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I just got an email ad for one of the products made by the company that makes OZONE: Alloy 2

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/alloy/



Is anybody here using it? If so, what do you think?

It looks interesting, but also redundant. We all have plugs that do the same stuff already; but I like the interface

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It's an offer for Ozone users. There is a pretty good discussion on the SONAR forum (except for one snarky poster). You should be able to read it (but not comment) here:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2757280

The bottom line is that Alloy is similar in function to Ozone but is easier on the CPU so it is intended to be used in mixing and can be applied to each track, as opposed to Ozone that is intended to be used for mastering on the final stereo mixdown.

I have Ozone and love it. I do not have Alloy but am considering it at this price.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:

It's an offer for Ozone users.




non-Ozone users can buy it too, but they don't get the 50% off "customer reward price"

Quote:

There is a pretty good discussion on the SONAR forum (except for one snarky poster). You should be able to read it (but not comment) here:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2757280




thanks for the link! I'll check it out! Speaking of Sonar, have you used your $20 Sonar bucks yet? If so, how? I'm at a loss as to figuring out a way of spending just $20 (or even of working it into a larger purchase)

Quote:

The bottom line is that Alloy is similar in function to Ozone but is easier on the CPU so it is intended to be used in mixing and can be applied to each track, as opposed to Ozone that is intended to be used for mastering on the final stereo mixdown.

I have Ozone and love it. I do not have Alloy but am considering it at this price.




your observation is exactly what I was thinking, almost word for word Matt. I respect your opinion, so this is a serious consideration.

IMO, one of the main inadequacies of the average track plugin is lack of visual guidance when you use it, and sometimes even lack of ability to hear more than a snippet of sample before you commit to it. Izotope's strength (well, one of them anyway) is that they have done an EXCELLENT job of providing the user audio and visual guidance when using their products. By the time you commit something to your project, you have a pretty good idea what effect it will have... and I like having that kind of control.

Yes, I have other EQs, limiters etc... but none of them are the all-in-one, small footprint, and intuitive solution this appears to be.


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Pat, I did not use the $20, but thanks for the reminder.

I completely agree, Izotope is superb with visual displays. While I rely almost exclusively on sound, it is nice to get that visual reinforcement especially when some control is way out of whack.

[With all these effects, my general rule is to move the slider until I hear the effect, then back off halfway. That usually works in my preferred genre to help reach the sound I want. Another way to say it is, you can easily have too much of a good thing. But you already know all that.]


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:

Pat, I did not use the $20, but thanks for the reminder.

I completely agree, Izotope is superb with visual displays. While I rely almost exclusively on sound, it is nice to get that visual reinforcement especially when some control is way out of whack.

[With all these effects, my general rule is to move the slider until I hear the effect, then back off halfway. That usually works in my preferred genre to help reach the sound I want. Another way to say it is, you can easily have too much of a good thing. But you already know all that.]




Well, thanks for assuming that I already know anything... but mixing is my weakest point in the home recording learning curve. Therefore, I appreciate hearing any and all tips from people who are willing to share them. (Especially from people like you who have achieved some degree of success with the end product of your recording expertise.)

This particular tip is one that I need to keep in mind (but often don't)

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Pat, I use both Ozone and Alloy and agree with Matt, Alloy is very useful on individual tracks because it is easier on the cpu and you can get away with many instances of it. Ozone works well on the master bus. Both are great tools and provide some very useful presets that you can audition and use as starting points.

Terry


BIAB/RB 2018 PlusPak. Dell Inspiron23 running Win10, 12GB RAM, 2.5GHz i7, Presonus AudioBox USB interface.
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was thinking about buying their studio bundle at amazon for $399. it includes Alloy 2, Ozone and Nectar. but I was wondering if I really need all three? other than presets is there any benefit to the bundle? don't they all offer similar funtionality? I use Reaper and already have their plugins as well as a few free ones. but still looking for tools that make mixing easier!

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Quote:

It's an offer for Ozone users. There is a pretty good discussion on the SONAR forum (except for one snarky poster). You should be able to read it (but not comment) here:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2757280

The bottom line is that Alloy is similar in function to Ozone but is easier on the CPU so it is intended to be used in mixing and can be applied to each track, as opposed to Ozone that is intended to be used for mastering on the final stereo mixdown.

I have Ozone and love it. I do not have Alloy but am considering it at this price.




so if you already have Ozone and a very powerful PC that runs it fine, would you just use Ozone or would you use Alloy as well? I read that discussion and even the comment from the company did not seem to definitively establish that these are two very different products!

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I would do the mixing using Alloy. Then I would do the mastering using Ozone. Two different processes.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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