Ozone 8

[Starphoenix]

Splice is now offering Ozone 8 as part of their rent-to-own package — I guess their experiment with Serum was successful? For a relative newbie, is Ozone a good investment versus sticking with the stock parametric EQ plug-ins that come with FL Studio?

[shadowpsyc]

IMO not really. Disclaimer that I don't have Ozone but

 

1. Some of the stock plugins in FL are perfectly capable, PEQ2 and Maximus or the Fruity Multiband Compressor are solid

 

2. Doing a ton of processing on the master is far less of a necessity in a modern DAW where you have the whole project to work with and can change things on a per track level right up until completion. If you aren't summing everything into one wav and working on that in the end then in most cases a simple multiband compressor and limiter are going to be adequate. Ozone does have more bells and whistles than the aforementioned stock plugins but I'm not convinced they actually matter that much anymore

 

3. The best investment for mixing and mastering is your listening equipment. If you don't already have them, getting some really good headphones or studio monitors is going to make more of a difference than any plugins

 

Ozone might offer some convenience and capability advantages but if you aren't a professional with no need to be judicious in spending I don't think it's $250 or $500 worth of advantage, there are other things you could spend the money on that will have more of an immediate impact both in terms of mastering and augmenting FL's weak spots.

[APZX]

If you want something overkill for 99% of the situations you'll encounter then yeah Ozone would be a great choice. However, if you want stuff that'll be more useful then @shadowpsyc brings up an excellent point. Monitoring. You can't really know if you're doing good or harm without something telling you honestly that you are doing good or harm to the sound. So, I +1 that comment. 

With that being said, I do also understand the want or desire for extra VSTs or such for mixing or effects. I personally really dislike PEQ2 because is in HQ mode it has unreported latency that can cause problems. Though as a main EQ I'd find it too fiddly most of the time because it is a Parametric EQ, and they certainly do have their uses. However, most of the time I just need a couple of simple bells and a couple of shelving filters for my EQ work with HPF and LPF. The EQ I use most of the time when I'm mixing is one modeled after a Neve 1081 (how close it sounds, I don't know, nor do I care). What I care about is how fast I can get what I want out of it. In that regard it is perfect. Limited, but plenty flexible for most situations you'll ever encounter in mixing. 

I guess my biggest suggestion is to find a set of tools that you like and can use quickly. That is probably the bigger thing here. Ozone is a big giant collection of processing that would probably be useful from time to time, but not often enough I'd say to go and get right now.

[Jorito]

Ultimately it's all a personal choice. For me, I decided to stick with Ozone for my mastering bus, and it's essentially all I use and have been using for the past years. I find it to be a complete and compelling suite of mastering tools that even work with my mediocre mastering skills. The presets are also useful and inspiring to me. So for me it'd be worth it. For you? YMMV. You can use other tools for this, like the bundled stock plugins, and they will also get the job done, but the convenience, the workflow and the quality of the bundled stuff made it an easy choice - for me.

I would suggest to try a demo version and see if/how it clicks with you. Either you figure out you like it a lot and it might be worth your while, or you go 'meh' and move on.

[avaris]

Try the demo version.

To really get the most out of ozone you will really need know your stuff. Definitely watch some tutorials on youtube to get familiar with how the different modules work.

Then compare it to the FL stock plugins and see what you prefer. If you don't gel with Ozone then walk away. It is always best to use the tools you know the best and feel best tor you.

[avaris]

Ozone 8 Elements for only $29

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/50-Mastering-/3847-Ozone-8-Elements