Widening the Stereo Image

[Punx]

I did some searching on the DUC but couldn't quite track down what I was looking for so any links you guys mave have to other threads would be appreciated. Anyway, the question I have is how do you go about getting that "outside the speakers" sound? I've heard certain recordings that have percussion or maybe even guitar that appears to be outside of the regular field. I heard this effect on an old song The Cars did so I know it wasn't mixed in 5.1 or anything like that. I know they make plug ins for this knd of thing, but obviously I don't have one. So i was curious if there were some other tricks to achieve this effect. Any suggetstion are appreciated.

[MidnightFlyer]

I have a plug-in called DUY Wide, which does a good job of widening the stereo field, but I'm not sure if this is what you mean. Wish I could help you with a workaround technique.

[Punx]

that's exactly the effect i'm talking about and i donloaded the DUY plug in, but i don't have 400 to drop on the plug ins right now. that's why i was looking for a work around. thanks for the suggestion though

[da BaSsTaRd!]

in my (limited) experience with waves S1 (stereo expander), it made my mixes sound a little "out of focus", especially drums. you're probably better off experimenting with panning than looking for a quick fix with a plugin.

you know, a little chorus on guitars and bass really creates a wide stereo field. just keep it to the bare minimum so it doesn't sound too chorus-y...

[Ben Jenssen]

One of the easiest ways is to use an aux track with a short stereo delay on it.

Pan the audio track, and pan the send to the delay to the other side. Very efficient and can give a very wide image even with very low level on the delay.

I do this also with reverb, but you must use two mono aux tracks with mono reverbs on them for it to work. (Most reverbs dont care if you pan the send.)

I too, find that Waves S1 very quickly destroys the focus and punch. No wonder, we’re talking about fiddling with phase.

[Jon Plett]

Hey I'm selling my DUY everpack for $250 american. (I moved to the PC) I talked to DUY and they will change registration over to the new owner as well so you would be a legitimate owner. Maybe this helps
Take care

[Jon Plett]

my email is jon@ewilliams if your interested.

[supaheef]

Very simple, for a stereo track, bounce a copy in mono, then bring it up with the stereo track. The phase cancellation reduces the middle and creates a psychoacoustic effect of moving the sounds origin outside of the stereo field. Works great on Hammonds/Rhodes running stereo tremelos and choruses. For mono, just bring a phase-reversed copy up on a seperate track with both panned away from each other. Be sure to check your monitoring setup so you are hearing the full benefits too.

[Mark Staples]

Ditto the procedure that Ben suggested. Using Digirack short or slap delay with just a little delay does an excellent job of widening the stereo field. I use it especially on acoustic guitars and piano.

If you use it as an insert, be careful of phase cancellation. One technique is to listen to it in mono while you are finding the right combination of delays (e.g. 10ms left/20ms right).

If the combination sounds funny in mono, it keep adjusting until you can find the same kind of sound in mono as you would without the delay, little to no loss in overall volume and it sounds "normal." Otherwise, you'll have a phasing problem that will sound funky (unless you are looking for that kind of sound).

I've run it as an insert and an aux with similar results. Running as an aux opens up the possibility for other tracks to use the delay with varying degrees of input.

[aziel]

supaheef,
Ok, you bounce a mono track and bringin back, then you put it in another track to do the stereo, right? do you pan each track the whole right and left? [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]