In this video I put iZotope Ozone 12 up against a human engineer (me) in a straight 7-minute mastering challenge—no cuts, no edits. I got the idea from Wavy Wayne and I wanted to see, in real time, if the Ozone 12 AI mastering tool can really hang when you’re on the clock inside a home studio setup. I ran the song through Ozone 12, kept a timer on screen, and made quick decisions to get the loudness and balance right without overcooking the mix. After the A/B, I break down exactly what I did versus what Ozone’s chain did. On my end I started with Dynamic EQ, used Stem EQ to control elements more intentionally, dialed Impact a little up, and kept the Imager sane—because widening the low end is kinda crazy to me. I also touched Bass Control for punch, matched Clarity (funny enough we landed basically the same), and added Aventus Tape for a little analog vibe and harmonic distortion. Ozone’s version threw in a Stabilizer on a rock setting (it’s not a rock song), and the Maximizer felt way too loud—so my takeaway is AI can be a solid starting point, but you still need human decisions to keep it clean and musical.