>regarding MS processing:
>
>Izotope's Ozone mastering plug-in contains internal MS dematrix/matrix, so
>you can EQ mid and side separately, a-la Rob's technique.
>
>I've been using it here for some other tasks. It's a powerful EQ with bot=
h
>FIR and "normal" modes, and a matching function which builds a FIR filter =
to
>match one sound's spectrum to another's. Also includes a limiter,
>compressor, and multiband dynamics all in the same plugin instance.
>
>Downsides: relative to other EQs it's processor hungry (I can run maybe t=
wo
>instances on my dual-2ghz mac G5, many more on an Intel mac). Also the
>interface in general is somewhat complex, especially the presets load/save
>area. To be expected with so many features I suppose.
>
>It's US$200 which for a professional plug-in is quite reasonable, though
>it's obviously MUCH more than using the free Soundhack MS plugs.
>
>Anyway, it's been a valuable addition here and for anyone heavily into MS
>processing it may be worth a look.
>
>(no affiliation with izotope - just an end user.)
>
>-jeremiah
>
Hi Jeremiah--
It is more of a "mastering" than an everyday adjustment. I hadn't
seen the newest v4 bundle. It also has a feature to adjust stereo
"width" in 4, user-defined bandwidths. I wonder if this process uses
a shuffling technique like Wave's S1 does? I miss having S1 in my
tool kit; I can imagine some power in being able separately adjust
stereo width in lower ranges like:
Bass: 16-90 Hz
Lower Mid-range: 90-360 Hz
Mid Range: 360 to 1200Hz
Upper Mid and High Range: 1200-20,000 Hz
Six bands of parametric EQ wouldn't provide enough control for the
number of Mid-Side differences I've been encountering. Being able to
continually tweak the overall tonal balance prior to the M-S inserted
EQ as well and the mid-side balance as I go along helps significantly
in the judgements. Its certainly easier on my head to be able to see
the sequential steps logically displayed rather than as embedded tabs
to course through in the correct order. The saved screen view feature
in Logic Audio minimizes plug-in display chaos for me considerably.
I see that ApEQ-- the affordable, EQ plug-in some have been using to
get many bands of control-- has an M-S mode which might streamline
some of the processing. Haven't played with that yet. Using two
+Matrix plugs checks as transparent with no signal loss at unity and
I can create 7+ stereo channels of the chains I pictured on a 1.8 Ghz
Dual G5 with Eqium.
I looked back through some sessions and for sweetening I used about 4
to 8dB _less_ center gain (post EQ) with stereo arrays that have
forward-facing capsules compared to those with opposing capsules such
as Klas' MurieMic and the M10's array. Might be just my taste. I also
noted that the M-S arrays (perhaps a result of the side-facing figure
8 mic component) seem to have less localization subtlety at the 3/4
positions-- the "mid" is more purely mono in nature as I raise it up
compared to X-Y and the others, including binaural.
You're right though. $250 is pretty good for all of those mastering
functions if one's mixing app doesn't have them already and including
M-S control over many of them is very nice. Rob D.
--
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