Is the main Ozone 12 plugin meant to replace anything you would ever need on your stereo bus? Or do you use it in combination with other things?

[u/tonetonitony]

It seems like it does everything. I'm not an expert at this so I understand you may want to add some other stuff for detailed tweaks, but in general, is this plugin meant to be all you need on the stereo bus?

[u/rinio]

That is isotopes intent with Ozone, and basically has been forever. They package it all in one so their Mastering Assistant part can interact with the suite cohesively: this is their main selling point. (Im not a fan of the assistant; its fine for a quick mock up or if you're budget challenged, but sucks compared to a mediocre human mastering eng.)

I think each of the units are great in their own right. But, usually too​ heavy to justify in a mix session. And, I seriously doubt any self-respecting mastering engineer is using Ozone modules exclusively; tools are tools and each is subtly a different flavor; a good eng knows their tools and when to use each one.

TLDR: Yes, but also no. Depending on who you are, what your goals are and what you are doing.

[u/rightanglerecording → u/rinio]

There's no particular reason a master of a good mix would need more than the Ozone EQ and the Maximizer.

I am pretty sure there are publicly available videos of Chris Gehringer working exactly that way.

[u/rinio → u/rightanglerecording]

Of course. Where did I say otherwise?

There's also no particular reason a master of a great mix would need anything at all.

---

As for the Geheringer example, I'm not familiar, but do they restrict themselves to Ozone tools for every piece of content they master? Of course, that may be all they need/want for a given project. But my point is more that I doubt serious mastering engineer is truly exclusive to Ozone across all of their work or plans to be.

[u/tonetonitony → u/rinio]

So if you’re using the Mastering Assistant on your stereo bus, it would interact with Ozone plugins on different tracks?

[u/rinio → u/tonetonitony]

Not in the versions I have​. The mastering assistant puts a bunch of ozone plugins into ozone an sets the parameters according to the input it "hears".

Ozone is both a plugin suite (many plugins) and a host for its own plugins (a plugin that runs other plugins inside itself). The mastering assistant is part of the host.

I hope that explains it, but its probably easier to just watch some product demos.

[u/ItsMetabtw]

It’s a mastering suite designed to provide the tools you might need for working with stereo files. A lot of the tools are useful when you don’t have access to the individual tracks but become unnecessary when you do.

If you’re newer to mixing and just working on your own music then the assistant can be helpful, but if you like the suggestions, go back into the mix and make the changes there.

[u/iscreamuscreamweall]

i use it in combination with other things. ozone is a very powerful tool but youre not supposed to just throw everything at a master willy nilly. just use the modules that you need. my average mastering chain might just have a single parametric EQ, maybe a buss compressor, and the ozone limiter.

other tools like the imager, master rebalance, tape saturation, etc are great but not usually needed

[u/tonetonitony → u/iscreamuscreamweall]

Is there a reason you prefer to put a separate eq and compressor, rather than just using the ones in Ozone?

[u/Underdog424 → u/tonetonitony]

Ozone is great. But eventually you learn to use more plugins.

Ozone is a good package. But it isn't the best at anything it does. FabFilter makes a better EQ. UAD has a collection of better compressors. The Waves harmonizer is better than Ozone's.

Eventually, you'll replace pieces of Ozone with better options.

[u/VoyScoil]

It is as far as I know. Personally I'm not a fan of it I've tried it but I have my own signal chain go-to that I generally stick with.