Valhallas stereo image - do I lose much in mono?

[jumpercable]

Hi,

Just a question. My mixing practice for valhalla is usually

high pass eq (at 200hz)
Valhalla
Then a stereo reduction plugin.

This is pretty much for every instance of valhalla.

Am I going about reduction the size of valhallas reverb the right way? Or Am I introducing phase issues that decrease the quality of the effect?

Since valhalla is 'True Stereo" - on mono signals, is it a better practice to force valhalla to left/right rather than a mono sum with a stereo width plugin?

Do you have any tips on stereo width with Valhalla? Because its something Im adjusting all the time.

[valhallasound]

If it sounds good to your ears, then it works. Most of the algorithms should work well with being mixed to mono. A few of the reverb modes may have strange artifacts, but this is just my theory, and they may end up sounding fine. If things sound metallic, use a different reverb mode.

Another tip: if you have a DAW with a micro delay, shift one of the output channels by 12 msec or so, before you mix them together. If there are phasing issues in the output, this might fix them. On the other hand, if there aren't phasing issues, this might introduce some.

I think it is better to sum left and right together, versus just using one channel. You'll lose a lot of echo density if you use just the left or right channel. Note that this is specific to ValhallaRoom (and ValhallaVintageVerb) - some other reverbs, like the Quantec QRS, will actually have a LOWER echo density when adding left and right outputs together.

Regards,

Sean Costello

[Beatworld]

My mixing practice for valhalla is usually

high pass eq (at 200hz)
Valhalla
Then a stereo reduction plugin.

This is pretty much for every instance of valhalla.

Just because I'm curious.

Do you always use Valhalla on aux sends?

I assume you do and they must be stereo aux sends to accommodate Valhalla.

If so, why do you like to reduce the stereo image everytime?
Is it just on mono sources that you want to pan somewhere in the mix, or do you simply want mono reverbs not panned, just dead mono ?

cheers

[fateamenabletochange]

Another tip: if you have a DAW with a micro delay, shift one of the output channels by 12 msec or so, before you mix them together. If there are phasing issues in the output, this might fix them. On the other hand, if there aren't phasing issues, this might introduce some.

just curious, why 12 msec...sounds like quite alot

[jumpercable]

My mixing practice for valhalla is usually

high pass eq (at 200hz)
Valhalla
Then a stereo reduction plugin.

This is pretty much for every instance of valhalla.

Just because I'm curious.

Do you always use Valhalla on aux sends?

I assume you do and they must be stereo aux sends to accommodate Valhalla.

If so, why do you like to reduce the stereo image everytime?
Is it just on mono sources that you want to pan somewhere in the mix, or do you simply want mono reverbs not panned, just dead mono ?

cheers

Hi!

Yeah, I usually dont make them strictly mono, but reduce their width to about 50-30%. The reason being - with electronic music (and Im sure the same is true for alot of modern production) - I might have 5 different reverbs at various points in a track. If too much of your track is in full stereo, and reverb is added with its wide stereo smear, the stereo mix of your track will actually be reduced.

Its all about control and neatness - especially snares. With a stereo verb, they sort of light up the stereo field on every hit and take up way more space than they need to. So Ill always reduce the width.

Ive read it alot of times, and in practice with my own mixes its made a HUGE difference to the quality of the spaces and reverbs. I can place stuff much better within the mix.

Step one of this article explains it better than I can
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mix ... reo-image/

Basically - the idea is - the more you have in mono, (or close to it) the bigger your stereo mix will be at the end.

I use valhalla on stereo aux sends 95% of the time. As you need to clear the <200hz area for most sounds without clearing <200hz on your original sound. Then the other 5% of the time, Ill want to use valhalla as an effect, placing stuff super far back in the mix by adding it directly to the track and turning the mix up.

Hope that helps!

[valhallasound]

Another tip: if you have a DAW with a micro delay, shift one of the output channels by 12 msec or so, before you mix them together. If there are phasing issues in the output, this might fix them. On the other hand, if there aren't phasing issues, this might introduce some.

just curious, why 12 msec...sounds like quite alot

If you have a reverb that mainly depends on phase inversions for the stereo field, adding left and right together will cause some nasty cancellations. An 11 or 12 msec delay works well at getting rid of most of these cancellations, while not sounding like a delay.

I would listen to the results before trying this technique on arbitrary reverbs. For some reverbs, it might sound horrible.

Sean Costello

[Beatworld]

Hope that helps!

Yes, that all makes sense, thanks.
Particularly if your mix is made up with all stereo files.

The WIDTH control on UberMod is handy for similar reasons.

Cheers

[fateamenabletochange]

thanks Sean and jumpercable, I'll try some of these things out.