But that's not the point here.
Oh well...
Paschalis I. wrote:in this video we'll talk about how we can get wider mixes without using Delays
or Stereo Wideners such as the S1 from Waves.
We'll use console emulators to achieve a warmer, wider sound without
making it abnormal and cause ear fatigue.
I actually had to force myself through the 8:24min - and this video is so non-telling, not to mention lacks the most essential thing ever: information. So why is it even online other than "hay - I found a nice trick that works for me, but I can't tell you what this is about" and "want more - click on the link below, sign up to our newsletter".
Let me explain what is going on in technical terms:
You are using WAVES NLS Channel on the mix bus(!) in Dual Mono Mode.
What this does (technical explanation, for those that don't want to crawl through the video):
1) the NLS Channel plugin does not run in "Mono -> Stereo" or "Mono -> Mono" (if the plugin is switched to "Stereo Mode"), you actually send the MONO signal (in your case, the bass) to a "dual mono channel".
2) if NLS Channel is in "STEREO" Mode (or "Mono Mode" for that matter), it's only processing the stereo signal (or in case of the bass, the signal is in center, so it is mono - but run though the summing bus, which is stereo - the signal is still mono however).
3) But if you force NLS Channel into Multi Mono mode (for those hosts where it's working, you send the C signal to the L side of NLS Channel and the R side of NLS channel. Meaning: C signal to L independent and R independent rather than C to L+R.
4) what you create with this setup, is "individual saturation" for each channel, which gives the impression "oh wait... I widen the signal since", but in reality each channel is independently processed from each other. This causes a stereo offset and registers as "widened" on the used Goniometer.
5) if you'd run the plugin in "Mono" or "Stereo", then the Mono Signal (C) or the stereo Signal (L+R) is processed, not the individual channels. Therefore no offset. Which is actually THE CORRECT WAY of a console, not like you imply (unless you speak of large scale consoles and return channels, which are L/R rather than on consumer consoles with stereo busses, which are L+R).
And this is all there is to it. Bam - explained in less than 3 minutes.
You then brag on about Waves S1 Stereo Imager, and how it does things different. Yet you don't know "why" it does that. S1 is (very simple spoken) a Mid/Side tool, on top of a couple of other "psychoacoustic effects" (I always had the impression that S1 also uses phase inverted signals internally for "widening" - think K-Stereo and DrMS and the likes). So two different cups of tea.
Actually, if you would have used the "Buss" (still wrong written on all these tools - it is MIX BUS! Not mix buss, as in terms of "bussing"!) , you would have seen a similar effect without "delay", but does however not "widen" the mix, but actually narrow it. It's called "Crosstalk" - which blends the R signal into the left, and the L into the right channel. Depending on the console and how got it was maintained, this can be somewhere between -85dBFS and -60dBFS - and therefore register stronger or "less strong" on the Goniometer.
I haven't used Waves NLS in quite a while, but these "Console Emulation" type of tools work similar.
So there you have it... your "secret" better explained than in your 8,5min video and 5 thumbs up. Good for those that don't care and look for quick tutorials. But if you insist on creating "100% free lessions" for the audio realm, and want to have at least a bit of quality in them... you would have covered the technical "why" as well.
At least in my opinion.
Everything else you do is just click bait to get access to email addresses for "more free lessons". And such videos on YT downright infuriate me.
