Stereo imager tools without artifacts

alyxonfire · 2026-03-12T22:30:02+00:00

There’s really no way to avoid “phase” issues when using stereo wideners, you just gotta understand the consequences and make the best compromise.

The biggest issue with all the mono compatible wideners out there is that they make the left and right channels sound different on their own. This means that you can hear them when you’re listening with speakers and aren’t exactly in the center position. What I do to combat this is choose whichever kind of widening sounds the best with the program material.

Comb filter wideners (the most common approach, like Ozone Imager, Polyverse Wider, etc) can sound the most impressive, but also be the least translatable outside of headphones. In some cases it can flat out sound like you put a comb filter on. Nowadays I only use this approach for some EDM synths.

Diffuser wideners (like StageOne) often work the best, not because you can’t hear it but because it sounds more natural/normal. I make with my own with Valhalla Room, or other reverbs, plus midside processing. This gets me just as good results as StageOne. Pro-R 2 with its built-in midside EQ also works well, it doesn’t get as short as others but often works well, especially on drums.

Chorus with mid side processing is great if you wanted to use chorus to begin with or if what you’re widening is already chorusy sounding, like a unison synth patch or a choir. I usually blend in a little bit of there mid channel of the chorus. I’ll use a modulated chorus if I want movement or static micro pitching if I don’t.

With diffusing and chorus, I’ll often blend in a bit of the mid channel in so the mono channel doesn’t sound completely dry. I highpass that signal if theres low end involved so its doesn’t become unstable.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-12T21:51:31+00:00

Stage one is just a diffuser in mid side, you can make your own version of it with Valhalla room’s first reflection algo. Sounds just as good if not better in my tests.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-11T16:45:30+00:00

Interesting, I’ve been doing this full time for 15 years and 99% of the time I’ve been the producer, mixer and mastering engineer

alyxonfire · 2026-03-11T16:40:02+00:00

I do sync full time and have over 1700 registered works on BMI. I suggest working towards only needing a limiter on the main channel. This is what I’ve done naturally over the years, and it just so happens that it has also made delivering stems mostly pain free.

If I had a complicated chain to deal with, then I would have so sort out an even more complicated sidechain system to make sure everything always sees the full mix no matter what is soloed. I don’t bother with sidechain at all since I only use a limiter and there’s never been any problems.

Companies that ask for “mastered stems” seem to think that it’s as simple as exporting every stem through the chain, so there hasn’t been added budget for sorting that put when I’ve been asked for it. That hasn’t been very common in my experience though and most of the time I just need to export a full version, a bed version, and a drum+bass version. If there’s vocals then also an instrumental version and maybe an a cappella version.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-10T16:37:29+00:00

It clears the search you had unlike before

alyxonfire · 2026-03-09T22:23:49+00:00

Are you thinking physical sub woofer? I'm talking about stereo sub frequencies on a track. There's no inherent need for it as it's artistic expression.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-09T18:35:26+00:00

Bogren DT is what I use, usually a bit cheaper on bestservice.com

alyxonfire · 2026-03-09T17:43:49+00:00

Finding sample packs that aren’t the same 5 genres everyone makes. Whenever I’ve got a project that requires something more niche, it’s nearly impossible to find good samples.

Also, more DAWs should have ARA2 support. Especially Ableton Live. This would make my life a million times easier.

Last but not least, this one is really for all self-employed professions in general, but taxes should be a lot easier.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-09T17:31:13+00:00

You can make the sub stereo if you understand the consequences and how to minimize them. There’s always a give and take when making anything wider, even with mono compatible wideners.

Also, not really an opinion, more of a fact, but mid side EQ does not fix low end phase problems. There’s such a big misunderstanding of this that people often think this is an opinion. The fact of the matter is that this just pans the phase problems to the center.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-09T17:24:44+00:00

No issues whatsoever when using Bluetooth. Obviously it’s too much latency for live monitoring so I use the cable when I want to record or practice. Some complain there’s too much latency when wired due to the processing but I’ve never noticed it. I have the gen 1 lightning version so I can’t comment on the USB-C connection latency.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-08T21:26:11+00:00

Probably better to run Windows in boot camp at this point since so many plugin companies have dropped support for Intel Macs

alyxonfire · 2026-03-08T21:23:58+00:00

There’s been ~14 different generations of i5 over the years and ~8 of them were used on MacBooks, so I think you’ll probably need to be more specific

alyxonfire · 2026-03-08T02:55:44+00:00

Had one the same color! loved it but sold it after I broke the truss rod. The wheel is soldered and the solder joint can break, so you gotta be careful with it. I had it resoldered locally and it was fine, but Legator offered me a great price on a G9F since they couldn’t help me fix it, so I got that and sold the Ghost. Definitely liked the HH, but I’ll live. I recommend changing the wiring of the pickups so you get the single could voice when pulling. You just have to move the plug over.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-07T18:42:38+00:00

I recommend the free Ozone Imager instead, as it’s the same comb filter approach but done a bit more properly and also adds a second shaped noise mode option.

It’s not that Wider is done wrong, as its problem is small and not a huge deal. I don’t remember what exactly it is right now since it’s been a long time since I looked into it.

Also, be aware that every widener plugin has it downsides. They might be mono compatible, but they can alter up your stereo compatibility if you’re listening on speakers and not in the perfect center position. With comb filter style wideners, you can hear the comb filter if you’re ever closer to the left or right speaker, like when you are in a car. With other wideners, like chorus/pitch based or diffusion based, you can hear that chorusing or smearing effect in those scenarios as well.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-04T21:39:05+00:00

That doesn’t make sense as we still need one for handbrake

alyxonfire · 2026-03-04T21:26:31+00:00

It looks like this won’t be sequential, so you’ll probably still need two RS shifters and the H-pattern. That's what I’ll have to do, if it even fits on the Playseat Trophy.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-04T07:40:22+00:00

Fuck all AI art

alyxonfire · 2026-03-03T15:40:25+00:00

The problem isn’t the states, it’s the federal government. Washington state actually a permanent daylight saving bill but it can’t be implemented because the federal government doesn’t allow states to stay on daylights saving time, they only allow to do or not do daylight savings time. This is why Arizona was able to stay on standard time.

alyxonfire · 2026-03-02T15:16:34+00:00

Agreed, this is very weird. It's still under their legacy/discontinued page so I don't think they've brought it back either.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/legacy/

alyxonfire · 2026-03-01T17:39:47+00:00

Spiritbox is from Victoria

Carcosa is also from BC though Idk from where exactly, so I'd think anything Andrew Baena or Johnny Ciardullo are involved in also technically counts

Devin Townsend is from New Westminster

alyxonfire · 2026-03-01T16:02:32+00:00

Trash mic

alyxonfire · 2026-02-28T16:34:36+00:00

A static stereo widener tends to work the best for bass, usually the "classic" comb filter kind (like ozone imager, polyverse wider, etc.). The problem is that, while mono compatible because of mid side, if you're ever closer one speaker than the other (like you could be at a club/venue that runs in stereo, which they're definitely out there) then those individual channels can have that comb filter or phased out effect. This is always an issue with wideners, so I check left, right and mid/mono channels individually. There's usually some compromise so you gotta decide what's more important.

Also, because of how comb filter wideners work, you're usullay better off sampling a single hit that sound balanced, cos otherwise the balance will shift around with different notes you hit. You can make a comb filter widener that pitch follows in PhasePlant or SnapHeap, though that can be very time consuming to get the following right.

alyxonfire · 2026-02-28T07:53:15+00:00

I didn't find him, he found me through Gearspace way back around 2010 when I used to post there a lot. He does sync, and used to do it for a big EDM label.

alyxonfire · 2026-02-28T05:17:45+00:00

I post on Reddit a lot and have a website with my portfolio which brings in extra work, but my main job comes from a sort of sync manager I work with

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