OTT Preset for iZotope Ozone
"Perhaps the most requested EDM preset of all time" ~ u/blueproduction on Reddit
When I heard OTT for the first time, I was blown away. I used it for everything from drums to vocals and even on the master. But as my mixing skills improved over the years, I increasingly felt it was smearing the sound too much and used it less and less.
Soon I tried to achieve the OTT sound with other, cleaner multiband compressors. But I couldn't find any information on how to do it properly, and the few attempts by other people I found, with all due respect, didn't come very close to the original either. I thought that it was simply not possible and that OTT did something special that other plugins can't replicate.
Now, after more than two years of work, this preset is the result of countless hours of trial and error and learning a lot about analog modeling: a mastering grade OTT preset for iZotope Ozone. Modeled after the Xfer Records OTT plugin, it doesn't simply copy the preset settings, but emulates the actual sound and processing behavior of OTT as faithfully as possible - and with the incredible sonic properties of iZotope Ozone.
"...like a silk blanket of OTT" ~ u/poellemonster on Reddit
I've also added a zero-latency version for real-time work that introduces more phase shift. If you download the preset, please let me know what you think of it (daniel@fabrice.email). I look forward to your feedback!
NOTE: I have not yet found a way to dry/wet the preset properly. Unfortunately, the parallel control in Ozone has no effect on the output gain. However, since OTT has a high output gain, this means that adjusting the parallel control in Ozone only reduces the compression, which increases the output gain even more! That's the opposite of what the parallel control is supposed to do, IMO. If you have an idea how to fix this, please let me know.
Thank you and have fun!
~ Daniel
Specs
- Phase shift: ≤ 0.10rad (6°)
- THD+N: -86dB @ 1kHz/0dB
- IMD: 0.00%
- Latency: 9ms @ 48kHz
Measurements
Pink = Xfer Records OTT plugin
Red = This preset
Frequency Response
Phase Response
To model the plugin correctly, I first set the crossover frequencies with the FIR filters in Ozone and then switched to the hybrid FIR/IIR filters to get a flat phase response for the final preset.
Harmonic Distortion
Transfer Curve
Please note that this is only a simplified graph at 1 kHz. To model the preset, I isolated each frequency band and its respective components and matched them individually to achieve the best possible accuracy.