Seeking to repair certain identified deficiencies in the previous versions of Ozone (particularly around the northern pole region), iZotope has announced the release of Ozone 4 at the 125th AES in an Fransisco.

The popular suite of mastering plug-ins has been completely overhauled from the code up. Processing algorithms have been readjusted to take advantage of faster CPUs and lower latency recording environments. Additional, several new mastering tools have been added to make and even more flexible and powerful in-the-box mastering solution.

A complete list of key new features, from iZotope:

• Integrated mastering system combining analog warmth and digital precision
• New Intelligent Loudness Maximizer mode provides full-sounding masters while handling transients with unprecedented clarity
• New Perfect Reconstruction crossovers combine analog character with digital clarity
• New mid/side processing adds a whole new dimension of power to Ozone's EQ, dynamics and harmonic exciter by letting you process different parts of the soundstage separately
• True Envelope dynamics processing introduces a new alternative to traditional Peak and RMS-based dynamics processing for exceptionally transparent compression, expansion and limiting
• Improved and enhanced preset system lets users adjust a few simple parameters to get amazing results
• Many more interface and ease-of-use additions

Supported plug-in formats of Pro Tools 7 (RTAS/AudioSuite), VST, MAS, Audio Units, and DirectXensure compatibility on Windows Vista, XP and Apple OS X (Universal Binary) platforms.

Ozone 4 will be available in January of 2009. The price of the full, new version will be $249, but customers who buy Ozone 3 after October 1, 2008 will be eligible for a free upgrade to Ozone 4 when it is released. Existing Ozone 3 customers will be able to upgrade for only $79.