iZotope Releases Ozone 8 & Neutron 2, Mixing & Mastering Musicians Rejoice

iZotope Inc., Cambridge, MA (October 5, 2017) - Today, iZotope, Inc., the experts in intelligent audio technology, announced the release of Ozone 8, Neutron 2, and Music Production Suite. The Advanced versions of Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 feature ground-breaking technology, including the ability to communicate with each other through the new Tonal Balance Control plug-in. This new level of inter-plugin communication puts more power in users’ hands, allowing them to achieve tonally balanced, professional mixes and masters that sound great in any listening environment.

Ozone 8 now features machine learning technology with the introduction of Master Assistant, allowing you to reach an optimal starting point for your master in seconds. Version 8 also includes Track Referencing, a Spectral Shaper to tame problematic frequencies, improved signal processing, and refinements to the user interface and workflow. Neutron 2 includes new signal processing, including a Gate with Hysteresis for a smoother gating response, and improvements to Track Assistant and Neutrino modes to help you get to a better starting point. Neutron 2 also features an intuitive Visual Mixer that allows you to mix on a soundstage by controlling pan, gain, and width of audio busses. The new Mix Tap plug-in now allows you to route any track to the Tonal Balance Control plug-in, Visual Mixer, and Masking Meter, even if you are not using any iZotope plug-ins.

What's new in Ozone 8:

Bringing these two powerful products together is a new plug-in called Tonal Balance Control. This visual analysis tool measures the distribution of energy across frequencies, comparing your audio to targets created from analysis of tens of thousands of commercially available tracks spanning a variety of musical styles to help you achieve better tonal balance. Tonal Balance Control can also compare your audio to a custom upload to inform how you shape its sonic profile and across listening environments.

Also new within Tonal Balance Control is inter-plugin communication, a technology that allows communication and interaction with any Equalizer instance of Neutron 2 or Ozone 8 in your project. Inter-plugin communication allows you to fix issues from one location in the mixing stage that could hinder mastering, and provides a visual guide for more tonally balanced mixes and masters throughout your production workflow.

What's new in Neutron 2:

“We see Tonal Balance Control as the missing piece between mixing and mastering,” says Dan Gonzalez, Product Manager at iZotope. “Mixing, and mastering especially, can often be difficult to understand, and getting your songs to sound like commercial releases can often be a struggle. With Tonal Balance Control, we created a new analysis tool that helps educate users on why their mixes and masters may be lacking in certain areas. And more importantly, we offered them the tools to help fix those issues, with communication and control between the mixing and mastering plug-ins.” 

Ozone 8 Key Features

Perfect for mastering and mixing engineers, Ozone 8 Advanced lets you:

• Dial in the perfect tonal balance with the new Tonal Balance Control plug-in, which can access any instance of Ozone 8 (or Neutron 2) across all your tracks

• Communicate with Neutron 2 Advanced (sold separately) using the Tonal Balance Control plug-in for a seamless mixing and mastering workflow

• Tame problematic and harsh frequencies with the new Spectral Shaper module

• Quickly A/B track references right from any instance of Ozone or in its standalone application

• Twelve essential modern and vintage modules with component plug-ins: Spectral Shaper, EQ, Dynamic EQ, Post EQ, Maximizer (with IRC IV and new IRC Low Latency mode, Imager, Exciter, Dynamics, Vintage Limiter, Vintage Tape, Vintage EQ, Vintage Compressor

• Create a custom preset with Master Assistant and get your audio to an optimal starting point

• Have deeper control in Ozone’s Maximizer with new low-latency IRC mode, Transient/Sustain Stereo Independence, and Learn Threshold

• Apply any saturation mode (Warm, Retro, Tape, Tube, Triode, or Dual Triode) to any individual frequency band in the Exciter

• Use Ozone Advanced within your preferred host as a single plug-in, as individual component plug-ins, or work within the Ozone standalone application

• Redesigned user interface for an even better mastering experience

Neutron 2 Key Features

Perfect for musicians and mix engineers, Neutron 2 Advanced lets you:

• Dial in the perfect mix with the new Tonal Balance Control plug-in, which can access any instance of Neutron across all your tracks

• Communicate with Ozone 8 (sold separately) using the Tonal Balance Control plug-in for a seamless mixing and mastering workflow with professional results

• Get to an optimal starting point in your mix with the improved Track Assistant

• Visualize your entire soundstage, controlling individual tracks including pan, width, and gain via the new Visual Mixer

• Easily identify perceptual frequency collisions across tracks with the Masking Meter

• Get to an optimal starting point in your mix with the improved Track Assistant

• Detect certain instruments automatically and apply Neutrino’s spectral shaping

• Mix with six award-winning processors including a new Gate with Hysteresis

• Mix in surround with a True Peak Limiter that is optimal for post production

Pricing & Availability

Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 are now available at www.izotope.com and select retailers.

Ozone 8 Advanced and Neutron 2 Advanced will also be available as part of iZotope’s new Music Production Suite. This incredible value combines iZotope’s latest products with its most popular tools including RX 6 Standard, Nectar 2 Production Suite, VocalSynth, and Trash 2 Expanded.