The Vintage Limiter is actually spun off from the Maximizer’s “Tube Mode” but was so useful, it was made into its own module. Each IRC within the Maximizer strives to bring the levels up in mixes all while keeping the pumping and distortion artifacts to a minimum. Classic is a broader adjustment over the whole spectrum, Modern is more precise and transparent, and Transient saves those peaks, while adding more transparency without flattening your waveform. IRC IV features 3 styles that cater specifically to the limiting needed for the track: Classic, Modern, and Transient. This essentially is smarter multiband dynamics on autopilot, taking the guesswork out of the equation and handling the heavy lifting on its own. When peaks come across one section, the limiter only acts in that section, thus taming the part that needs it the most, while leaving the rest untouched.
This IRC incorporates dozens of bands that limit only based on the material in each section. For version 7 a new IRC standard has been added with IRC IV. This digital peak limiter incorporates Ozone’s award winning IRC (Intelligent Release Control) to give optimal loudness without the artifacts. The Maximizer section of Ozone is the bread and butter of the suite. Just pull a few of those other plugins off the mix or print some tracks with processing and you’ll be fine. Now that we have the disclaimer on the CPU usage out of the way let’s start with the new features that come standard on both versions.
They just want to hear the best version possible and it is actually commendable that even though a software company strives to be CPU conscious, they will always let quality dictate the end product. As frustrating as it is to push your DAW or Standalone version of Ozone to the point of overload, a listener does not care about your woes. iZotope has made it known that quality takes priority over efficiency. Let it be known from the start that Ozone is not the most CPU friendly software suite. Since Ozone is such a massive suite and there are already numerous reviews of the entire program, this review will focus on the new features to see if the jump from version 6 is worth the cash. Standard weighs in at $249 while Advanced is $499 – Yes there is a big difference in price but the features in Advanced make the suite almost a whole different program in its own right. Advanced incorporates all of the same features as Standard but also ads component plugins for 10 modules, Codec preview, the Insight Metering Plugin, and even 3 all new plugins which will be discussed later.
Standard will give you access to the most used portions of the suite plus a new Vintage Limiter, updated Maximizer with IRC IV, and MP3/AAC export. Just like before, Ozone is split into two versions: Standard and Advanced. Version 7 has handed more tools over to the user to make home mastering as intuitive and easy as possible. For years, iZotope has revolutionized home mastering with Ozone.