There is almost no audible difference between -0.3 and 0.0 but if this file will be converted to mp3 you will run into distortion in that process unless you leave a little room. This is the maximum level that your song will be mastered to. Starting with the Margin control, bring it down to -0.3. On the left half of this page are 3 sliders. Loudness Maximizer – The Loudness Maximizer section is where I start working with Ozone. I recommend just closing that browser and set the processors manually based on what you hear and what is needed. When you first open Ozone the preset browser appears. Presets for mastering are unhelpful for a number of reasons, with Ozone the presets tend to be way too extreme to be useful. Skip the presets – With some effects, particularly reverbs, delays, and modulations, presets are great starting points. Lower the level of that track in the DAW until the loudest point is hitting the meters closer to -6dB. If the unmastered file is peaking higher than that you don’t give much room for Ozone to do it’s thing. Headroom – The song you will be mastering should peak no higher than -6dBfs*. There is a comprehensive undo history function should you need it. The mousewheel will change whichever slider is hovered over.

You can double click a slider to type in a value, and you can alt+click to return something to default. Buttons in Ozone can be either left or right clicked to increment/decrement the available options. M/S mode is not something I use very often unless there are real problems with the source. Four of the effects can be used in Stereo or M/S configurations meaning you can work with the Left and Right channels together or middle and sides separately. Three of the effects are multiband meaning you have control over four independent processors within a frequency range. This is not a feature I find useful, it is if you start with presets (see below). You’ll notice little sliders below the name of each effect, these will scale the amount of that processor.

General operation – Ozone’s interface is simple, a window for adjusting effects, buttons to select the effect and meters on the side. If you don’t have the time to read the 122 page manual or the 64 page Mastering guide ( PDF) but you want to get started with Ozone quick, read on. In this article I will briefly explain the use of the 7 processors within Ozone 4. It is a comprehensive mastering toolkit with an easy to use interface and professional sound quality. Izotope Ozone 4 is a suite of powerful mastering effects in one plugin.

Izotope ozone 4 presets download