izotope ozone Manuale Utente

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’ve done a good job with reverb on the individual tracks and as a result have a cohesive 

sense of space, you probably won’t need to add any additional reverb to the final mix. In some 

cases, however, a little mastering reverb can add an overall finish to the sound. For example: 
 

1) A recording made “live” in an acoustic space might have troublesome decays or room 

modes. In this case, a coat of reverb to the final mix can help smooth over any 
imperfections in the original acoustic space. 

 

2) A short reverb can add fullness to the mix. In this case, you’re not trying to add more 
perceptible space to the mix, but instead creating a short reverb at a low level that 

fills in the sound. 

 

3) In some cases, you don’t have a good sense of ambience or cohesive space in the mix. 
Each track or instrument might have its own space, but they don’t seem to gel 

together in a common space. Mastering reverb can be used as a “varnish” in this case 

to blend together the tracks. Yes, this is a type of band-aid for glossing over a mix, 
but sometimes that’s all you can do. 

 

In the simplest sense, a reverb simulates the reflections of sound off walls by creating dense 

echoes or delays of the original signal. Since walls absorb sound over time, the delays or 

reflections in a reverb decay over time. In addition, as the signal is delayed or reflected over 
time, the number of echoes increases (although decreasing in level) and you hear a “wash” of 

sound as opposed to individual echoes. 

 
There are many types of reverbs, from plates to springs to reverse reverbs to gated reverbs. 

In the context of mastering, we (iZotope) tend to separate reverbs into two categories: Studio 

and Acoustic. This isn’t a technical definition, but more of a way of thinking about reverb. 
 

Acoustic reverbs

 

simulate a realistic acoustic space. For placing individual performers 

(tracks) in a virtual room, these are excellent choices. You can clearly hear the “early 

reflections” from the original signal echoing off the nearest walls, and decaying into a space 
with later reflections. You also have a clear sense of the “positioning” of the track in the room. 

 

Studio reverbs on the other hand are artificial simulations of rooms, and while they may not 
sound as natural as an acoustic reverb they have been used so much on commercial 

recordings that we have come to accept and even expect them. Do they sound like a real 

room? No. They are an effect of their own, and they give an overall sheen or “lush” ambience 
to a song. You don’t picture the musicians performing in a real acoustic space, but instead 

experience a wash of ambience. You can overdo it and it can wash your mix right down the 

drain, but just a touch can wash away any imperfections in the original mix and give it a nice 

sheen. 
 

 
Ozone provides both acoustic room and plate “studio-style” reverbs that you can apply to your 

mixes. They are both 64-bit algorithms – the plate mode providing a thick or lush sound and 

the room mode providing a natural or acoustic sense of space.  
 

 

Ozone™ Mastering Guide 

Page 29 of 66 

©2003 iZotope, Inc.