PalancarWare Ozone

Saturation/distortion filter with distortion, squelch, and saturation settings. win, mac & beos

Saturation/distortion filter with distortion, squelch, and saturation settings. win, mac & beos.

Here's some infoi from the site... in use the plugin does various sorts of distortions and pumping distortions.

Ozone is a saturation/distortion filter with some unique character. It has three different methods for apply distortion and saturation, with the ability to add subtle warmth or crazy fuzz, and everything in between.

Don't be put off by the fact that this is a distortion tool. Yes, Ozone can produce something a Marshall guitar stack might make. But it's also possible to emulate tube preamp or compression with this plugin as well, for a warm but still very clean and beautiful sound.

It's a particularly good tool for adding distortion harmonics to synth basslines. The squelch setting is particularly powerful if you route in a nice square wave riff.

There are four controls:

Input Gain - this controls the amount of amplification (or gain cut) that occurs on the input signal before any processing is performed. With certain settings, pumping up the input gain can result in a very saturated signal. I.e. overdriving this plugin can sometimes produce very nice results.

Type - there are three types of distortion this plugin can apply:

Squelch - a thin broad distortion of the type made famous by the Roland 303 beat box

Squash - a thick nasty distortion that sounds very warm and tube-like

Saturate - a more subtle coloration of the signal suitable for warming up a sterile recording. This distortion type sounds particularly good if you overdrive it.

Blast - the how massively the distortion destroys the original signal.

Zeta - a distortion factor whose function varies depending upon the type of distortion applied.

Using the Plugin

As mentioned, this plugin really shines on synthesized basslines. Put a square wave bass through this thing on squelch with high blast and low zeta, and you'll hear a wicked little distorted sound. (This works really well with a filter in your chain, by the way).

It also can be used as a mastering tool, as a way to warm up the signal before it goes to the final compressors and limiters.

A couple of tips on using the plugin:

If you're using this as a mastering tool on your completed mix, be very careful to listen closely to your results. The line between tube warmth and nasty distortion can be a fine one. Pay particular attention to your high-frequency transients (cymbals are a great source) to see if they still sound fairly natural.

For fun, try setting the type to saturation and the blast and zeta to very high levels (e.g. 100.0). Then kick up your input gain about 5-6 dB. NASTY!