Stereo Enhancers on MAster BUS? yes/no

[Caine123]

hey guys, i was using a FL Studio stereo enhancer ALWAYS when i started asap mastering many many years ago and then i stopped with it cause i wasnt so fond of the idea to use this anymore...

i started to check some newer mastering tips and people still use it.

what are your opinions? i use mostly M/S EQ so if something sounds too narrow i start to pan seperate instances/instruments and if i want something more BRIGHTER i also use reverb, delay and/or M/S EQ and raise e.g. a pad sounds, but not the WHOLE area of a specific frequency range on the master bus (this is what a stereo enhancer does doesnt it?).

do you think my way is still up to date and better than throwing a stereo enhancer on master bus?

thx

[camsr]

It's fine to use stereo enhancment effects on the mix bus, unless overdone there's nothing that could go wrong...

[CrystalWizard]

no

[zerocrossing]

Sometimes. I always try it and see if I think it sounds good. It depends on what the playback device is going to be. A lot what I’m currently doing for work is getting played back by an Oculus headset, which isn’t good. Lucky if they have some decent Bluetooth headset paired with it. Usually a little stereo enhancement sounds good.

[legendCNCD]

Maybe I sometimes use a tad of Ozone imager on treble area, but thats it, just a very small amount of it. I'd rather do it on either individual channel or bus.

[osiris]

What kind of music? I've read so many articles/interviews that say if you do dance/club stuff it's a waste of processor because most club systems playback mostly mono.

[enroe]

Do you think my way is still up to date and better than throwing a stereo enhancer on master bus?

thx

There are 2 very different "stereo enhancers":

1. Stereo enhancers, which are actually "creators" and rebuild the
stereo signal by adding. You can usually even create a stereo signal
from a mono signal. They mostly work like a chorus effect with a time
delay.

2. Stereo enhancers that only change the volume of the mono signal
and the stereo sides. They change the volume or the sound by means
of an EQ or an m/s compressor.

The following applies to mastering:

Never use enhancers of type (1).
But you can use enhancers of the type (2) to round off the stereo image.
Since you're using type (2), there's nothing wrong with that.

[jamcat]

No. Once the novelty wears off, you’ll realise you just made the song sound hollow and much worse. If you want wider stereo, achieve it in the mix.

[brownjolyon]

Yes, but ONLY to enhance the stereo that you already incorporated into the mix and only because you can't go back and do it in the mix.

[camsr]

A fun way of mixing (not for serious production) is to hard pan EVERYTHING left or right and then use a stereo tool to make it less wide. If the sound is true stereo, then leave it unpanned. This idea is not compatible with headphones (unless there is a crossmixing happening). Panning a true stereo signal is a reduction of information. Binaural audio is defined by one ear does not hear what the other is hearing.

[osiris]

The only thing I ever stereo widen is the pad. And, I guess bass signal with Basslane, but that's more for the harmonics. not the pseudo stereo.

[_al_]

Don't see the point in putting it on the master.
You are basically widening everything, which includes things you might have already spent hours perfecting the sound of.
If you want something wider, then widen that thing. No need to widen every thing lol

[Aloysius]

Yes. You don't have to make things wider, you can make them narrower.
Yes. You can widen the mids and narrow the top and bottom.

I like DJ Swivel SPREAD at the moment.

[juanpablo]

sometimes, just like bus reverb on all Instruments or a glue compressor on the master, i use all of those a bit to tie everything together but not like a solution for a problem on the mix

[lfm]

Just test the mix in mono also, so nothing serious is happening to it.

Stereo enhancers often use spatial processing that does not cope well when just monoed.