Ableton Forum

Hi, i'd basically like to know exactly how much use izotope's ozone plug-in is and, specifically, how useful it is to an ableton user. If anyone uses this plug-in - or is opposed to using this plug-in - I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Why do you think you need Ozone? What about it appeals do you over just using the native Live effects?

I do use Ozone but to say if you should, I'd need to know what it would solve for you that the native effects don't.

Hi, basically I want to get as much volume out of live as possible and essentially get better over-all mix downs. Some of the plug-ins in live feel slightly weedy when performing actions such as EQ and limiting which I have heard are much stronger when using ozone.

Ozone really doesn't have anything to do with mixing. It's for post-mixing. I'm not sold that somehow the EQ in live doesn't sound as good as Ozone.

At the end of the day, try the trial and see if you think you need it before buying it.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/o ... wnload.asp

I'm sure it's better than Live's mastering plug-ins but it won't make a shitty mixdown magically awesome. Live's plug-ins are generally best used when they don't do much - more icing on the cake than the actual cake lol.

The only reason I use Ozone for mastering instead of Live's built-in effects is I really like having the eq curve layer over the spectrum. No want to do that in Live and of all the 3rd party plugins that do it Ozone had everything else built in. If Live had an EQ like that i'd never use Ozone again.

tempus3r wrote:Ozone really doesn't have anything to do with mixing. It's for post-mixing.

There's no rule that says you can't use Ozone on individual tracks in your mix down, or for other FX.

Thanks for the input here. How useul is ableton for boosting volume though - to get your music as loud as possible without compromising the quality of the sound?

Sharpenski wrote:Thanks for the input here. How useul is ableton for boosting volume though - to get your music as loud as possible without compromising the quality of the sound?

It's shit. You need GarbageBag for that.

djadonis206 wrote:

tempus3r wrote:Ozone really doesn't have anything to do with mixing. It's for post-mixing.

There's no rule that says you can't use Ozone on individual tracks in your mix down, or for other FX.

No there isn't a rule other than the pointlessness of adding that CPU load when the native ones work just fine without that load.

As for "pump up the volume" the maximizer in Ozone isn't really more fancy than just putting a compressor, turning up the output gain, followed by a limiter. That's really all a loudness maximizer is.

The right way to do that is with multi band compression which the built-in one works fine for that.

If you do go the Ozone route, delete all the presets right away so you won't be tempted to use them.

Having the multiple maximizer algorithms has helped me out on a few tracks - the differences are subtle, but it's useful to have more than one type to try.

Also, I find the UI for their multiband dynamics easier to use than Live's, and their EQ with the spectrum underneath is a nice perk too.

I would say bottom line, if money is no object, it's a good tool to have in your collection, but there isn't really anything it does that you can't get 90% of the way to by using Live's plugs.

Love Ozone for many reasons.

First, as it was so damn expensive I read the 2 manuals that come with it so got a LOT of info about mastering processes in general. So if you do nothing else, download and read the manual and the mastering guide, very good reads.

As for the plugin, it's got a great maximizer, great dither features, very usable eq, multiband compressor, stereo imager...

It's not cheap, it's not essential but I love it. When yo're just starting out the presets give you some idea about what's going on so I find them great for learning and I'm not really into this 'delete them in case you use them' philosophy (I don't really like hair shirts either). If you got the cash and you like the demo, go for it.

Okay, opposed to Ozone - I have also heard great things about the 'PSP vintage warmer'. Would anyone recommend this for the same sort of job - that is limiting and basically making everything "bigger"?

Sharpenski wrote:I want to get as much volume out of live as possible and essentially get better over-all mix downs.

A good mix has nothing to do with volume. Spare yourself the money and the effort and join the fight against the loudness war.

Ozone is great for many reasons but this is not one of them.

Carey

And nobody mentions Voxengo Elephant? )