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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Hi:
I am about to buy Ozone 5 and am excited. I see that there are a lot of options for FX, aside from the many mastering presets and options. All the basic FX are there (EQ, reverb, compression, exciter, dynamics) -- but not a lot of the less-often used FX (flange, delay, chorus, etc.).
I have looked around the forum and elsewhere to see if folks are using these FX in Ozone as basic FX when they mix, and I can't see any discussion. The question is: Would there be any downside to using Ozone most of the time for it's basic FX while mixing? Would the size of the VST program, inserted on several tracks, eat up resources more than, say, basic PG or Classic FX? Could I see Ozone 5 as a sort of Swiss army knife for FX?
Thanks for any suggestions... I know some of you guys are very experienced in Ozone4 and 5.
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I only use Ozone for the final step, mastering. However, I did experiment with loading multiple copies during beta testing of the new VST feature by putting effects on several tracks, and it did work fine. My PC is nothing remarkable either, a Core 2 Duo.
Ozone in general uses remarkably little CPU% but as it does so many functions, I'm guessing that single effects in general probably use less. This would need to be tested, though.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Brad When you get Ozone, put an instance of the plug-in on the 'Audio' section of the mixer and play with some of the presets. You will be amazed how the music is lifted up somehow and really gets a sonic boost - and that is before you start putting individual instances on the separate instruments. Kevin 
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Quote:
Ozone in general uses remarkably little CPU% but as it does so many functions, I'm guessing that single effects in general probably use less. This would need to be tested, though.
Plugins are more about RAM than CPU, so if you've got enough RAM to support whatever you are running, should be good to go.
--Mac
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Quote:
Quote:
Ozone in general uses remarkably little CPU% but as it does so many functions, I'm guessing that single effects in general probably use less. This would need to be tested, though.
Plugins are more about RAM than CPU, so if you've got enough RAM to support whatever you are running, should be good to go.
--Mac
I'm sure that statement is true about most plugins, but I don't think it applies well to Ozone. Ozone can be a stand-alone program as well as a plug-in. The Ozone FAQ support section offers many tips about reducing CPU usage, and says nothing at all about RAM. Watching the CPU usage has been very important in my many years of using Ozone, and each of their modules relies heavily on processing power. Here are a few samples from the Ozone FAQ:
For better live playback, there are some adjustments you can make lower Ozone's CPU and latency needs. These settings have been designed for greater fidelity in mastering and mixdowns. Because you may want to hear these high-performance effects during playback, we've made it possible to adjust the latency and CPU they use. If you enter Ozone's Options screen, and examine the "EQ/Reverb/XOver" panel, you will be able to change the buffer sizes used by each of these effects. In general, lowering these buffer sizes will lower the latency required for the effect, but cause a slight jump in CPU needs. Raising buffer sizes will do just the opposite: raise latency needs, but lower CPU cost. It's worth exploring these ranges to find values that work best on your system.
_____________________
If you don't need stereo output when previewing, try enabling "Process as Mono" in your plug-in Options screen, under the General tab. This can cut CPU usage by up to 50%.
_____________________
Using fewer bands for multiband effects can save significant CPU. To change the number of bands, right-click (or control-click, on OS X) on the band's mini-spectrum.
_____________________
Problem:
My host application drops out, or experiences "Sync," "Time-out," or "Time-inactive" errors when using my plug-in.
Solution:
When you change a plug-in's settings or presets, this can sometimes change the amount of CPU resources or latency needed by the plug-in. If a host's I/O buffers and latency are set too low, these sudden changes in the plug-in can sometimes cause "sync" problems, playback dropouts, and other timing issues. To help with this problem please try increasing your host's latency allowances and I/O buffer sizes.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Journeyman
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Thanks, guys... helpful comments, all (I am still hoping for RHARV to check in, since I know he is well-acquainted with Ozone).
So, as suggested, I went ahead and loaded up a fairly complex RB sequence, putting Ozone on 4-5 FX Inserts, then on Aux1 Insert, then on the Output Master audio. The CPU usage, with each addition, mounted up, eventually to over 90, where I started getting dropouts. Below about 85%, things seemed fine.
So then I started taking out Ozone iterations, and substituting PG FX for Ozone presets. Clearly, with each substitution, the CPU usage fell progressively, which indicates to me (I am not a puter guy) that Ozone Presets use a lot of resources. Maybe the individual Ozone FX use less if you don't use the Presets, as suggested by Matt, which I will have to check later.
Incidentally, I am running a Core 2 Quad CPU, @2.40, with 4.0 GB RAM, 64-bit OS.
Looks like this Ozone 5 is gonna be fun, used judiciously.
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Yes, I believe disabling some effects inside Ozone will lighten CPU load, and it is a pretty decent size program to run multiple instances of. It can be done, but with trade-offs.
Also if I use Ozone presets on tracks I find getting a final mix more difficult; making each track sound great doess not equate to a good mix. The end goal is all tracks sounding good together.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Ozone 5 is on my wish list. If anybody sees a special killer sale on it, please let me know. I usually find out about sales after paying full price the day before.
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The only killer deals I saw were for registered owners .. I suppose it'll stay that way for a while. Ozone 5 is still pretty 'new'. Ozone 4 is probably on sale somewhere.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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I don't recall ever seeing Ozone on sale, going back to Ozone 3 when I first bought it.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I recently downloaded the test version of nectar, and they sent me a 10% coupon toward any product for trying it. But that only takes their price down to the street price of $199 that everybody else already offers.
Guitarcenter has a 12% online coupon which would take the price from $199 to $175.. which is a fair reduction from the list price if bought directly from Ozone.
I guess the way to get a discount on a new product is through STORE incentives. Now is the time for after-Christmas sales when nobody is buying anything without a special price.
but... if anybody sees a killer price on Ozone 4, that would work for me. I'll be looking too, but the web is a big place...
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