iZotope Audio Plug-ins

IZotope Ozone 5 was easy to install and set up on my Dual Core PC running Windows Vista. I never experienced any crashes or freezes either. It was compatible with just about all of my other software that I was using. I mainly used Ozone 5 in Reason and it worked great. Ozone 5 is a plug in that has a maximizer, equalizer and a few other features but I only used it for those two. The current price of Ozone 5 is 199 but it was 250 when it first came out so now is a great time to purchase it. When you purchase you will receive a link to download it, then you will receive your license and registration code in your email pretty quick. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Ozone 5 works great and does exactly what it says it will do. It will really take your master to the next level and it will do it better than any built in plug ins that come with your software and DAW can do it. I have been using Ozone 5 for two months now and I am happy with what it has done for my overall sound. You don’t know the difference in how well it will work until you try it. OVERALL OPINION My favorite part of using Ozone 5 is the interface of it, it has made it extremely easy for me to get right down to business and in depth but still keeping it simple enough to understand the first time you use it. Everything in Ozone 5 is based on visual effects to show you signal processing. It makes it easier than ever to get the mix and master that you want. Using the “exciter” that comes with Ozone 5 is enough alone to add that great sound to your master, you can use Ozone 5 without having to worry about it making your system slow because it is very easy on your CPU. It is an all in one mastering device that we all need to have!

Izotope makes good products and install isn't a mess. You are pretty much up and running in a few minutes. Just load up your daw, record and start. It comes ready to use no matter what your skill level. Ozone is really a mastering plugin for individual tracks or your entire mix. It comes with presets for all these applications. All the various effects are laid out sensibly. Ozone has a great many tools to utilize. You have the usual suspects of compressors and eq, but you also get a loudness maximizer and a dynamics processor. They even throw in a harmonic exciter. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I got this to use strictly for mix mastering. I did try it on individual tracks though. The presets, for the most part sound overdone. The use of the dynamics and the harmonics settings can be dangerous if you don't know what you're going. Tracks can get bloated very fast. To the untrained ear, it would appear that this is a great plugin but in reality most of the single track presets are really just overkill. In a mix setting I liked it better, when used in moderation. Again, you have to take it easy with some of the more exotic functions. You can really choke out a good mix with this plugin if you aren't careful. Generally all I need is eq, compression, and some loudness maximization. The performance is decent. It isn't the lightest plug out there. I eventually got rid of it because I was only using it for one function and it didn't even do that very well. It was hogging cpu at that... I've since moved to using Waves plugs for mastering. OVERALL OPINION The presets are nice, especially for beginners. I would almost say this is a good learning all in one mastering plugin. After a while though, it starts to sound gimmicky on all but the most meager settings. But for the price, it's not a bad vst at all. If you take the time to learn it, you can get a lot of use. Don't expect it to "improve" your mixes by leaps and bounds. It's meant to be used as supplemental mastering. Not a sonic boob job. Still, I recommend it if you're on a budget.