For instance, if you zap a vocal with the Center fader, you might find that a centre‑panned bass guitar also disappears.

The Low, High and Punch knobs restore bass, treble and transients (respectively) that might otherwise be lost through a drastic Mid or Sides cut. The effect almost always remains coherent and natural‑sounding, though, and isn't a weakness of the plug‑in itself. The exact outcome is very dependent on the qualities of the mix you're treating, and you'll often hear ghostly remains of removed centre content where (for example) use of reverb originally spread it out into the sides. Equally, anything centre‑panned can be boosted, cut, or even completely removed using the Center fader. The stereo image can be enhanced or narrowed (all the way to mono) using the Sides fader. I tested Center on a range of my own as well as commercial mixes, with mostly impressive results. That sounds like it ought to be common in the plug‑in world, but really isn't! However, it turns out Center is a rather different animal, with a singular purpose: to independently adjust the level of the Middle and Sides components of stereo material. Like them it's mostly intended for use on master faders, or during mastering, rather than on individual tracks.

For more sophistication, you need to look to third‑party offerings.Īt first sight, Waves' Center appears similar to PSP Audioware's StereoController, Brainworx's bx_control, Voxengo's excellent freeware MSED and indeed Waves' own S1 Imager, all of which employ M/S (Middle & Sides) techniques to control perceived stereo width or skew the image. Stereo sound is a surprisingly subtle and complex business, and it's rare that the typical DAW 'utility' plug‑ins will deal with all manipulation and enhancement tasks.

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