Izotope Ozone 4

Anyone tried this yet?  It is available to current Ozone 3 users for $79 USD directly from Izotope.
We downloaded the demo version but haven't got around to trying it quite yet.

Seems to have a few new features and I think they said it's more CPU efficient too.

Have used ver 3 for quite a while with AA 1.5, 2.0 and 3.01 and often find it real
useful, though pretty CPU intensive especially with AA 3 in multitrack mode and Ozone
on the master bus. 

I've had it on a system here for a couple of days, and there are a few things it does that are potentially useful, although I haven't really tested it out thoroughly yet. This is mainly based around the mid-side monitoring possibilities, but also they've added Bob Clearmountain's favourite metering system - although this doesn't update as fast as I'd like it to.

So far, my impression is that they've nuanced the performance a bit - added a few features here and there, like a different harmonic exciter mode, but that it's not really an absolute must-have - unless you really are desperate for one of the new features, that is. Works fine with AA3.0 though.

Thanks for this Steve.  As usual, I value your input a lot.

The MS stuff seemed from reading their overview to be the newest addition , also more or better reverb,
but we've never used theirs anyway for anything serious. (Mostly we use the UAD reverbs here.)
I seldom use the current "exciter" in Ozone 3 either- just with a very few projects we've done.
I'll sometimes use a tiny bit of BBE enhancement, and UA makes an exciter that once in a while
can help certain projects.
But sparingly- like with most tools, unless really going for a special effect. 

I'll post anything  interesting/useful to us after giving it a workout. 
I'm partic. interested to see if it's more CPU-efficient on one single core P4 which runs AA3. 
I'll test it with some multitrack projects where Ozone 3 was really maxing the machine out
(with other plugs running too) and see how it compares.  I'll have to dig those out of the archives
and load a couple back.

From your observations, I'm thinking perhaps it's more of an update like AA3.01, but also adding a few new
odds and ends. On the single core P4, ver 3.01 has definitely been helpful however.
Enough little improvements to make a difference you notice with a lot of the work we do.
So if that winds up being the case with Ozone, I'll spend the upgrade cost, otherwise maybe not.

I seldom use the current "exciter" in Ozone 3 either- just with a very few projects we've done.
I'll sometimes use a tiny bit of BBE enhancement, and UA makes an exciter that once in a while
can help certain projects. But sparingly- like with most tools, unless really going for a special effect. 

I've used the enhancer quite effectively on restoration of materials from cassettes - and I agree entirely about using it sparingly. Definitely a case of Less is More...

Not to hijack the thread, but I have tried the Ozone 3 demo.  It was pretty feature filled compared to what I have tried (which is next to nothing) in "mixing/mastering" plugins.  The one question I had was the stereo expanding part of the plug-in.  (I can't remember the exact term).  It really sounded nice.  Is there a way I can do that in AA3 with just the tools that came with it? 

The demo I posted in the showcase was just me experimenting with panning and some delay.  And I think I did use the "widening" in the AA3 Mastering effect.  But is still didn't sound like the Ozone 3 where you can set the delay from left to right only within the certain freq bands.  So again, how complicate is that to do in AA3 with just the tools given?  I don't have the $$$ for just plugins. 

Or I didn't even look at the freeware plugins.  Maybe there something like that in there.  Thanks

The one question I had was the stereo expanding part of the plug-in.  (I can't remember the exact term).  It really sounded nice.  Is there a way I can do that in AA3 with just the tools that came with it? 

The demo I posted in the showcase was just me experimenting with panning and some delay.  And I think I did use the "widening" in the AA3 Mastering effect.  But is still didn't sound like the Ozone 3 where you can set the delay from left to right only within the certain freq bands.  So again, how complicate is that to do in AA3 with just the tools given?  I don't have the $$$ for just plugins. 

It's technically possible to do band-limited and delayed stereo widening in Audition, yes - but it's such a pain that I can't really imagine anybody ever wanting to do it. You have to band-split your file (MV>Effects>Frequency Band Splitter), then in the section you want to alter, you have to convert it to M-S (in EV with the preset that's missing, but I could provide details), do the widening, convert it back to L-R, then back in MV, drag the file by the amount you want to delay it. Over and over again until you get it right, with no preview available...

That's why Ozone is so good - you can do all this with a couple of clicks, and no converting at all!

oh wow....yeah i see the pro to using the plug-in instead.  And in the business of things, what saves time saves money.  Thanks for the explanation!!

Just a quick update to close this out:

After trying ver 4 with a number of typical things we'd use Ozone 3 for,
concluded not enough bang for the buck to justify the upgrade to ver 4
just now. The MS stuff was interesting but we seldom run into a need
for that.  We do often use Ozone 3 though - mostly on master bus
and usually for a little overall EQ and similar tasks.