Help with stereo enhancer on the master?

[Rubenn]

Hi guys,
I'm new here. I was looking for help regarding some stereo enhancing on the master bus. Can you suggest some plugins to do that? The only stereo plugin I ever used is Voxengo Stereo Touch, but I don't know if it may be suitable for the master bus. What are your advices?
I'd prefer if you suggest something free (sorry!).

Thank you all!

 

[viralz]

Welcome to the board

mid/side processing is my favorite way to achieve a wider stereo image. Personally I use the ozone m/s eq but if you want something free check out this vst :

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1053

 

[TRUIE]

Voxengo Stereo Touch is more suited to turn mono tracks to stereo, using delays, filters...etc.

If you want something to widen the master, for free, you can try this : http://www.fluxhome.com/products/freewares/stereotool-v3
Or even this one : http://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/ (use it in "inline" mode and rise the side gain to taste)

 

[Christian WUFU]

Welcome to the board

mid/side processing is my favorite way to achieve a wider stereo image. Personally I use the ozone m/s eq but if you want something free check out this vst :

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1053

This x10000000
Stereo Enhancing plugins are usually very gimmicky and very easy to overdo. The best way to get a wide stereo image is to firstly, have a killer mix with good balance throughout. Then, during the mastering stage M/S processing will do the rest.

 

[wishtheend]

I really dig bx_digital2 to center bass freq 80hz, a hint of deesser and to give a tiny touch of widening 5% or so.

 

[Rubenn]

I tried the M/S processing VST you linked and wow! This is awesome, actually! I think I'll use this a lot, and the saturation knob is also very useful I think! Thank you

 

[TRUIE]

FYI the 2 VSTs I mentionned also uses M/S processing.
You won't be able to do anything drastic with it or fix issues on bad mixes, but they work wonders to add a final touch/tiny bit of widening.

 

[Megin]

A broadband compressor e.g. Pro-C will do the trick but it'ts not free

 

[TRUIE]

@Megin : care to explain how you use a broadband compressor to widen the stereo field ?

 

[Kellii]

This plug in allows you to create a crossover point so everything above is in stereo and can be minipulated and everything below is in mono.
http://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/mongoose/

 

[anotherpaul]

http://www.alexhilton.net/A1AUDIO/index.php/a1stereocontrol
This is a great freebie, I use it all the time. Has both mono crossover and stereo enchancer. Very easy to overdo, though, so be careful and always check your mix in mono!

 

[TRUIE]

Talking about paid plugins, I use Brainworx Bx_Control all the time to do this (mono sub lows and subtle width enhancement), but it's a bit pricey.
It's on sale from time to time at lower price.

For width enhancement only, I forgot about their free Bx_Solo plugin :
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/bx_solo.html

 

[nezvers]

Dude, if you are the one mixing, than you shouldn't use any stereo widening on master. Start your work from arrangement to mixing. Don't pan everything hard L&R (mainly only guitars), use wider stereo panning/ processing for tense sections like you'd use volume automatization.
P.S. Don't use tools just because you want to.