Stereo widening

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jonetsu
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by jonetsu »

tavasti wrote:What is your experience about that Mixbus feature? Does it help make it wider itself, or do you still need / use some plugins for widening?
Yes, it does make the mixbuss sound wider. It's actually pretty obvious. For this reason I put it dead center when I start a new mix. So that I have some leeway to widen parts of the mix when needed. Note that there's no width adjustment on the master bus.

As with most other plugins/FX each one has its own 'character', its own 'color'. And they all address a related purpose in a different way. If one wants widening to take place on the master bus, as in mastering, then a plugin is needed. Other plugins can widen by providing more control over certain frequencies, etc... Like reverbs and delays, each has it's own uses depending on the material and the mix. As a parallel, some reverbs are not sounding very nice globally but can add tonal characteristics to certain instruments whne used close to the original sound. Same with the stereo enhancers. One might be just the right thing for that drum.

If one wants to mix using Mixbus32C only and nothing else - which is something not far-fetched - then those controls on the mixbusses provide a very nice way to add space. Same with other Mixbus32C features such as compression and tape simulation. They offer basic sound design capabilities which can be just enough. I tend to drive a new mix as far as it can using only Mixbus32C, then add 'sweetening' later. Unless of course, an instrument sound itself that relies on FX from the beginning.

Cheers.
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by bluebell »

singforme wrote:Hi, what do you guys use for Stereo widening in Linux? In Windows I used to work with http://quikquak.com/Prod_UpStereo.html - is there anything comparable in Linux?
I put this in the master:

http://marzen.de/tmp/ultra_depth.png

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jonetsu
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by jonetsu »

tavasti wrote:They seem to have also another free plugin related: https://www.voxengo.com/product/stereotouch/
Yes. It's only relatively recently that I started to look at the stereo aspect. So I'm still discovering ways and methods. I mentioned MSED because I happened to just have read it in Mike Senior's book. I briefly tried the Stereo Touch Voxengo plugin which does not yield the same result as the MSED although at this point I cannot say for which one I would go in reference to a specific audio material. I'm still exploring. They do yield different results though. Quickly I would say that MSED would be used sparingly as it tends to go overboard quickly when the Sides signal gets too loud whereas the Stereo Touch allows for more adjustments.
Jack Winter
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by Jack Winter »

jonetsu wrote:One video that could be helpful in the general sense is one from Michael White (Whitney Houston, David Bowie, David Byrne, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix remixes, etc...). This is from a 'Mixing with Mike' session, so it's a different kind of tutorial, much more like sitting in a mixing seat watching what the engineer does.
Thanks. Nice instructional videos, I haven't seen them before and will watch his material as time allows. Always more stuff and other POVs to learn from.
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by jonetsu »

Jack Winter wrote:
jonetsu wrote:One video that could be helpful in the general sense is one from Michael White (Whitney Houston, David Bowie, David Byrne, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix remixes, etc...). This is from a 'Mixing with Mike' session, so it's a different kind of tutorial, much more like sitting in a mixing seat watching what the engineer does.
Thanks. Nice instructional videos, I haven't seen them before and will watch his material as time allows. Always more stuff and other POVs to learn from.
The 'Mixing with Mike' 2+ hours weekly sessions on Wednesdays are available free for everyone. Simply register. They're streamed on youtube with a chat box to ask questions. 2 or 3 times a year a new mix is started and the weekly sessions goes through making the mixes step by step. Mike also has on these sessions other segments, such as a plugin review and a career/production tip. At least that was the case when I attended the sessions on Wednesday (4 PM US pacific time).

https://blog.music-production-guide.net/
omer666
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by omer666 »

There are Mid/Side processing plugins in the eq10q suite, though I never got to experiment with them. The EQ is M/S aware, too.

There is also the Fairchild reproduction from overtoneDSP which offers a lat/vert mode. Although it was meant for vynil cutting, it can achieve good results for widening too, depending on your needs.

As far as I'm concerned I tend to EQ my guitar tracks with a dedicated EQ and then try to widen the stereo image using the Mixbus EQ, which is very convenient in that context.

I also like using airwindows plugins' Wider VST when needed.
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by funkmuscle »

omer666 wrote:There are Mid/Side processing plugins in the eq10q suite, though I never got to experiment with them. The EQ is M/S aware, too.

There is also the Fairchild reproduction from overtoneDSP which offers a lat/vert mode. Although it was meant for vynil cutting, it can achieve good results for widening too, depending on your needs.

As far as I'm concerned I tend to EQ my guitar tracks with a dedicated EQ and then try to widen the stereo image using the Mixbus EQ, which is very convenient in that context.

I also like using airwindows plugins' Wider VST when needed.
Yep Wider I've mentioned already is my go to. Also LSP has M/S EQ.
dzimbo
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by dzimbo »

Hey guys

I am very new to producing music on DAW (using Ardour).
I an hoping my issue falls in this issue. Could you please tell me what plugin I should use to make sound gradually move from left to right and back? Would be great I could choose the time - for example 5 beats.

THANKS
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Markus
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by Markus »

Hey dzimbo, you could try Calf Pulsator.

Image
singforme
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by singforme »

Hi dzimbo, I think you don't want a plugin for this, you can just use the automation function of each track (http://brunoruviaro.github.io/ardour3-f ... utomation/) you just automate the panning (like in the tutorial in the link but instead of "Fader" click on "Pan").
dzimbo wrote:Hey guys

I am very new to producing music on DAW (using Ardour).
I an hoping my issue falls in this issue. Could you please tell me what plugin I should use to make sound gradually move from left to right and back? Would be great I could choose the time - for example 5 beats.

THANKS
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Markus
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by Markus »

singforme wrote:you can just use the automation function of each track
Using automation is quite time-consuming and inflexible, sine instead of linear vectors is even more complex to draw. Changing the width, the curve or the speed of the panning afterwards means to start from scratch. A plug-in offers much more flexibility and different flavors within seconds.
dzimbo
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by dzimbo »

thanks a lot both of you!
plugin for me was hard to get simple panning without modulation and precise time, but gives more optinios
automation helped.
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Capoeira
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by Capoeira »

Ozone Elements is on discount until today: http://m.news.izotope.com/rest/head/mir ... sLastDayDM
the stereo widner in it is great, and I have seen mastering engeniers using it (Elements has no band devision, but you can aply it to sperated tracks instead of the master bus).

Mixbus's width knob does not widen stereo. it's there to narrow stereo actualy.

right now I am comparing Fons Adriaensen's (Zita?) Stereo Width plugin to Ozone. sounds prety good before comparision
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by turbidh20 »

I've just tried airwindows Wider, seems promising, thanks for that.

I'm currently using Venomode Pivot (Linux VST) and that's sounding pretty good. I'm not sure that's strictly a widener but it's giving me the desired effect.
Capoeira wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:55 pmright now I am comparing Fons Adriaensen's (Zita?) Stereo Width plugin to Ozone. sounds prety good before comparision
What's the name of the Stereo Width plugin please? I'm having trouble finding it.
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Capoeira
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Re: Stereo widening

Post by Capoeira »

turbidh20 wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:39 am I've just tried airwindows Wider, seems promising, thanks for that.

I'm currently using Venomode Pivot (Linux VST) and that's sounding pretty good. I'm not sure that's strictly a widener but it's giving me the desired effect.
Capoeira wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:55 pmright now I am comparing Fons Adriaensen's (Zita?) Stereo Width plugin to Ozone. sounds prety good before comparision
What's the name of the Stereo Width plugin please? I'm having trouble finding it.
It's just called Stereo Width; hadn't found (the source) it when I posted either. Now I am prety sure it's inside this http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linux ... .2.tar.bz2
If not tell me, some how I find it lol

I didn't like the airwindows one.
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