other plugins seem cheap even though they are not.
Value
Best I've come across.
Manufacturer Support
Have not used it.
The Wow Factor
I like quality and this product has it in spades.
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Submitted June 16, 2008
"Know what you want before you buy....Great Product for me!"
Sound
I used this application for every song. Any mix will become better once you throw this plug-in on it. Even after I completely finish mixing a track and think it sounds the best it could, I'm proven wrong with this. Any thing you can imagine is achieveable with Ozone.
Features
The presets that come with it are great and work well with just a few tweaks with just about anything. There's also tons of presets to download from the website.
Ease of Use
I don't get whats so hard to figure out about this program. Once I installed it, I just opened up either Cubase or Fl Studio and it was available as one of the vst plug-ins. You only get out of it what you put in also. If you don't know how to really work a compressor or read a frequency spectrum then you're wasting your time buying this product. Learn to work a lower end multiband compressor, limiter or equalizer before paying for this.
Quality
I can't really imagine something thats all that much better of a mastering plugin. Great buy.
Value
$200 is alot for a plugin, but its worth it.
Manufacturer Support
Never needed them.
Musical Background:
Producer
Musical Style:
Rap, Hip Hop, R&B
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Submitted May 4, 2008
"Great sound, Great bang for the Buck...."
Sound
Good set of mastering suite tools, nice analogue character
Ease of Use
Very comprehensive set of presets to start from
Value
Great slef mastering solution for Demos or better yet FINISHED product. Ilittle time in learning how to use it will give great results.
Manufacturer Support
Great support
The Wow Factor
VERY MUCH SO
Musical Background:
Recording Enginee
Musical Style:
House
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Submitted November 28, 2007
"Ozone ROCKS"
For a mastering pug this is top notch. Again its not as quality as getting your track professionally mastered, but the cost does not even compare whatsoever.
Sound
Im giving this an 8 because its not going to give you as quality of a master as a studio by any means.
For what it is it gets a 10.
Features
Works with VST and AU what else you need?
The master reverb section is hella cool. You can single out low and high frequencies to be effected. EQ and everything is great TOP NOTCH
Ease of Use
Easy as pie to use. Morons could get big improvements in minutes.
Quality
Never had a problem. For what it is it cant be beat.
Value
I would give this an 11 if I could!
Manufacturer Support
iZotope is a great company, and Ive needed no support but have heard good things.
The Wow Factor
It def looks cool with the graphic eq and interface. People ask me "what does that do?" all the time.
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Submitted November 14, 2007
"Outstanding Mastering plug-in. Incredible value."
Awesome product!
Sound
Sound quality is excellent. Of course, it does not quite compare to classic hardware by Neve, Avalon, etc..., but for the price it comes unbelievably close.
Features
Outstanding features and control over most aspects of processing and sound. Each component can function well on it's own (bypassing the others) so it's like getting a number of plug-ins for the price of one. And, they all sound great solo!
Ease of Use
Extremely easy to use. The presets are good and help to get results quickly. I like to start with a preset that sounds good and then tweak it to make it sound great.
Quality
Outstanding for the price. As I mentioned, it does not quite compare to classic gear costing thousands, but it still sounds great.
Value
Incredible value. Perhaps the best music processing software value on the market today.
Manufacturer Support
Never had to contact company. Software has worked flawlessly.
The Wow Factor
Looks good. Wish you could resize the window.
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Submitted July 19, 2007
"holy crap"
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If you have any interest in making decent-sounding demos or home studio tracks, as I do, then it's pretty indispensable. Dunno what I did without it...
Sound
Unbelievable sound quality for the price and for the range of improvements it can make in your final mix. The individual components are really useful and sound great on their own, too...for example, the Mastering Reverb is way better than all the cheesy reverbs in Logic Express.
Features
Kind of overwhelming at first, but the presets help you understand the features and how they interact.
Ease of Use
You can start from the dozens of presets and get a good-sounding master in about 5 minutes.
Quality
Stable, responsive, reasonable CPU usage
Value
$200 for this kind of sound is ridiculously cheap.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
it's all good
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