BX Hybrid Stereo Widener-counterindications?

[spiritG]

Hadn't really tried this before, but on a mix that seemed to have no openness a 300% setting of the BX Hybrid 2 stereo control seemed to open things up miraculously.
Noted results included Lot's more of the stereo reverbs and delays coming through and center channel vox, kick, had to be raised to compensate.
And in order to A/B at about the same volume lowering the BX output level 3db seemed to even the volume.
Which aphorism should be appropriate here?:
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?
Anything that seems too good to be true probably is.

If the output level of the BX is put back to unity (0) mono compatibiity is pretty much the same as when the BX is bypassed.
It doesn't seem like there are many situations a music production destined for a small label/inde CD and itunes is likely to need mono compatibility anyway

Is there some potential problem from using this stereo "enhancement"?

Has anybody used this (particularly with anything close to a 300% setting) stereo enhancement that can say whether a year or so later they regretted it?

Thanks

[spiritG]

To make it more simpler,

Has anyone had experience with extreme stereo synthesization?

Did you later regret using it?

Are some stereo synthesizers (i.e. BX hybrid) going to produce results that hold up over time better than other stereo synthesizers?

Thanks

[JFreak]

BX stuff isn't actually synthetic stereo.

The BX plugs take advantage of MS processing and thus are affecting to the natural mono-stereo balance. With BX plugs, widening stereo image means attenuating mono stuff and collapsing stereo image means attenuating stereo stuff --- i.o.w processing with what is already there, not bringing up any synthetic new stuff. Great mastering technique, you just need to know how much is enough

[crizdee]

Originally Posted by spiritG

Hadn't really tried this before, but on a mix that seemed to have no openness a 300% setting of the BX Hybrid 2 stereo control seemed to open things up miraculously.

Hi,

You are simply turning up the stereo field!! effectively turning down the mono field.

If you needed to go 300% to get the mix to sound good then its a fair indicator that you mixing far too much mono and not making use of stereo placement.

Great plugin by the way love all by BX-Digital stuff

Chris

[spiritG]

Thanks for your replies.

I guess I thought the term stereo synthesis meant reducing the mono content and enhancing the left and right.
This is done by changing phase isn't it?
If that is the case, I haven't used this technique before and am concerned how it will translate over time on boom boxes, earbuds, computer speakers, PA's, etc.

The mix has a moderate amount of stereo placement, but doesn't seem particularly "open" or "scintilating" without the 300% stereo widening (more than that did seem a bit much).
The material is very thick with most things below middle C, vocals (down to C# 2nd 8ve below middle C), Kick and busy toms, low guitars.
The stereo widening seems to largely affect the reverbs and stereo delays and exagerate them and highlight their high end (maybe the lows too, but the effects lows get masked by other stuff) with kind of opens things up.
That seems to be what makes the mix sound less "closed in" when the 300% is used.

[dtmprod]

From what I understand, BX just turns up the volume of the sides of a M/S configuration. Doesn't do it thru phase shifting like some other plugins....

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by spiritG

The material is very thick with most things below middle C, vocals (down to C# 2nd 8ve below middle C), Kick and busy toms, low guitars. The stereo widening seems to largely affect the reverbs and stereo delays and exagerate them and highlight their high end (maybe the lows too, but the effects lows get masked by other stuff) with kind of opens things up.

Reverb is mostly exaggerated in the high end. Boosting low end of reverb tracks always seem to sound "muddy"... that's why you feel like you do.

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by spiritG

Thanks for your replies.

I guess I thought the term stereo synthesis meant reducing the mono content and enhancing the left and right.
This is done by changing phase isn't it?.

Not really - the BX plug is increasing the amount of L-R (out of 'phase' material) and decreasing the L+R component (in 'phase'). 300% is a *lot* and you'll be sacrificing mono compatibility for this widening of the image. This may or may not be important to you depending on your application.

hope that helps.

rich