The Best iZotope Ozone Alternatives for Mastering Your Music
Develop your own software-based mastering system at home.
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iZotope Ozone has long been the gold standard in home-mastering plugin suites. From its AI-assisted workflow to its unique sound-shaping capabilities, it’s easy to understand why. But there may be reasons to look for an Ozone Alternative. We have selected the best plugins to replace Ozone for mastering – both paid and free options!
In this Article:
iZotope Ozone – Mastering suite for professionals and enthusiasts
Few other plugins are as highly regarded and as popular as Izotope Ozone when it comes to mastering audio. The suite offers a whole array of effects to shape your tracks towards a professional loudness level and sonic character. Ozone has been extremely popular among many home producers, as the suite offers all the tools you need to master your tracks.
There are three editions: Ozone Elements, Ozone Standard, and Ozone Advanced. When searching for an Izotope Ozone Alternative, bear in mind which version you’re comparing a plugin to. Ozone Elements includes the VST’s AI assistant that analyses your track and offers settings for width and dynamics. Unlike the bigger versions, Elements does not allow editing these settings in detail.
With Ozone Standard, you get the same AI assistant with a more detailed workflow. The assistant will suggest settings for a professional-sounding master, but you can also add any of the 15 modules yourself. And with the biggest edition, Ozone Advanced, you can load each of Ozone’s included EQs, Compressors, and other effects as individual plugins. It also includes two additional sound-shaping modules: Impact and Stabilizer.
What features do Ozone Alternatives need?
Perhaps you’re a purist, skeptical of the burgeoning reliance on AI, or maybe you’re on a budget, seeking a more cost-effective, even free alternative. Or, you might simply prefer a different workflow that better aligns with your creative approach. Maybe you’re more old-school and you just need pages of knobs and VU meters to feel at home?
And while Ozone offers a variety of analog emulations among its included effects, a certain sonic character of an iconic limiter or mastering EQ might be what you’re after. Or you’re the opposite: mastering is a dark art for you, and you’d rather send your tracks somewhere and receive the fully mastered version?
As there are so many different effects within Ozone, replacing it is a difficult task. While there are certainly mastering EQs, compressors, and limiters that more than equal those in Ozone, and you could even find at least similar VSTs for Ozone’s Tonal Balance Control technology, there is no other single plugin that has all of this under one roof in the same workflow. Best to keep this in mind for our list. Get it at Thomann.*
iZotope Ozone Alternatives: IK Multimedia T-RackS and Lurssen Mastering Suite
To keep things fair, we’re only going to name each manufacturer once on this list. Technically speaking, IK Multimedia T-Racks 5 and IK Multimedia Lurssen Mastering Console are two completely different products, both aimed at mastering.
There are four editions of T-RackS, and the smallest one, the CS edition, is actually free! Then it goes up until the mighty T-RackS 6 MAX edition. And that giant bundle includes a wide range of different processing plugins, many of which are emulations of legendary studio gear. What’s more, it includes a huge variety of tape emulations, reverbs, analog EQs, and more.
The Lurssen Mastering Console by IKM aims more toward an all-in-one solution and is a much closer approximation of an Izotope Ozone alternative. While it does not offer an AI assistant, the VST offers 40 genre templates. Based on these, settings for every section of the mastering chains are set. It even works in surround settings. Get it at Thomann.*
iZotope Ozone Alternatives: Sonible smart:essentials – AI-assisted Mastering
Sonible has developed a strong reputation over the last few years with its range of AI-assisted plugins. Rather than simply using the “AI” label, these plugins actually yield great results. In the smart:essentials bundle, there is a processing trifecta in the form of the smart:comp, smart:limit, and smart:EQ plugins.
Each plugin within the smart:essentials bundle includes a similar AI assistant to the one Ozone offers. It also seems as if a concerted effort has been made to create a similar workflow to Ozone. This means that the user interface is simple and intuitive, with more advanced settings under the hood.
While Sonible plugins are not cheap, they are far more affordable in bundles like the smart:essentials bundle, and the results speak for themselves. In addition, Sonible offers similar metering capabilities with true:balance and true:level compared to Ozone’s Tonal Balance Control. Get it at Thomann*.
iZotope Ozone Alternatives: FabFilter Mastering Bundle
In the FabFilter Mastering Bundle, you’ll find the “Fab Four”: the Pro-C compressor, the Pro-L limiter, the Pro-Q dynamic EQ, and the Pro-MB multiband compressor. While these plugins are not designed exclusively for mastering, they do all have excellent mastering features.
FabFilter is a household name used throughout the industry, in music production, mixing, post production, and, of course, mastering. This means that you will get more use from the FabFilter plugins than you would from the average mastering software, because they also excel in other applications.
The plugins each have remarkably intuitive interfaces, and the sound character features within the Pro-C compressor and the Pro-Q EQ allow you to take things into a more vintage analogue direction or to keep things ultra-clean and modern. There are no AI assistants, and FabFilter doesn’t have the same “all-in-one” interface as Ozone, but they are certainly some of the best plugins on the market. Get it at Thomann.*
iZotope Ozone Alternatives: Brainworx
Brainworx offers a wide range of mastering processors, from plugin versions of high-end hardware like the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor to extensive solutions like the bx_masterdesk PRO, which simulates a complete mastering chain. In addition, Brainworx has a free mastering solution called bx_mastering studio, a great tool for getting started with DIY mastering.
Although Brainworx doesn’t have convenient AI-assisted processes in the plugins we’ve mentioned, these are tools you can use to gradually sharpen your skills as a mastering engineer. Once you have a deep understanding of all the processing going on in a plugin like bx_masterdesk PRO, and you’re achieving good results, you can also add the bx_digital V3 mastering EQ plugin and the bx_XL V3 mid-side limiter into your chain.
This way, you can make precise tonal adjustments with the bx_digital V3 before doing the heavy lifting in bx_masterdesk PRO. Naturally, the bx_digital EQ is far more extensive than the bx_masterdesk tone section, with five parametric bands on both the mono and stereo processing sections. Get it at Thomann.*
Online mastering as an Ozone alternative
We can’t not mention online services like Landr or Cloudbounce as an Izotope Ozone alternative, because it does not get any simpler than these. While there are quite a few arguments to be had about all-in-one mastering done by algorithms, these online mastering services have gotten quite good in recent years.
For the most part, these services are essentially the AI assistants from Ozone elements. For the most part, you either select a genre, or the sound you’re going for and let the site do its thing. And given the challenges mastering can bring, with subtle nuances and point-decibel changes that are simply inaudible in acoustically untreated rooms with entry-level monitors, an all-in-one service can be the solution to take a close look at.
With Landr being the biggest name in the game, there is a growing number of similar services. Even SoundCloud offers automatic mastering services for its pro user uploads. Besides CloudBounce, eMastered and Aira Mastering (with an AI controlling an analog mixing desk) are worth a look.
The runner-ups – Paid and Free
The “free-est” option for mastering is just using the effects that come with your DAW: stock plug-ins. Learning how to use these and mastering with them will help you become a better producer in so many ways! Because if and when you eventually decide to buy a VST to help you with mastering, you’ll know much more about why it is a better solution than your DAW’s limiter.
And then there are brilliant free VST like dynamic EQ “Nova” and mastering compressor and limiter “Kotelnikov” from Tokyo Dawn Labs. Also, Melda’s free bundle “MFreeFXBundle” includes an analyzer for metering, an EQ and a Compressor, and many other effects that can help create a better-sounding master.
On the paid side, there are quite a few effects in Waves Audio’s gigantic catalog that are still being used by many mastering engineers to this day, with the L3 Multimaximizer being one of the most popular ones. And you know how it is with Waves, if a plugin is too expensive, there WILL be a sale.
In a similar manner, both in terms of plugin variety and sales policy, the many brilliant emulations (especially when it comes to mastering EQs) from Plugin Alliance are definitely worth a look, if you’re serious about mastering. They have also started their very own online mastering service recently. Many VSTs from Brainworx, which is part of PA, are available at Plugin Boutique*.
Conclusion
There is more than one Izotope Ozone alternative. In the end, it comes down to you. What is your budget? How experienced are you? At what level are you producing and mastering? There certainly is something for everyone on our list.
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4 responses to “The Best iZotope Ozone Alternatives for Mastering Your Music”
The mastering service from amuse is very good, and something you definitely should check out!
something you definitely should check out!
One of the most well-liked ones is the Multimaximizer.
Very surprised Newfangled Audio’s Elevate bundle doesn’t get a mention – it is an excellent choice for mastering.!