Using ARC 2 in Conjuction with Sonar and Ozone

I've recorded and mixed with the ARC (Advanced Room Correction) 2 plugin as the last thing on my master bus. Now I want to export a wav of my entire mix so I can open the file in Ozone and master it. The ARC manual says I should turn of ARC 2 before exporting a mix, but it also says to use the software as part of the mastering process. So should I:
 
1. Export with ARC off, then use ARC as a plugin with Ozone?
2. Export with ARC on, then use ARC as a plugin with Ozone?
3. Export with ARC on, then master in Ozone but not use ARC?
 
Thanks for your help.

This is one good thing about Ozone 6. You can now insert one 3rd party vst in Stand alone mode (I believe I don't own Ozone 6) In T-racks standalone ARC2 is already integrated which is nice. My setup is exactly as Sharke describes except my export settings in Sonar are setup where I don't have to turn off ARC2.

If I'm following your routing correctly, why not export from the master bus instead of the main out? I have ARC2 on my main out. My master bus feeds the main out and the master has a send to a headphone bus to bypass ARC2 with out having to turn it off.

Yeah, that's how I do it as well. 

keneds
Does this ARC 2 thing make a difference? I've got gas.

It's a huge difference. If your like me and don't have the space for proper acoustic treatment ARC2 is a life saver. I can now trust what I'm hearing. Hold off until the Christmas sales begin.

keneds
Does this ARC 2 thing make a difference? I've got gas.

It's like night and day for me. I have my monitors on a shelf about 4 inches from a wall, and they're also in a corner. Not the best situation by any stretch of the imagination. I hate how things sound when I turn ARC off. Straight away the bass becomes flabby and boomy and something bad happens with the highs as well. Flicking the ARC switch is like putting contact lenses on my speakers. I can't believe how balanced and clear everything sounds. Although I think the worse your room is, the more improvement you'll hear. 
 
The difference is so pronounced you'll probably want to hook your whole system audio through it. That was a bit of a pain to set up but I managed to get it working via a couple of programs - one paid (Virtual Audio Cable) and one freeware (Pedalboard). If I want to watch a movie or listen to Spotify through ARC, all I have to do is set VAC as my default audio device and then load VAC and Pedalboard (in which I have ARC inserted as a plugin). Was a little confusing to get working at first but now I do it by second nature and it's all good. Watching movies is so much more pleasant through ARC because the dialog no longer has that irritating boominess which my room inflicted on it, plus I'm pretty sure it doesn't bother my neighbor so much now 

ARC only affects the way you hear your mix during mixing. Just think of it as transporting your DAW to an almost perfect room and mixing your track there. The whole point of mixing in an acoustically treated room is to enable you to make accurate mix decisions which will translate well on other systems. When you mix in an untreated room, your mix decisions are influenced by the room. If your room is boosting 100Hz, you're going to cut that frequency in your mix. Played in a room which doesn't boost 100Hz, that cut is going to sound wrong. When you mix in a good room (or with ARC) you can be sure that your mix decisions are based on the music, not the room. 
 
Your old pre-ARC projects were mixed to sound good in your room. Whether they translated well to other systems is probably hit and miss. If you remix them with ARC enabled, you can be sure they will sound great on other systems too. Although it's still a good idea to listen to your mixes in other environments to make sure. 
 
Don't worry about what happens when you export your track with ARC turned off. As long as you set up ARC correctly (i.e. followed the instructions to the letter and did at least 12-16 measurements in a symmetrical pattern around your listening area) and as long as you have good quality monitors, you can be confident that your mix decisions were not influenced by the room like they were before. Once you have an exported mix, listen to it without ARC and compare it to your reference mixes. Without ARC, the room will be coloring the sound, but hopefully in the same way as it's coloring the pro mixes you're referencing. 

Thanks for the very helpful description. I will back track now. To the "remixing" board. :)

I shoot for -12 to -14 RMS and use the flat setting. Most radio stuff is a lot louder than mine, but I like dynamics. I would say commercial levels ave. -6 to -9. Import a final (Professional) mix you like and throw a meter on it.

Yes. I leave ARC 2 on flat always with the bass correction turned on, but that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing Hahaha! There are some great meters out there that are cheap or free that will help with all of this. The T-racks Meter is very handy and free with T-racks Customshop free. Toneboosters has EBULoudness which works great as a reference tool. Klanghelm has VUMT for $10 and Hornet has VUMeter for less than $5 sometimes. There is also Voxengo's Span which many around here use and love. It's free.

the need for arc is the same whether you are mixing or mastering.
 
it corrects YOUR ROOM.
 
you should not ignore your room when mastering.
 
that said,
it's easier to think of ARC as being only relevant WHILE MIXING......
and always have it off for everything else.
 
 
i use it to begin mastering, only to check EQ....
if i like my EQ the way it was when i was mixing, 
and my mastering chain (Linear phase EQ, Linear phase Multiband, L2 limiter) does not alter the EQ enough to make any big changes, i then delete ARC from the effects chain and continue with mastering.
 
it WILL screw up your gain staging when mastering. just turn it off after a precursory check.
 

I always make an ARC 2 bus and place it after the master bus. That way it doesn't effect gain staging or my mastering chain. I have to turn it down to -6 or -9 and I have to remember to turn it off before export or export from the master bus. I can see where it would cause problems with the standalone Ozone. It works great on standalone in T-Racks.

Just so I understand.....with ARC active......trim the ARC output to match the overall output so ARC doesn't boost the output, I think that was part of my problem. ( that makes sense to me) lol