HoRNet Plugins has announced the release of ZeroWidth, an intelligent stereo widener plugin designed for mixing and mastering engineers.
ZeroWidth analyzes L/R correlation across seven fixed frequency bands, learns the correlation minima of the incoming material over a 10–15 second analysis pass, and then automatically applies per-band Side EQ and per-band width adjustment based on the learned profile.
The plugin is intended to provide controlled stereo widening without breaking mono compatibility, addressing the typical trade-off of static M/S wideners that require manual band-by-band tweaking and can introduce phase issues.
The intended workflow is a four-step process: insert the plugin on a bus or master, run the Learn function on a representative section of audio, review the suggested curve and width profile, and fine-tune any band manually. All automatic processing can be bypassed per band for manual operation.
Typical use cases include mastering for controlled widening of the full mix, drum bus width shaping, vocal bus opening, guitar and synth stereo spread, and FX bus enhancement.
Key Features
- Seven-band correlation analysis — Fixed band centers at 10 kHz, 5 kHz, 2.5 kHz, 1.25 kHz, 625 Hz, 312 Hz, and 156 Hz, with separate L/R correlation metering per band.
- Learn function — Analyzes the input signal over 10–15 seconds, builds a correlation minima reference for each band, and stores the result for the session.
- Auto-applied Side EQ — Per-band Side channel EQ derived from the learned correlation profile, ranging from 0% to 200%.
- Per-band Auto Width — Independent width adjustment per band, ranging from 0% to 200%, applied to the Side signal.
- Manual band gain override — Each of the seven bands can be adjusted manually from −6 dB to +6 dB, with automatic processing disabled on a per-band basis.
- Mono-safe output — Built-in peak limit of ±1.0 at the output stage to preserve mono compatibility.
- Zero-latency processing — All processing operates in the M/S domain without FFT, with zero samples of latency.
Technical Specifications
- Formats: VST3, AU, AAX (all 64-bit).
- Platform: macOS 10.15+ (Intel and Apple Silicon native), Windows 10+ (x64).
- Sample Rate Support: 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz.
- Bit Depth: 16/24/32-bit (internal 64-bit floating point processing).
- Latency: 0 samples (no FFT in audio path).
- Processing Domain: M/S (Mid/Side).
- Correlation Bands: 7 fixed (10 kHz / 5 kHz / 2.5 kHz / 1.25 kHz / 625 Hz / 312 Hz / 156 Hz).
- Auto Width Range: 0–200%.
- Auto EQ Range: 0–200%.
- Manual Band Gain: −6 dB to +6 dB per band.
Pricing
- ZeroWidth MSRP: €24.99.
- Complete Bundle owners: 40% off → €14.99.
- ZeroBundle (includes ZeroWidth, ZeroComp, ZeroEQ, ZeroBus, and ZeroLoud): €28.99.
