I’ve found that although AI is capable of perfectly-fine results that would be suitable in most instances, it doesn’t yet quite have the know-how or ability to get that final finesse or character. After Ozone is done analyzing a song, it will run a standard chain to try to match your reference target, which is generally EQ, Stabilizer, Impact, Imager, Dynamic EQ, and Maximizer.
It does a great job with these but I always find myself making some adjustments and then adding the extra sauce or character that comes from other tools, like certain saturators, analog style EQs or compressors.
This is where you can achieve some of that extra warmth and character. I often run my mixes through some of my analog EQs or compressors before they reach any digital mastering tools, just to get some of that warmth or character that you just can’t achieve using AI.
Mastering tip from Lipless: Check your mixes in mono, this can help identify phase issues and also helps dial in levels properly. A mix that sounds better balanced in mono will typically translate better across different speakers, headphones, etc.
