Stereo width VST recommendations

[Erot 4]

What do you prefer for stereo width plugins?

 

Or do you use panning for better width?

[unknown music 14]

I think a better question is 'what techniques are possible for achieving stereo sound?'

 

it is important then to understand stereophonic sound and phase space

 

• Panning - changes the volume balance from left and right signal, leaving the spectral phase correlation intact
• Delay - changes the milisecond timing of the left and right signal without affecting the panning or volume balance, altering the frequency response with what is effectively a comb filter
• Reverb - simulates stereo reverberation reflections from a room, there are various types (Convolution / Impulse Response, Algorithmic, Spring, etc), this alters the phase space
• Mid-Side Processing - using L+R and L-R signals it is possible to convert a stereo Left/Right signal into a stereo Mid/Side signal. From here, there are many possibilities, such as mid-side EQing or multiband-dynamics, effectively also giving you a modified stereo field, depending on what you do
• Interaural Time Difference - there are some interesting algorithms from NUGEN plugins for stereo phase correlation modification
• Experimentation - using my own experimentation I've created stereophonic signals by generating signals at 44.1 khz and 192 khz and summing them together in creative ways. This works well because of the high frequency distortions present in lower bandwidth spectral calculations, which can be used creatively if studied and understood

These are just a few points about stereo processing. I highly recommend studying what the nature of stereophonic sound is in order to manipulate it creatively.

 

Stereo effects have inherently to do with the similarity and phase correlation between the left and right signals, which is mostly achieved through shifts in phase by various stereo time-delay related effects.

[andorra 117]

Here's a free stereo control plugin.

 

http://a1audio.de/index.php/a1stereocontrol

[Mr. UPGrade 6]

For analizing and shaping stereo with i often use

 

Flux stereo tool (http://www.fluxhome.com/products/)

 

and 

 

Voxengo MSED (http://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/)

 

Both are free

[neil (spatialize) 77]

waves has a good one and you can use it in MS mode which means that you can mono the lower end if required.

[ancientrealms 42]

This isn't specifically for this topic but I suggest checking out these plugins.

 

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

 

They are all free and probably some of the highest quality plugins available. I was happily pointed to them by Grains of Sound who use them for their productions.

 

Pax!

[andorra 117]

This isn't specifically for this topic but I suggest checking out these plugins.

 

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

 

They are all free and probably some of the highest quality plugins available. I was happily pointed to them by Grains of Sound who use them for their productions.

 

Pax!

 

I've been using the NastyDLA for a long time now and I've been really happy with it. Quality delay.

[pangani 11]

I can suggest you this one.

SPL Vitalizer - http://www.uaudio.com/store/special-processing/spl-vitalizer-mk2-t.html

 

if you dont have a UAD card than here:

 

http://spl.info/index.php?id=746&L=1

[Erot 4]

Thanks for all the great tips, many of them am I doing already. 

 

 

This isn't specifically for this topic but I suggest checking out these plugins.

 

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

 

They are all free and probably some of the highest quality plugins available. I was happily pointed to them by Grains of Sound who use them for their productions.

 

Pax!

 

These plugins are amazing, thanks for the tip. 

[Iacchus 25]

MetaSynth image filter does the most impressive stereo enhancement i have ever used

 

But generally, ping pong delay is where most of my width comes from!

[Matt Freak Flag 33]

http://www.stillwellaudio.com/plugins/oligarc/

 

This is a plugin suite with a few things; there is an all-in-one filter, distortion, chorus, phaser, limiter; you can also use each one individually.  

 

The chorus and phaser in stereo mode are excellent for width.  Try throwing the default preset on aggressive bass sounds or on pads.  

 

Be careful not to overuse...

 

Best part: while these aren't technically free, the demo policy is very liberal and has no constraints - you can try before you buy for as long as you want with no clicks, pops, dropouts, wooshes, or any strings attached.  

 

That being said, what unknown music said earlier in this thread is the right advice: plugins aren't often the best way to get stereo width.  Stereo delay, reverbs, Haas effect, and simple panning are all often better than slapping a chorus or phaser on your source, which many times just turns the sound into stereo sludge.  

 

Bonus: Bombardier, on the same site, is maybe the best software buss compressor I've ever used.  Feed-forward / feed-back, detector filter options, variable RMS detection (from instant to 300ms!), max gain reduction control, oversampling (if you are into that sort of thing), wet/dry knob.  Also, unrestricted demo :D

 

Their other plugins are good, too.  Try a bunch.  I use The Rocket a lot for parallel stuff on drums.  

[Phase47 24]

Voxengo develops top-quality plug-ins and it just so happens they offer a few freebies to get your feet wet, one of which happens to be a stereo-width plug-in:  http://www.voxengo.com/product/stereotouch/

[andorra 117]

 

 

Bonus: Bombardier, on the same site, is maybe the best software buss compressor I've ever used.  Feed-forward / feed-back, detector filter options, variable RMS detection (from instant to 300ms!), max gain reduction control, oversampling (if you are into that sort of thing), wet/dry knob.  Also, unrestricted demo :D

 

Thanks for this, I quickly tried Bombardier and so far it seems to be really nice tool!

[Tea Tree 3]

I find Waves doubler great for creating varied haas effects.

 

http://www.waves.com/plugins/doubler