Ozone 9 is here, and iZotope says it’s “the future of mastering”
New, smarter features, and enhancements for existing ones
iZotope is promising yet more innovations in Ozone 9, the latest version of its acclaimed mastering suite.
Top of the bill is Mastering Rebalance, which enables you to adjust levels of vocals and other instruments in a stereo audio file. So, you can tweak the balance of your master without going back to the original stems.
There’s also Low End Focus, billed as “the first line of defence against a muddy or blurry low-end in a mix”. It lets you adjust the contrast and definition of low frequencies in one hit - no complex plugin chain required.
Elsewhere, improvements have been made to the Tonal Balance Control, which enables you to make track adjustments to targets based on thousands of pro masters. This offers faster performance and improved metering, as well as improved communication with other iZotope plugins.
The Master Assistant has been enhanced, too, now offering a Vintage mode that makes automatic adjustments for the Vintage EQ, Vintage Limiter and more, so you can quickly add flavoursome colour and character. The Match EQ has also been improved, now giving you a better preset workflow.
“In Ozone 9, we focused heavily on delivering experiences that no one has ever seen to the world of mixing and mastering, while enhancing the innovations that version 8 introduced two years ago,” said iZotope Product Manager Dan Gonzalez.
“With tools and workflows powered by source separation, spectral processing, inter-plugin communication and machine learning we aim to give our users confidence and inspiration at every stage of their mix and master with one suite of plugins. We can’t wait for everyone to try it out - it truly is the future of mastering.”
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Ozone 9 is available in three versions: Advanced ($499); Standard ($249); and Elements ($129). It’s also included in iZotope’s Music Production Suite 3 ($999) and Tone Balance Bundle ($699).
Find out more on the iZotope website.
I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.