Microshift Vst Plugin
The strength of Soundtoys for me is that you buy a bundle and after that you don't really need another plugin in any of the categories they cover (except EQs ) ps: - S1 is a completely different type of plugin than Microshift. Soundtoys plugins are algorithmic.
- And there you have it. Now you know which the 12 best VST plugins for professional vocal mixing are. Simply owning the best plugins doesn't make your mix sound professional. You need to know how to use them. It's like buying a Ferrari two days after you get your driving license.
- Sound Toys’ MicroShift is a stereo width-enhancement plug-in that employs the micro-shifting technique – using small amounts of delay and/or pitch shift – to add width, depth, thickness, and space to any track you instantiate it on. You get complete tweakability over the effect with Mix, Focus, Detune, and Delay controls.
Looking to loosen your mix’s stereo image, or perhaps just make it more exciting?
There are many tools to do that…
But the best stereo imaging plugins out there gives you absolute creative control over your stereo image.
Read on and learn what these plugins have to offer.
The Best Stereo Imaging Plugins
Waves Audio S1 Stereo Imager
See price @ Waves Audio
Waves Audio S1 Stereo Imager is a solid and powerful stereo imaging plugin. Barrel organ vst free. It has Shuffler, Imager, and M-S (mid-side) Matrix components, well-equipped for enhancing or correcting a stereo image.
Best Features & Specs
Boasting a “unique and powerful set of tools of psycho-acoustic spatial imaging techniques,” S1 Stereo Imager uses shuffling and mid-side matrix capabilities to widen audio signals.
The Shuffler component is usually used to make the audio field narrower through a ‘Width’ dial. Another fader called “shuffle” can be used to adjust bass frequencies.
The widening and narrowing function in the S1 Stereo Imager is mostly achieved through manipulating the mid-side matrix.
Bottom-line
Waves Audio’s S1 Stereo Imager can do pretty much everything that you’d expect from a basic stereo imaging plugin. However, S1 Stereo Imager’s focus seems to be on widening and narrowing rather than dealing with phase issues. Nonetheless, it is a dependable plugin for most stereo imaging purposes.
FabFilter Pro Q
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FabFilter’s Pro Q range of EQ’s is considered an industry standard and an indispensable tool, in fact, one of the best mixing plugins today. With a wide variety of features, intuitive interface, and innovative band options, FabFilter Pro Q can be a powerful tool for widening or focusing a signal’s stereo field through mid-site processing.
Best Features & Specs
It is the Pro-Q 3’s 24-band dynamic equalizer that makes it such a powerful tool for mid-side processing.
Mid-side EQing can be used to widen stereo images. This is done by EQing either the frequencies at the center of the mix (mid) or the frequencies at the left or right (side). The stereo image is ‘widened’ by increasing the gain signal of ‘side’ frequencies or decreasing the ‘mid’s gain signal. The discrepancy between the two creates the illusion of space.
Pro-Q has a dedicated M-S processing function that does exactly this. download pixelmator free mac online Moreover, you can do mid-side processing on specific frequency bands and not on the entire mix.
Pro-Q’s powerful dynamic EQ, its Dolby Atmos support, and a plethora of other features (Spectrum Grab, Auto Gain, EQ Match, and others) make it one of the best options for mid-side processing.
Bottom-line
FabFilter’s Pro-Q can do stereo imaging, as well as a bunch of other audio signal sculpting tasks. It is an all-around super-tool that has made it incredibly easy to manipulate stereo images while giving access to other powerful functionalities.
Waves Audio Doubler
See price @ Waves Audio
Waves Audio Doubler does exactly what it is called: it doubles the sound and allows you to manipulate this doubling effect. At its core, it is a flanger/chorus effect that gives you access to gain, delay, panning, detuning, and other sonic aspects.
Best Features & Specs
Most users use Waves Audio Doubler for double-tracking effects. These effects are achieved through delay and pitch modulation.
Waves claims that using the plugin adds some “shimmer and presence” to the processed sound. Indeed, the doubling effect thickens an audio signal, but delaying the doubled signal also creates a Haas effect that widens the stereo image. The plugin builds on this basic principle by offering different manners of changing the interaction between the two sounds.
Aside from doubling tracking and chorus features, Waves Audio Doubler has other extra features. This includes an 80s-style harmonizer and some pitch detune effects for wobbly, vintage sounds. It also has some flam-like effects which sound great on drum timbres.
Bottom-line
If you want to add a little bit of spice to your audio signal, Waves Doubler is a great option. It gives users many options to manipulate the stereo signal in dramatic ways such as through flanger-like effects, detuning, and others. These can add texture and life to an otherwise dry stereo mix.
Soundtoys Microshift and Little Microshift
See price @ Plugin Boutique
Soundtoys’ Microshift and its condensed version, Little Microshift, are two of the best stereo widening plugins that use digital micro pitch-shifting to thicken the sound. It uses the same algorithm as two well-respected pitch shifting hardware effects, the Eventide H3000 and the AMX DMS 15-80.
Best Features & Specs
Microshift features three styles of widening, two of which were based on the Eventide H3000 Harmonizer while the third one is based on the AMX DMS 15-80.
The plugin has a primary dry/wet rotary dial. It also has controls for the amount of detuning and delay. A fourth dial called Focus is included, allowing users to apply the effect only to pre-configured cut-off frequencies.
Microshift replicates not only the algorithms of Eventide H3000 and AMX DMS 15-80 but also their saturation and de-glitching scripts.
Little Microshift offers the same widening features but in a bite-sized scale. It has a three-button, one-knob visual interface. The central knob is a dry/wet Mix dial. Aside from these differences, Little Microshift uses the same algorithms as its bigger brother.
Bottom-line
Soundtoys’ Microshift and Little Microshift are incredible stereo widening plugins. Sporting deceptively simple interfaces, these two plugins adds instant depth, width, and thickness to a sound while also giving users some level of control to shape these changes.
FabFilter Pro C2
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One of the more advanced ways to manipulate an audio signal’s stereo image is through mid-side compression. Mid-side compression can isolate a specific range of ‘side’ frequencies, say, the reverb and delay frequencies, and compress them independently. This enables users to keep these frequencies under control without ‘over-cooking’ the entire mix and also compressing the middle frequencies.
However, to do mid-side compression, one needs a more advanced compression plugin. One such plugin is FabFilter’s Pro C2. Considered as one of the best compressors (and even one of the top VST plugins out there, you can use Pro C2 for a more nuanced mid-side compression and stereo shaping tasks.
Best Features & Specs
Pro-C 2 is a powerful compressor and it boasts features such as auto-gain/ auto-release, smart lookahead, up to 4x oversampling, external side-chain triggering, and others.
However, for mid-side processing purposes, Pro-C2’s accurate level meters help in pinpointing exact frequencies to target for mid-side compression. The animated level/knee display also lends itself elegantly to this purpose.
Bottom-line
If you want to use a compressor mid-side compression and stereo imaging, you need a powerful compression to make the task less tedious. FabFilter’s Pro-C 2 is actually among the best tools in the market for compressors, so it is without doubt one of your best choices overall.
Plugin Alliance BX Stereo Maker
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Plugin Alliance’s BX Stereo Maker is a frequency-optimized M/S upmixing plugin whose main purpose is to transform mono audio into stereo while keeping it mono-compatible. BX Stereo Maker does this through their proprietary mid-side stereo algorithm.
Best Features & Specs
Aside from enabling users to convert any mono signal to stereo, BX Stereo Maker also allows users to balance the center signal.
Moreover, users can use the Tone function to choose specific frequencies from within their signal and make the plugin work on these frequencies instead. The virtual side signals can be also solo-ed.
The processed signal can further be shaped with a High Damp control and a Mono Frequency control. There is also a more standard Stereo Expansion control.
The stereo image can also be tilted either through the Pan control or through Tilt Mode which shifts only the affected signal.
Also available are RMS/Peak level and balance and correlation meters. Output gain can also be pushed to +/- 12db.
All of these can be done by the BX Stereo Maker with relative speed and not much penalty to the machine’s resources.
Bottom-line
Vst female voice free. Brainworx Stereo Maker is an incredibly loaded plugin, especially given that it has a simple job. It gives users a high level of control and flexibility over the audio signal. Moreover, it is lightweight and its interface is easy enough to use straight out of the box.
NUGEN Audio Stereoizer
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Nugen’s Audio Stereoizer is a stereo width plugin that can provide stereo manipulation, from natural stereo extension up to extreme, unnatural effects.
Best Features & Specs
NUGEN uses three independent algorithms to make sure that the illusions that Stereoizer creates best subscribe to how the human ear perceives width. These are the IID (Interaural Intensity Difference), ITD (Interaural Time Difference), and Linear Width.
IDD widens the stereo field by applying frequency-dependent panning. ITD employs basic left/right timing discrepancies. Finally, linear Width creates a ‘center space’ which leaves the mid signals dry.
Audio Stereoizer is also mono-compatible. The Stereoizer doesn’t use artificial reverb, doubling, and phase cancellation to manipulate mono signals. In short, it avoids unnecessary equalization that can change the quality of the audio signal.
It also has some fun extra features such as LFO shapes and timing options for modulation.
Bottom-line
NUGEN’s Stereoizer may seem to be a bit complicated, but it is a powerful tool that gives users a lot of space for experimentation and play. Moreover, the widening effect doesn’t sound grainy and it doesn’t have any noticeable artifacts.
Plugin Boutique StereoSavage
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Most stereo imaging plugins are rather straightforward and don’t really provide a lot of depth in terms of functionality. However, Plugin Boutique’s StereoSavage is an exception. It gives total control over your stereo image, from input routing to LFO modulation.
Best Features & Specs
StereoSavage’s UI has five sections: effects, stereo adjust, input routing, bass bypass, and LFO.
The Effects section provides three options, Vox, Delay, and Expand. This section in itself is quite powerful, giving access to pitch-shifting, chorus-like effects, delays, and even a fixed low pass filter for ‘warmth.’
Stereo Adjust is the main widening knob.
Input Routing is mainly for mixing and matching channels and inputs as well as for monitoring.
Bass Bypass simply keeps bass and the kick in the center through a filter side chain.
Finally, there is the LFO section where users can go crazy and modulate parameters such as panning, levels, tremolos, rotations, width, and others. These modulations can be synced to a host tempo.
Bottom-line
Plugin Boutique’s StereoSavage is a hefty plugin, packed with stereo imaging features and effects that can push your creativity to the next level. Users can play with almost any aspect of their sound using this plugin.
Waves PS22 Stereo Maker
See price @ Waves Audio
Like the BX Stereo Maker, Waves’ PSS2 Stereo Maker is a plugin for converting mono recordings and other audio signals into stereo. Using psycho-acoustic spatial enhancement and phase-compensation, it rebalances stereo images and retains mono compatibility. Its sound quality can best be appreciated when using quality studio monitors.
Best Features & Specs
PSS2 Stereo Maker works through mono to stereo emulation. It claims to preserve the original frequency response in the conversion process. This makes it an ideal plugin for salvaging or enhancing old monoaural recordings.
Its UI enables left/right / mid-side meter monitoring.
Bottom-line
Despite its rather rustic visual aesthetic, Waves’ PSS2 Stereo Maker is a reliable plugin for opening mono recordings. Lightweight and unassuming, PS22 Stereo Maker spreads mono data without introducing unwanted artifacts.
iZotope Ozone Imager
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Ozone is considered as one of the best digital mastering suites in the market. Therefore, it only follows that its imaging component, the iZotope Ozone Imager, bears some of this reputation.
Best Features & Specs
As part of the Ozone suite, the Imager is practically free. But it is certainly one of its most important components.
The latest update of Ozone adds two newly designed Stereoize modes. These new modes can be controlled through a fader.
Stereo Width can also be adjusted, again with a fader.
Ozono provides a visual representation of the stereo image through three stereo image graphs called ‘Polar Sample’, ‘Polar Level’, and ‘Lissajour’, respectively. These representations give a fairly accurate symatic representation of frequencies in your signal.
Bottom-line
Simple-looking yet sophisticated, iZotope Ozone’s Imager can instantly ‘stereoize’ your sound and adjust the audio signal’s width. The Imager’s visualizers give an accurate and satisfying look at the audio signal, making it possible to shape the signal even by the visual graphs alone.
How to Choose the Right Imaging Plugin
Most producers use imaging plugins to animate their mixes, make them a little bit more interesting and alive. Different plugins employ a wide variety of strategies to do this. Here are some things you should consider when choosing the appropriate imaging plugin for your mix.
Stereo width algorithms
Making a signal sound ‘wider’ is actually a simple trick that involves doubling a signal and delaying the other signal. However, this strategy can create phasing issues that can erase significant frequencies from the mix. This is why some plugins use other emulation algorithms to achieve the same effect. Consider these algorithms and decide whether what kind of widening algorithm you prefer.
It must be said though: to an untrained ear, discerning these differences can be difficult. Some can only be detected if you use studio headphones. Phasing issues usually only happen in complicated mixes that have multiple stereo imaging instances.
Think big or zoom in?
There are two ways to approach a stereo image. You can either think big and manipulate the whole stereo image using a plugin that is dedicated to this task. You can also take a more surgical approach by using mid-side processing techniques such as mid-side EQ or mid-side compression.
Using a dedicated stereo imaging plugin automates most of the technical aspects. This makes them a good option for less advanced producers. However, you can also use just compressors and EQs for a bit more control and precision. It depends on your personal production philosophy.
Modulation
Microshift Plugin
Some stereo imaging plugins feature modulation options through LFO shapes. Although optional, these kinds of effects can animate your stereo image and make it more dynamic.
Unwanted artefacts, phasing issues
When plugins emulate stereo width, they also dramatically distort the sound. This can introduce unwanted artifacts to the signal which may sound like grainy or phase-y.
Resources
- Flanging effect (Wikipedia)
- Chorus effect (Wikipedia)
- Haas Effect: What It Is and How It’s Used (Sound On Sound)
- H3000 Factory (Eventide Audio)
- AMS DMX 15-80S STEREO DIGITAL DELAY (Vintage Digital)
- LFO Shapes Image (Perfect Circuit)
- Phase Demystified (Sound On Sound)
You’ve heard of “the Butterfly effect”, the idea that if a butterfly flaps its wings somewhere, a storm might be created somewhere else. This idea that really small changes can have really large consequences came to my mind when I sat down to review Microshift, a pitch-shifter from Soundtoys with a difference.
Soundtoys has created some highly configurable plugins with parameters to suit every occasion. I’m thinking of offerings such as Phase Mistress, Echoboy and Temolator, but sometimes less is more and, if six controls are all you need to get the job done, Soundtoys sees that six controls are all there are to keep things simple, uncluttered and above all, intuitive. So the plugin is little by name and little by nature, both in terms of its appearance and its effect. But what exactly does it do?
Although Microshift is a pitch-shifter at heart, that’s not the effect you hear when you listen to something that’s been fed through it. That’s just the butterfly as it were. Microshift applies a tiny delay and pitch offset that varies over time to each channel of your stereo audio and this simple trick has the effect of blowing a mono source wide open so that it fills the stereo field without cluttering it. That’s the hurricane part.
The Controls
The simple ‘Mix’ control does exactly what you might expect, i.e. blends the processed and unprocessed signals. However, here it acts as a stereo width control, assuming you’re feeding Microshift a mono source. At 0%, only the dry, i.e. unprocessed signal is heard. When the control is set to 100% wet, full stereo width is achieved.
Here’s a notification tone produced by Zapsplat at 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% mix…
Soundtoys Microshift
The ‘Detune’ and ‘Delay’ controls adjust the offset in pitch and time between the left and right channels of your audio. These controls are adjustable between 50 and 200%. Experimenting with these controls offers a wide range of permutations for your sound. This number of permutations increases dramatically when you factor in the ‘Style’ parameter.
The ‘Style’ parameter allows you to change between three different processing algorithms modeled on presets from the hardware unit on which this plugin is based. These affect not only the pitch-shifting algorithm and the amount of delay and de-tuning variation possible, but also the characteristics of the saturation that is also applied to the signal, meaning that you get warmth as well as width. There is also an input gain control to allow you to adjust how the signal is saturated.
Finally, the ‘Focus’ control offers even more flexibility. This parameter controls a two-band cross-over filter. Microshifting is only applied to the higher of these two bands. Say you’re widening a very rich sound, a melody played by a brass ensemble perhaps, you could widen the crisp highs while leaving the bass element solid and centered. This parameter ranges from 20 Hz to 10000 Hz.
Mono-Compatibility
The thing to be careful of when using this plugin, if it’s something your project requires, is mono-compatibility. When you’re listening to your audio in stereo, it may sound one way, but collapsing the stereo image to mono again after the plugin in your signal flow may result in a rather different sound owing to possible phase issues that might crop up. Why bother collapsing a signal to mono after you just went to the trouble of making it beautifully wide? Not all your listeners may hear your content in stereo. Many smart speakers are mono for example. ;However, because of the range of variation available with this plugin, as long as you know what to watch out for, you can be pretty confident of finding the trade-off between stereo width and a uniform listening experience for all to suit your needs.
Microshift Vst
Mono-Incompatibility! Because Why Not?
Sometimes, the sound you get when you collapse the stereo field of a microshifted signal at mono-incompatible settings may be exactly what you’re after, particularly if you’re looking to create an interesting sound effect. Sound designers often get the best results by bending a few rules.
Let’s take a humble filter sweep. Here’s some white noise fed through a sweeping, resonant, low-pass filter, first the original mono version, then a widened version, then a collapsed version…
Clearly the collapsed version sounds very different to the widened version, but no-one said we had to keep the widened version. To my ears, this altered sweep sounds interesting enough that it might be useful for something. Of course, it’s mono again, but we could always re-widen it, either with another instance of Microshift or another process. In fact, stacking multiple instances of Microshift in series adjacent to one another or either side of processes to re-collapse the signal to mono, especially if we use Microshift on different settings, may produce a very unique sound.
This is the kind of plugin that really lends itself to easy-going experimentation. The plugin isn’t so input dependent that the results it gives will differ widely depending on the source material and it doesn’t have a maze of parameters in which you might get lost. All that is required is to listen and twiddle a few knobs.
Microshift Vst
Microshift Plugin Free
You might try adding Microshift to a send with a delay or distortion on it, so that only the effect on the send is widened. And, of course, there’s always automation to experiment with.
The last thing to mention is that, if things weren’t already simple enough, Microshift has a little brother – Little microshift, for situations when you might want to just set and forget. This slimmed down version simply has the ‘Style’, ‘Mix’ and ‘Input Gain’ controls.
Accessibility to the Visually Impaired
All aspects of this plugin are accessible except the presets. Given the plugin’s ease of use, I haven’t found myself missing them all that much.
All in all, this plugin is delightfully simple at the back end, while producing a lot of variation at the front end. It’s fun to play with and great for making sounds seem bigger, and more panoramic.
By far the best value way to get hold of this plugin and its little brother is to purchase the Soundtoys bundle, available here.