Ozone 12 - a nice 2nd opinion with its Assistant/Analytics option?

[Caine123]

so im using this option and let it analyze some of my tracks up to 60 secs with balanced mode and i gotta say I like the results quite often, well I wouldnt render my tracks now with it fully but adjust some tracks back in the mix. i might do an A / B later with and post them and see what you like better, maybe my mixes/masters really suck more than i thought.

what i see is a pattern though? it often boosts the high end a lot and the low end compared to some commercial tracks is also sometimes more lowered in ozone 12 than it should be.
also it seems to always add some HIFI clarity mode, so it always wants the songs to be more clearer sounding.
also the imager is narrowing down a lot about 20-30% across the board a lot of times.

what experiences did you make?

again i like the tests with it really a lot and some elements i boostes in the mid/high end like pads which made the track(s) then sound really a bit more fresh and open but i didnt boost them +4 till +6 dB but more like +2 dB or so.

[Junkyard Sam]

Version 12 is the best one yet, especially since adding the more complex processing.

The mastering assistant has become usable again. For one, it has a ton of curves now so you can pick something closer to your original target.

Then there's the initial slider which ranges from transformative to transparent. I like it one down from balanced. "Subtle," I think.

You can also turn off all the modules you don't want, and set up some of the options in the limiter.

Combined with the awesome 60 seconds of sampling time, tuning your starting point and then saving it as default is brilliant.

And of course, it has dials at the end so you can add more or less of each module. No numbers, just dial it in by ear. (I would prefer numbers for this, BTW.) But you can expand the assistant and get full control over the modules.

It has a new limiter mode that is outstanding: IRC 5, multiband. Very powerful. A little CPU heavy, and the mastering assistant doesn't seem to use it so you have to set it to that manually.

You're right about Ozone defaulting toward an outrageously bright master.

To prove you can't just trust it, run a professional mix through it that's already bright and it will make it brighter. Then run it through again and it will get even brighter. And again, and again.

So that proves it's not making really intelligent decisions. So you HAVE to use it as a starting point, at most.

Stabilizer and Clarity are pretty awesome spectral balancing tools, though. Stabilizer pushes your mix toward a selected target. Clarity operates only on frequencies above 300 and flattens your mix based on the tilt you set. So it can get brighter or darker.

Use the Delta button on both of these to understand what they're doing. There's a lot of "swoosh" going on, so these are tools you don't want to be too heavy handed with.

One thing Ozone Assists t is great at, though, is for when self-mastering a body of songs for a project. Again, it must be thought of as "starting point only" -- but it does an outstanding job of pulling all your mixes toward a common goal. This helps them sound more cohesive and consistent as a set!

So yeah, it's great. I recommend the Advanced version so you can use the plugins independently as part of other plugin chains. Yes, Ozone is a LOT more than just the assistant.

In fact, it has a spectral shaper that is a powerful deharsher as long as you set it carefully. Good on individual tracks, too.

The Imager is incredibly powerful. You can control width in bands, and even recover lost sides. So rather than just turning down the side info like an M/S EQ would, you can bring that lost info back to the center!

The Exciter is amazing, too. Use it before the final limiter to do some of the heavy lifting. Split it into bands for less intermodulation distortion.

And did I mention the Maximizer has Howard compression now? I think Waves L4's upward compression is a little better (it comes from MV2 which is one of Waves's killer tools that not many know about.)

But still, the upward compressor in Maximizer can lift the quiet parts of your song. It can add a lot of movement and get squishy if you use too much though.

The whole thing with Ozone is it's very powerful so it must be used responsibly. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should" comes to mind here.

With the assistant, too. Try turning off some of the more extreme modules and you'll get a more natural sound.

Oh! We didn't even talk about the stem mastering. Again, it has potential for artifacts - but you can do crazy things like use dynamic EQ to de-essing vocals on an already mixed song!

Yes, it's always better to go back to the mix... But that's not always an option. Also, the ability to push the vocals, or whatever instrument up or down a little? That's brilliant.

Oh! And then there's the Unlimited! It's designed to recover peak information from a limited source. Again, this is a last resort tool - but a Godsend when you need it.

Ozone 12 is pricey. It's best to wait for a good sale... But it's good. Really, really good.

[fisherKing]

oz12 advanced is, agreed, best version yet. hoping some of the new modules show up in the assistant recommendations, but not urgent.

i always go back & forth with my mix; mastering brings out little glitches, issues; i find it great to go back to a mix, fix or tweak something, then bring the new stereo file into the current mastering project; keeps all my settings, but with those little fixes.

everything definitely needs tweaking, and am also surprised at the eq defaults, ie boosting bass on a track intentionally without low end, for example..

and i NEVER use the imager module, i don't like what it does to my mix; the sound gets spacier at the cost of integrity.

but it's a great app, and i live & die by it (so to speak).

[simon.a.billington]

I will also add that Tonal Balance Control 3 has also increased its usefulness. The app will let you monitor anything on your system and build a profile from that. It makes it possible to use YouTube or copyright protected Music app as a reference source.

[osiris]

I think 12 is almost perfect. I just wish the LUFS Target was accurate. It never hits what I set it at.

[simon.a.billington]

It does consume an awful lot of memory. I would like to see that refined for the next version.

[Caine123]

It does consume an awful lot of memory. I would like to see that refined for the next version.

i dont think it will happen, somehow ozone always is a cpu hog for me.

[ksandvik]

I run mastering in a separate project, just cleaner in all ways, and have a mix version around for multiple mastering attempts. So I'm not worried about memory use.

[simon.a.billington]

It does consume an awful lot of memory. I would like to see that refined for the next version.

i dont think it will happen, somehow ozone always is a cpu hog for me.

Most likely not. The addition of AI functionality is problem to blame for some of it. Yet, I still think it's something worth pushing for. Often we don't realise there is a more efficient way of doing things until after we do it.

I certainly think there is room for it to do some more "dynamic loading". There's no need to have all the features loaded in the memory until we have a need fore them. Adding another module, for example, or it could possible as fine grained as adding a new eq node or turning on another band in a multiband processor.

[ksandvik]

Yes, you could always just run Maximizer as a separate plugin instead of loading in the whole Ozone 'mothership'.

Must I must say, memory consumption is again becoming a hot potatoe due to all the AI centers gobbling up RAM memory pushing up memory prices to astronomical levels.

[simon.a.billington]

Yes, you could always just run Maximizer as a separate plugin instead of loading in the whole Ozone 'mothership'.

Must I must say, memory consumption is again becoming a hot potatoe due to all the AI centers gobbling up RAM memory pushing up memory prices to astronomical levels.

Yeah you could, and I do often work with their standalone modules, unless I need use more than a couple. Quite often it's the "auto master" functionality I'm after. Not for quick master, but to provide me with insult as in to what might still be wrong with the mix and to also give me a version of the mix I "need to beat."

[Caine123]

Yes, you could always just run Maximizer as a separate plugin instead of loading in the whole Ozone 'mothership'.

Must I must say, memory consumption is again becoming a hot potatoe due to all the AI centers gobbling up RAM memory pushing up memory prices to astronomical levels.

maybe until people cannot pay pcs anymore and will lease it (Cloud PCs)

[ksandvik]

Cloud computers, plugins to rent, forced upgrades or plugins stop working, all that.. Time for a revolution.

[Caine123]

Cloud computers, plugins to rent, forced upgrades or plugins stop working, all that.. Time for a revolution.

we'l see, i find it interesting to roll out public AI everywhere, then people need to buy tokens who wanna deep dive into AI and all the market prices explode cause AI needs to get feeded .
let's see if we will see more cloud computing and stuff like that or if there is something else coming.

[zerocrossing]

Cloud computers, plugins to rent, forced upgrades or plugins stop working, all that.. Time for a revolution.

Well, you know. We all want to change the world.