Stereo Width Plugin Vst
Last Updated on December 15, 2020 by
When it comes to producinghigh-quality music, knowing how to deal with the stereo image of your song isessential.
I found a couple stereo imaging/expanderplugins which are awesome, and some of them are even free!
Let’s get started…
Best Commercial Stereo Imaging plugins
Here are four stereo enhancerplugins which I think are awesome, plus they are very affordable as well.
S1 Stereo Imager by Waves ($39.99)
Waves is probably the best-known company when it comes tohigh-quality plugins.
Ultra Smooth Stereo Imaging for Mixing & Mastering A well balanced stereo image is essential in any mix. It can be a challenge however, to assign.
One of their more useful -and yet overlooked- plugins is theS1 Stereo Imager which is excellent for widening or narrowing the stereo image ofyour mixes, as well as correcting or enhancing stereo, or even a mid-sideimage.
Features
Best FREE Stereo Widening VST Plugins These are the best free stereo widening VST plugins. The VST widener plugins in this will give you a wider mix. In this top 5, you'll find a stereo enhancer, panning plugin, tremolo, a chorus/delay, and (in my opinion) the best free stereo imaging plugin. Add Stereo Width To Your Mix (msed vst), Stereo Width Production Trick For Clarity and Space, How to get WIDE stereo tracks - Into The Lair #117, Best FREE Stereo Widening VST Plugins (2019.
M-ST is a free VST plugin to reduce or enhance the stereo wideness of an audio signal. Control the width of any track, perfect for making super-wide sounds or creating narrow, mono-like sources. Make your pianos, synths, and cymbals fill up your stereo image, or tighten up your low end by narrowing bass and kick drums! Brainworx Audio stands for finest audio engineering Made in Germany. Passion drives us to push audio technology forward every day. We value the work of our plugin developers and the creators of the original hardware units we emulate. Our goal is sonic excellence and a perfect sound experience for every single user.
- Enhances stereo spatial effect.
- Remixing and rebalancing existing stereo mixesfor remastering.
- Retains mono compatibility.
- Avoids phasiness effects.
- No alterations of tonal quality; no unwantedadded effects.
- Simply brings out what is already there in thestereo mix.
You can find out more about the S1 Stereo Imager here.
Pro Q by FabFilter ($160)
Despite being an EQ plugin, thePRO Q also has a stereo imaging function which you can access by changing thechannel mode to mid-side.
This will allow you to EQ in a stereo fashion; If you putthe PRO Q on your output you can then, and in most cases should, cut the lowend on the side channel.
This will give you an increased perception of the low-end inthe mid channel, which is where the bass, and other instruments that live inthat low-end, should be.
It’s also very useful for creating room for other elementsof the mix that are in the middle and need to stand out more.
Simply cut the frequencies of that element on the side channelto make it pop out more in the middle.
This is seriously one of the best ways to give your mixes asense of space and making room for the important elements.
You can find out more about Pro Q here.
Doubler by Waves ($29)
Doubler is a simple yet powerful double-tracking plugin that allows you to add additional voicing to any track.
Additionally, you can control the placement of said tracksin a 90-degree stereo field.
This means that you can have individual control over thestereo placement, modulation, tuning, and gain of each single track, giving youloads of possibilities over the sound of them.
It can even work as a tremolo or chorus effect, depending onhow much or how little modulation and tuning you apply.
Features
- Double-tracking / chorus plugin
- Add shimmer and presence
- Create the ‘80s harmonizer and pitch detuneeffects
- Double vocal parts automatically
- Add flam-like effects to drums
Find out more about Doubler here.
Panpot by Goodhertz ($49)
This plugin was founded on the principles of how humansperceive different sound sources; that is, to identify the size, location, anddistance of a sound in space.
They manage to mimic these conditions by introducing threenew types of panning;
Delay, Spectral, and Phase.
Now, we all know how traditional panning works; we turn theknob left or right and it pans the source to either of the sides.
Panpot allows us to do much more “realistic” panning, if wewant to, or even create something completely “unrealistic”.
If you truly want to be able to take your panning skills toa new level, then Panpot is an absolute must.
Find out more about Panpot here.
Free Stereo Imaging Plugins
Despite being free, all of these plugins are excellent, andI mean excellent!
Make sure to check them out!
Ozone Imager 2 by iZotope
Like all other iZotope plugins, the Ozone Imager is a veryvisual plugin since it features a vectorscope which meters your stereo widthand allows you to literally see if the left and right channels are lining upproperly. Akai professional vst plugins.
It also comes with the “Steorize” function which allows youto turn mono into stereo, with no need for reverb or doubling.
It can be used as a subtle enhancement or for creating afull blown-out phasing effect.
Lastly, you can control how wide or narrow every element ofthe mix is; Do you want to spread out a narrow-sounding synth? Ozone Imager cando that.
You can download it here.
Wider by Polyverse Music (Free)
This is a simple free plugin that widens your stereo signal…
The added benefit of Wider is that it does this withoutcausing phase issues when you listen to the mix in mono because any widenedsignal will always remain in phase.
It’s extremely easy to use because you can only control oneparameter; the width.
And that’s it!
It creates a much wider stereo feel and it doesn’t mess withthe phase at all!
Excellent plugin that I absolutely recommend!
You can download it here.
A1Stereo Control by Alex Hilton (Free)
Often times you’d want to give your mixes a wider andexpansive sound…
This is where A1Stereo Control comes in.
One issue does normally arise when doing this using otherplugins which is “widening the bass end”, since the bass should always be inthe center.
However, this plugin comes with the “Safe Bass” algorithmwhich centers everything below a user-configurable value.
This gives your tracks the solidity and definition you wantwhile preserving maximum transparency and sharpness.
Simply turn on “Safe Bass” and adjust the frequency ifneeded and that’s it… It’s really that simple.
You can download it here.
Conclusion
This is one of those cases where the premium plugins aren’t necessarilythat much better than the free ones.
I think most people will be more than happy with any of thefree stereo wideners I listed.
The only premium plugin I would absolutely recommend overall the others is Panpot.
I hope this information was useful.
Have a wonderful day!
Hello Composers, Mike here. Are you looking for a simple stereo widening VST plugin that can add width and depth to your music?
iZotope Ozone Imager is a completely free VST plugin, and it works really well! =)
There are many stereo imager plugins out there, but I personally only use plugins that truly enhance the final sound.
If you are a perfectionist like me when it comes to good audio, you will be glad to know that the Ozone Imager is one of the best ones I’ve heard out there.
And it does its magic while also being super quick and easy to use. Perfect! =)
It has even been endorsed by Alan Meyerson. Scoring Mixer for The Dark Knight, Gladiator etc. I will quote him: “Imaging control is one of the big bonuses of the digital signal processing world. No plug-in does it better than Ozone.”
Visual Stereo Overview
With Ozone Imager you will get immediate and intuitive feedback as you adjust settings. You get both a Vectorscope as well as a Correlation Meter, witch visual feedback to help guide your mixing and mastering decisions.
Wide or Narrow?
You can of course choose to go in the opposite direction, and reduce the stereo width on particular sounds. Don’t forget that depth comes from contrast.
Some sounds should be more in the centre of the stereo field, while others should be more spread out to widen the field.
For example: I personally like to use the Ozone Imager plugin on my different group bus tracks. This gives me control to decrease the stereo field on the bass group, increase it on the harmony group and so on.
I also like using it on the final stereo master bus, to add a touch of extra stereo depth to the final mix.
Simple Interface
Stereo Width Plugin Vst Audacity
You get two simple sliders. The first is the width control, which goes from -100 to 100. -100 is effectively making the sound completely mono, while 100 is doubling the stereo width on the sound you feed into it.
The stereoizer slider is where you can adjust the character of the stereo effect. It is very subtle, and you will probably find yourself focus far more on the stereo width slider which is where the main magic is.
My Final Thoughts
Stereo Width Plugin Vst Plugins
I would say that every music producer needs a good stereo widening plugin. And the Ozone Imager is one of the best I’ve used, both in terms of sound and ease of use. And all of this for free!?
Stereo Width Vst
Download Ozone Imager for Free here. And also get full specifications and learn more about it.