So while I've been using Ozone 9's mastering assistant, I feel like the dynamics sometimes get too much squashed thereby giving a flat tone to the mix.

Well, at least this is my take on AI mastering, what d'yall think though?

 

if you don't know how to do the process... ozone is really helpful. but if it's not the case, for me (at least) it's a waste of time

 

In case of Ozone it's because the strange EQ curve used by the assistant. I don't know why it's like this, but you can try a slight different approach: Take the Match EQ with a (built-in) reference or just the "6dB guide" and then the Maximizer with IRC III or IV.
It's still kind of "automatic" and should sound better on many tracks.

Of course you can also browse through the hundreds of presets and find something that suits you better...

Often it's better than nothing, but not much more than this.

 

Last edited: Feb 21, 2021

what do you use for mastering? thanks!

 

i feel the newer Ozone is pretty impressive
you can fix things in previously done mixes without messing with the overall presentation
the new low end thing is especially good
the old interface was a little easier to use, but you can use the little 'link' icon to dial down all the parameters of an effect at once
the correct usage of it for me is alot of A/Bing with things on and off and what order and amount
good luck

 

Use smart tools like Ozone as starting points. Run it multiple times on parts of your song. Note what it recommends. This is a great starting point to suggest issues in your mix. I also recommend disabling the integrated modules and each band one at a time to hear what it was trying to achieve. I, honestly, do use this then go back to my mix and examine it for issues I should have resolved in the mix.

 

My personal take on Ozone (version 9) is that it's good when you just created something really quick, and want to show it to a friend or send it to someone, and you can have this fast automatic processing to get the volume to a decent level, without wasting time on mix and master because you will do that later when the project will be finished. Especially if you want to send it to someone that does not understand the concepts of mixing and mastering, and just expect stuff to sound like things in the radio etc..
In general Ozone has a good imager too, you can use it only to widen some tracks, but not much more.

Unfortunately between the Automatic assistant mastering and Ozone's average effects I don't think it can be used for anything too serious.
Maybe in future versions they will improve it even more. It would be great having a plugin to do this, the mastering part is almost fully doable by a smart plugin, but Ozone doesn't quite reach that level just yet.
I could go more in depth in saying what it doesn't do right, but truthfully it doesn't matter, as of today, invest time into learning how to produce and mix, and after that learn how to master if you can, because with a few tutorials and the right plugins you can already do a better job than ozone 9.
That's my 2 cents..

 

normally 2 eq and 2 compressors, separately (not some sort of channel strip) to modify as much as i want and because i combine emulations of hardware with mid/side type of processor

 

i also found the new Vintage effects like compressor and EQ to have some useable qualities