Abbey Road TG Mastering chain is great for Rock & more Acoustic, instrument based genres. Ozone can do it all. You get clean, digital masters, and warm analog masters. You can do way more with Ozone, and it sounds more hi-fi, than the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain.
Mastering can feel like a dark art of the music production world, but it doesn’t have to be so mistifying.
Both iZotope’s Ozone 9 and the Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain are incredible mastering plugins, ready to make your next Grammy winning master.
Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain vs Ozone, which of these is best for you? This can be quite a hard question to answer, so let’s look at both of these plug-ins individually, and then we’ll compare them!
Let’s start off with…
Contents
Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain
Waves are no strangers to working with Abbey Road, having developed the Abbey Road Collection together with the legendary recording studio.
All of their plug-ins focus on modeling the actual gear that the Abbey Road uses.
The Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain is a modular mastering plugin, modelled after the TG12410 Transfer Console, that has been at Abbey Road since the 90s.
Just like the actual console, the plug-in consists of four individual processing modules, as well as an output. Each module is separately toggle-able, in case your computer has issues with CPU, and each module is clean + easy-to-use.
The plug-in is also reasonably priced, and can be grabbed for a low price when it’s on sale. That being said, the mastering chain is better at some things than others.
The flavor and sound of the TG Transfer Console is absolutely perfect for rock, hip-hop, and more organic genres of music.
If you’re an electronic music artist, this may not be the mastering software for you.
There’s just a bit too much flavor, for genres that need more clarity, and an almost crystalline sound. If you work in more traditional, guitar based genres, you’re going to absolutely love the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain.
The Modules
The Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain comes with 4 Modules and an output!
All modules are interchangeable, aside from the input and output modules, to allow for even more flexible processing.
Additionally, Each Module can be switched between Stereo, Dual Mono and Mid-Side modes, which gives you a lot of ways to use the mastering chain.
TG12411 Input Module
The Input Module has a lot of functionality, offering L/R Balance Control, as well as Transposition, Phase, Pole switching, and even a Tape Equalizer for some nice EQ flavor.
The Input alone is super versatile, and perfect for setting up the best mastering chain.
TG12412 Tone Module (EQ)
The Tone Module is a four band EQ, with 5 preset frequencies and 5 filter types for each band.
The EQ is awesome, and sounds very clean, but you won’t get the surgical control you could with Pro-Q 3 or similar.
TG12413 Compressor/Limiter
The Compressor and Limiter module controls your dynamics, offering a ton of fine-tune control, and two different algorithms.
The two Algorithms are: Modern and Original, each offering a different flavor to your sound. The Compressor and Limiter on this is probably why we like the TG Mastering chain so much!
TG12414 Filter
Lastly, the Filter module is similar to the EQ, offering preset frequencies for both your High Pass and Low Pass filters. You also get a Presence filter, with 8 preset frequencies, that can add some sparkle and shine to your signal.
Pros
✅ Modeled after a legendary mastering console
✅ High Sound Quality
✅ 4 Versatile Modules + Output
✅ Perfect for an old-school feel
✅ Great Presets
Cons
❌ Not the best for electronic music
❌ Can get heavy on the CPU
Pricing
The Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain is available from Waves.com, for $199.
Waves do have tons of Sales going on, so you can probably cop this for way less. We’ve seen it as low as $35.99.
Black Friday is also coming up, and Waves will be having a huge sale throughout the period.
iZotope Ozone 9
If you haven’t heard of the iZotope brand by now, we’re guessing you’re just starting out in music production.
iZotope have made some of the most well-known and widely adapted Mixing and Mastering bundle plugins ever. Of all their plugins, you’re probably most familiar with their Ozone 9 Mastering software.
Ozone 9 is iZotope’s flagship mastering suite. Easily, the most advanced and feature-rich mastering plugin in the world, Ozone is an all-in-one approach to mastering plugins.
Ozone has been the answer to mastering for tons of producers, with tons of modules, and all the most important mastering tools all under one roof.
Machine Learning Master Assistant
The integrated machine learning can instantly give you great results, after analyzing your audio.
Great for getting down basic mastering settings, so you can adjust them further, the Mastering Assistant, is like your very own Mastering Engineer, inside your computer.
You can also select a reference track for the master assistant, which will really help your master sound more like the sound you’re going for.
This is a great way to get a commercially viable master in seconds.
When using Ozone, we start off with the Master Assistant nearly every time. Give it a few seconds to analyze your signal, and boom, an instant master.
The Assistant also sets the output level exactly right, so that your final LUFS levels are where you want them to be.
The Reference Track feature is also perfect, when mastering an EP or an Album.
When consistency between masters is important, being able to load up your previous master, as a guideline for a new one, is absolutely incredible.
Is Ozone 9 worth it?
Ozone 9 is easily one of the best ways to get a presentable product, very quickly. Whether you need to hand in a demo on short notice, or you’re making a commercial master, Ozone can do it all!
The Mastering Assistant is one of the best features in any Mastering plugin, and is the best way to get into mastering.
That being said, Ozone isn’t all about the artificial intelligence and Machine learning, which a lot of less experienced producers tend to forget.
Ozone is a very deep and powerful tool, and you will need to take time to learn how to use it all properly.
Most producers who have no idea how to master music, use Ozone, because it’s almost like a cheat-code. When you take the time to learn Ozone though, you can go from that cheat-code, to intermediate mastering, to Grammy level masters – not kidding!
Once you know Ozone inside and out, you won’t really need much more for your masters. If you’re looking for the best of the best mastering plugins out there, Ozone is definitely worth it!
Pros
✅ Intelligent Processing
✅ Beautiful User Interface
✅ All-in-one mastering
✅ Tons of modules, to perfect your masters
✅ Flagship AI and Processing Algorithms
✅ Ozone 9 Elements is FREE on Plugin Boutique
Cons
❌ Can be CPU intensive
❌ Ozone 9 Advanced is quite expensive
Pricing
iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced is available on Plugin Boutique for $585
iZotope Ozone 9 Standard is available on Plugin Boutique for $292
iZotope Ozone 9 Elements is available on Plugin Boutique for FREE, if you want to check out what Ozone 9 is all about!
Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain vs iZotope Ozone 9
Whether you get the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain, or iZotope’s Ozone 9, entirely depends on what you’re looking to do.
Abbey Road TG Mastering chain is great for Rock, Acoustic, Hip Hop & more instrument based genres Ozone can do it all. You can get clean, digital masters, and warm analog masters.
There’s simply way more that you can do with Ozone, and it sounds way more hi-fi, than the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain.
Abbey Road TG Mastering chain is also a little less intuitive than Ozone 9, and Ozone takes the cake when it comes to functionality. However, that’s not what TG Mastering chain is about. It’s all about the great classic hardware sound of the original unit used in Abbey Road Studios.
For anything that needs some old-school vibes, you should reach for the Abbey Road Mastering Chain.
If money isn’t an issue, we’d suggest you get them both. Ozone is pretty much unbeatable, when it comes to mastering. It features any kind of utility you would need, and is one of the best and easiest ways for a mastering engineer to master an album.
We love to use Ozone as our starting point in the master. Setting up basic limiting and EQ, to build the rest of the master off of is one of the best ways to use Ozone. Add the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain subtly on top, and you’ll have best of both worlds.
Combining the surgical precision, and versatility of Ozone, with the flavor and character of the Abbey Road Chain, is one of our favorite mastering tricks.
Remember that both of these plug-ins are extremely good, and you should really give them both a chance!
Finishing Up
iZotope’s Ozone 9 and Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain are two, very different plugins. Ozone is modern, sleek, and hi-fi, while the Abbey Road Mastering Chain is decidedly retro, full of character and flavor.
Which is the best for you depends entirely on what kind of music you’re looking to master. Hopefully we helped you make that choice!
If you enjoyed this comparison, make sure to check out some of our other awesome lists, reviews and tutorials!
Toms is a music producer & DJ, born and raised in Post Soviet Latvia. Currently based in Brighton, Toms has had over 6 years of experience with all things production and in that time, he’s done a tonne of cool stuff! He’s played multiple festivals, had experience in the field with mixing & mastering and even become a freelance journalist in the music industry.
Toms currently creates music under the alias Sovereign. Producing music that’s intimate and subtle, while full of edge and energy, the young producer combines the artistic sounds of Trip Hop artists like Massive Attack, with the energy and youthfulness of producers like Flume, Jamie XX and Yaeji. You can check his stuff on Soundcloud.
