User Manual

Master Section
OZONE 7 | MASTERING SECTIONS
83
Codec Preview (Advanced only)
When converting to a lossy audio format (such as MP3 or AAC), psychoacoustic algorithms are used to
truncate the less audible components of your audio. This means that parts of your audio are actually
being removed, which has a subtle (or not so subtle at lower bit rates) aect on the sound. Codec
Preview allows you to hear what your audio will sound like after lossy audio compression has taken
place, and gives you the opportunity to compensate for this data loss without leaving your DAW. For
example, when converting to a low bit rate MP3, you may want to brighten your audio slightly, to
counteract the loss of high frequency data.
Key Features
• Preview what your audio will sound like in popular audio compression formats.
• Compensate for sonic changes due to codec compression without leaving your DAW.
• Solo Codec Artifacts allows you to hear only the audio data that is being removed from the mix
as a result of the lossy compression.
To enable/disable the Codec Preview click on the speaker button underneath the master I/O meters.
The Codec speaker button will illuminate when previewing is active and aecting the audio.
To access the settings for the Codec Preview section, click on the Codec button in the lower right-
hand corner of the interface. The Codec Preview section contains the following controls:
MP3/AAC:
Select the codec format to preview: MP3 or AAC. For AAC Ozone
uses Fraunhofer’s codec. For MP3 the LAME codec is used (www.
mp3dev.org).
Bit Rate (Constant):
This control allows you to set what constant bit rate value to
preview: from 96 kbps (generally used for low quality streaming)
to 320 kbps (the highest bit rate supported by MP3). For mono
files streaming through the Codec Preview module, the highest
supported bit rate is 256 kbps.