I've been an Ozone customer since version 1 or 2. Been using it for ages. Was a bit put off when they split the product into the standard and advanced versions. It didn't really feel that good as a loyal customer who upgraded regularly.
Downgraded to Ozone 7 standard last year. I bought neutron as soon as it came out. Later last year, I upgraded to Ozone 7 Advanced, thinking that it was useful to get the added benefits of individual plugs.
Now, I have to pay an outrageous amount to keep these plugins current. I was shocked by the price to keep things at the advanced level. Haven't upgraded yet. Yes, there is a back Friday sale, but prices are still way out of proportion for an upgrade IMO.
I'm looking at the cost to value ratio over the long term. If this is going to cost around $300 a year to keep using this stuff, then it doesn't really make financial sense to me. Most DAW upgrades don't even cost that much anymore.
I think I'm going to replace Ozone. This pricing structure makes me feel uneasy. I now get this irritating feeling every time I open up Ozone 7. I just don't feel good about using Izotope's products. Not a thing that a company would want. Also, not what I'd expect to feel as a longtime customer. Yes, the plugins sound amazing, but it's not worth using them if I get this sick feeling every time I look at the company logo.
I may be overreacting, but I find this upgrade price very insulting. It just doesn't sit right with me.
Anyone interested in buying my Ozone 7 Advanced and Neutron licenses? I'm seriously thinking of selling them and not looking back.
I have plenty other plugins that cover Ozone 7's ground. Neutron promises to be a game changer, but I'd never actually gotten around to diving into it with a mix. Was going to use it with an upcoming project, but maybe it's better to just cut my losses now and get rid of it.
A bit of a rant I know, but this has been building up in me, and the current "amazing" Black Friday "deal" just put me over the edge.
Anyone else put off by the upgrade prices to Ozone?
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1855 posts since 21 Sep, 2004 from Musician, Recording Engineer, Producer
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- KVRAF
- 2941 posts since 23 Dec, 2002
Yes the upgrade pricing is bit off the scale for me. Same as neutron 1 to neutron 2. I won't upgrade until the price comes down so it could be soon or never. In the meantime I am getting out of them what I need.
Last edited by Scotty on Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
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- KVRAF
- 4710 posts since 26 Nov, 2015 from Way Downunder
Me too. Was hoping for something more reasonable on Black Friday but no dice.
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- KVRAF
- 15515 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
The MBP bundle was a really good deal. The problem with the new bundle is that there isn't enough new to justify the upgrade. With MBP, the cost per plugin was quite low. Since the new bundle is basically a repeat of the old plus some new stuff, the value just isn't there at those prices.
For me, the value in the new versions just isn't there. I don't really use Neutron as "mix magic." For me, it's just a concise channel strip and version-1 continues to be that. I'm also not a super fan of Ozone TBH. I use its parts much more than I use it as a whole. My mastering chain extends across several vendors and the standalone version of Ozone does an absolutely shitty job of reading plugins.
For me, the value in the new versions just isn't there. I don't really use Neutron as "mix magic." For me, it's just a concise channel strip and version-1 continues to be that. I'm also not a super fan of Ozone TBH. I use its parts much more than I use it as a whole. My mastering chain extends across several vendors and the standalone version of Ozone does an absolutely shitty job of reading plugins.
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- KVRian
- 1181 posts since 27 May, 2008
put off by prices in general
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1855 posts since 21 Sep, 2004 from Musician, Recording Engineer, Producer
Glad I'm not alone. It's $500 for me to upgrade both these plugins just 1 version forward from Advanced to Advanced. I know that Neutron didn't have an advanced version at v1, but when there is only one tier of a product, I consider that to be the non-stripped down version, plus, there is no bundle to go from Ozone 7 Advanced and Neutron (full version) to Ozone 8 Advanced and Neutron 2 (non advanced). Thus, I consider my original Ozone 7 Advanced and Neutron 1 full to be a bundle-both being their full respective versions.
It's now $300 with the Black Friday, Still way off skew to me.
Should be $150 to $200 at full price to upgrade the bundle. $250 wouldn't seem super outrageous. I'd expect the Black Friday deal to be about $100 to $150 for the upgrade. Oh well.
I know that I can choose to upgrade or not. I could also choose to pay for it, but it just seems way, way, out of skew with the market. As a studio owner and creative director, I just don't feel that it's a sound purchase. I couldn't really justify the price.
It's now $300 with the Black Friday, Still way off skew to me.
Should be $150 to $200 at full price to upgrade the bundle. $250 wouldn't seem super outrageous. I'd expect the Black Friday deal to be about $100 to $150 for the upgrade. Oh well.
I know that I can choose to upgrade or not. I could also choose to pay for it, but it just seems way, way, out of skew with the market. As a studio owner and creative director, I just don't feel that it's a sound purchase. I couldn't really justify the price.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1855 posts since 21 Sep, 2004 from Musician, Recording Engineer, Producer
ghettosynth wrote:I'm also not a super fan of Ozone TBH. I use its parts much more than I use it as a whole. My mastering chain extends across several vendors and the standalone version of Ozone does an absolutely shitty job of reading plugins.
I'm much like you. I have a lot of really good mastering tools, and the Ozone suite is one part of my mastering chain. I have several other tools that will fill the role too. Many tape saturators, limiters, dynamic eqs, etc... Some of the Ozone plugins are well loved by me, but I wouldn't be stuck without them.
$500 a year to keep these tools current is just not a justifiable cost for me (Ozone and Neutron).
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- KVRian
- 525 posts since 17 Sep, 2014 from LPGC
Nothing actually keeps you from using what you already have. I own most of izotope's plugs, Neutron and Ozone 7 Advanced included and they work and sound just as well as on the day when I got them - period. Regarding their latest 'upgrades' I'm not even remotely interested and don't consider that my 'problem' but theirsSuperFly76 wrote: If this is going to cost around $300 a year to keep using this stuff, then it doesn't really make financial sense to me.
What on earth is 'insulting' (???!) about this? Sounds like you're actually getting what you really ask for.I may be overreacting, but I find this upgrade price very insulting. It just doesn't sit right with me.
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- KVRAF
- 2008 posts since 11 Aug, 2012 from omfr morf form romf frmo
iZotope is trying to bamboozle its customers. When they put out O2 and N2 the upgrade price from MPB was $299. Personal upgrade price for Black Friday is $399 with 25% off, which brings it to the same price. Was already lukewarm on the new features, their maltreatment of its customer base during introduction turned me off from them, and their continued BS isn't helping.
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- KVRAF
- 2008 posts since 11 Aug, 2012 from omfr morf form romf frmo
Same as you peeps. I got it recently before they introduced the new version (but outside the grace period) so I never got used to having it, much less integrate it into my existing chain. The only thing I started using consistently is Insight, which they ripped out of Ozone and placed into RX Suite. Fortunately I picked up flux Analyzer, which destroys it.SuperFly76 wrote:I'm much like you. I have a lot of really good mastering tools, and the Ozone suite is one part of my mastering chain. I have several other tools that will fill the role too. Many tape saturators, limiters, dynamic eqs, etc... Some of the Ozone plugins are well loved by me, but I wouldn't be stuck without them.
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- KVRAF
- 23459 posts since 12 Jul, 2003 from West Caprazumia
Yes, they can go and eff themselves.
I'll happily watch them go down over this.
I'll happily watch them go down over this.
"Preamps have literally one job: when you turn up the gain, it gets louder." Jamcat, talking about presmp-emulation plugins.
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- KVRAF
- 3879 posts since 28 Jun, 2009 from Wherever I lay my hat
Definite yes. They lost me over this, but it's no biggie, thankfully. I've got all my mixing and mastering bases covered with some of the many (affordable) alternatives.
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- KVRAF
- 15515 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
To be clear though, I'm not on the iZotope hate train. I like a lot of their products and I have almost all of their current line with the exception of the latest upgrade and the RX/Post production stuff. I use declip and declick a lot and neutron v1 is my standard channel strip. I lilke Iris 2, warts and all, and I regularly use vocalsynth and breaktweaker.
But, those new updates are overpriced,
But, those new updates are overpriced,
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- KVRist
- 248 posts since 8 Jun, 2016
if u can get past the price, the updates cycle and the cpu hit, izotope is one of the top companies, in my opinion.
the RX was added for music production suite, and while I was testing, I was very happily surprised. I don't have access to anything that I consider more "advanced" than that. But I'm not the most knowledgeable person heh.
I feel that if the RX advanced were included, it'd be a no brainer.
but with RX standard, I feel that it's not for my budget =[ and the differences between them are not USD 600 (rx standard to RX advanced) worth, but I might be missing something...
that said, if u follow their pattern, they have two upgrades cycles per year, one for RX, and another for NEUTRON / OZONE.
they add new features in each cycle, and add some functionality twist in the other cycle. for instance, the spectral shaper in OZONE 8 is RX's spectral desser to my ears with some improved functionality...then, next is the RX's update on 2018 Q1-2...
so if u are really annoyed by their update cycle, better to keep away.
but I think their stuff is pretty incredible (and I was so shockingly put off by their upgrades prices, so, for me to make praise to their software, it really made a VERY BIG impression on me... ).
the RX was added for music production suite, and while I was testing, I was very happily surprised. I don't have access to anything that I consider more "advanced" than that. But I'm not the most knowledgeable person heh.
I feel that if the RX advanced were included, it'd be a no brainer.
but with RX standard, I feel that it's not for my budget =[ and the differences between them are not USD 600 (rx standard to RX advanced) worth, but I might be missing something...
that said, if u follow their pattern, they have two upgrades cycles per year, one for RX, and another for NEUTRON / OZONE.
they add new features in each cycle, and add some functionality twist in the other cycle. for instance, the spectral shaper in OZONE 8 is RX's spectral desser to my ears with some improved functionality...then, next is the RX's update on 2018 Q1-2...
so if u are really annoyed by their update cycle, better to keep away.
but I think their stuff is pretty incredible (and I was so shockingly put off by their upgrades prices, so, for me to make praise to their software, it really made a VERY BIG impression on me... ).
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- KVRian
- 1195 posts since 25 Sep, 2002
Similar here, long time iZotope user primarily with advanced products but this latest release has stopped me from upgrading and potentially from remaining as their customer, it's really put me off them. Their technology is top class but for me upgrade pricing and customer loyalty issues are way too much of a concern to continue with them.
