Stereo Imaging In The Master

J

jaynm26

New member
I hear it all bout stereo imaging....
- dont mess with it
- it can cause phase problems
- can change the balance of the mix
- can add depth to a master
- can adds resonants
- can actually cause "in-phase" instruments seem out of phase
- make a master wide and better sounding

Knowledge, thoughts, comments, techniques, tools?
 
i played with the S1 stereo enhancer Imager plugin, for about 12 months off and on.


i figured, if i wanted to understand what effect it had, on what i thought were shitty mixes, and great mixes, the only way was to dive in.

so i used it.

i can say, after a year of experimenting, every single master session i used it on, i went back and got rid of it.

but that's me.



others may use it VERY WELL...... but for my mixes, it always sounded like clown fookery
 
Stereo wideners are best used on individual instruments or groups (like BVs) to move them out of the center for the lead instruments.

Anything beyond that is probably going to destroy more than it's going to help. On entire mixes especially.

Cheers :)
 
GONZO-X said:
i played with the S1 stereo enhancer Imager plugin, for about 12 months off and on.


i figured, if i wanted to understand what effect it had, on what i thought were shitty mixes, and great mixes, the only way was to dive in.

so i used it.

i can say, after a year of experimenting, every single master session i used it on, i went back and got rid of it.

but that's me.



others may use it VERY WELL...... but for my mixes, it always sounded like clown fookery
Click to expand...
WOW, I did the exam same as you GONZO in the mastering session I put it on and used it to widen my masters. I also did the following I ended up taking it off. Just the whole idea of stretching my masters makes me feel uneasy. I dont know maybe its just me ..glad you had the same take on it GONZO
 
What bout the UAD K-Stereo (resonance maker) Its a stereo field type of plug I hear bout this plug more than any never used it tho. Everyone says this plug effects the stereo field in a correct way. I still dont know its even worth trying.
 
yes, just for clarity, i was referring to using it on stereo files during mastering only.

as mo facta said, it is still a useful device during mixdown, for 'special effect'.

it works well.

but it is borderline clownfookery, and the point is, if you have a really good mix, you ideally should not need it.


a lot of 'true' mastering engineers probably use it to save less-than-stellar mixes they receive from clients when they can't force any other changes (such as a re-mix).

and even as a 'special effect', a little goes a long way.
 
pinkfloydfacepalm.jpg
 
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