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Anyone know the best free stereo enhancer/imager for the Mac?

I know alot people just use the ones that come in the bundle like in Ozone or in the Waves .. But i'm looking for a freeware standalone one.

I checked out the KVR website, but there are literally 100s of them - dunno where to start!

Thanks for the help

what do you want it to do? i dont have waves or ozone

stereo enhancement: the lazy man's replacement of proper panning and reverb use

samkablaam wrote:what do you want it to do?

Probably Enhance The Stereo

Sharmaji wrote:stereo enhancement: the lazy man's replacement of proper panning and reverb use

nah nah it's just that... on my master channel after I do all the compression, it leaves my mix sounding more mono/less wide. So I need a stereo enhancer to bring it back to previous stereo sound. If you see what I mean.

hans blix wrote:

Sharmaji wrote:stereo enhancement: the lazy man's replacement of proper panning and reverb use

nah nah it's just that... on my master channel after I do all the compression, it leaves my mix sounding more mono/less wide. So I need a stereo enhancer to bring it back to previous stereo sound. If you see what I mean.

I do-- and it sounds like you should be building more involved mixes if you're trying to get all the "glue" out of processing your master. Try grouping your drum elements together and compressing (or parallel compressing) them, same w/ basses, synths, etc. not every mix will be the same.

at the MOST, if i really want to hear compression on the master channel, i'll have it pumping 2-3db. Anything more than that and it becomes kinda cheaply noticeable.

also, increasing either the high-end of your elements or the volume of the high end elements, and panning them around, will widen up your mix. same w/ verbs and delays.

Stereo enhancement, by its nature, messes w/ the phase of whatever goes into it. For sound design, it can be cool-- create a kick w/ a solid bottom, and widen up the 1-2k of it.Or if it's a reverb or something, it's no big deal usually. On a whole mix, you're generally talking about creating a weaker product.

:amen:
st stools is a great stero width observation tool though

Sharmaji wrote:

hans blix wrote:

Sharmaji wrote:stereo enhancement: the lazy man's replacement of proper panning and reverb use

nah nah it's just that... on my master channel after I do all the compression, it leaves my mix sounding more mono/less wide. So I need a stereo enhancer to bring it back to previous stereo sound. If you see what I mean.

I do-- and it sounds like you should be building more involved mixes if you're trying to get all the "glue" out of processing your master. Try grouping your drum elements together and compressing (or parallel compressing) them, same w/ basses, synths, etc. not every mix will be the same.

at the MOST, if i really want to hear compression on the master channel, i'll have it pumping 2-3db. Anything more than that and it becomes kinda cheaply noticeable.

also, increasing either the high-end of your elements or the volume of the high end elements, and panning them around, will widen up your mix. same w/ verbs and delays.

Stereo enhancement, by its nature, messes w/ the phase of whatever goes into it. For sound design, it can be cool-- create a kick w/ a solid bottom, and widen up the 1-2k of it.Or if it's a reverb or something, it's no big deal usually. On a whole mix, you're generally talking about creating a weaker product.

I hear ya. I use parallel compression, I send various hihats, incidentals, synths to it. Also use reverb mostly as a send too. On my master, I got 1 compresser catching the random spikes (0 attack, 0 release, 2-3db GR max), 2nd compresser gluing the mix together pumping at 4-5db, and then a limiter. Just need a good stereo enhancer to spread the highs, that all these compressors are squishing to the centre.

Btw, before you think 'he's killing all the dynamics in his mix' ... yeah I like it loud and bashful, I want my tunes to jump out when dj's and label heads preview them

^ I kill the fuck out of dynamics, but generally at the track or group level; got 0 problem having pads that hit a db level and don't move, or taking 25db off the drum bus. I definitely like using different compressors, but rarely as sends (unless it's for an automation effect).

essentially, by sending your hats & verbs to parallel compression, you're pretty much squashing the stereo image out. try different routings and see what they do...

^ that's interesting. Cool im gonna try grouping my sounds in my latest mix, doing all the dynamic-killing in the group stage, rather than on my master so that it won't hurt my original stereo width so much... cheers man

anyone know where I could get my hands on some stereo mic array IRs?

spaced omnis, xys in a dead room?

hans blix wrote:^ that's interesting. Cool im gonna try grouping my sounds in my latest mix, doing all the dynamic-killing in the group stage, rather than on my master so that it won't hurt my original stereo width so much... cheers man

go for it yo, should be exciting. It's always cool to get things working a compressor together-- creates some really interesting tones. It can be really handy on the master channel to get the vibe up-- but it's always at a cost, and it's easier to deal w/ lesser costs, via group compression, etc, than w/ having to re-address your entire mix because weird shit's happening at the master channel.

Sharmaji wrote:stereo enhancement: the efficient man's replacement of panning and reverb use

fixT!

stardust by arguru has a nice stereo module.

had some nice results with UpStereo on a send with a HP before it

http://www.quikquak.com/Prod_UpStereo.html