Looking for a Compressor / Stereo Expander / General advice

atomicrobot · Post by **atomicrobot** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 4:59 pm

Hello,

I have always seemed to have an issue of my audio files sounding too flat in the stereo field. It's hard for me to get a really great professional mix. I'd like for my instruments to be able to stand out better so they do not sound so mushed together.

I'd like my mixes to sound like the guitars are on the outside and the drums and vocals are in the middle so you can hear ever instrument more clearly like a professional CD. If that makes since... I also double track my guitars and pan one 50% R and the other 50% L; and that does help the mix sound more full, but still not as defined as I would like.

I have Mixcraft 3, but I plan on upgrading to Mixcraft 5 soon. I'm mixing Piano Rock / Metal.

Can anyone recommend a great Stereo Expander / Mastering Vst / Dxi under $100 that makes it easy to achieve a great sounding professional mix?

Thanks for any advice!

Glergo · Post by **Glergo** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:09 pm

If you have two microphones you'll actually get your stereo sound. Other than that, I would check out www.waves.com , they seem to be setting the standard when it comes to VST effects.

atomicrobot · Post by **atomicrobot** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:51 pm

Hey,

Thanks for the advice, Waves looks great, but a little out of my price range. I'm looking for around $50. Any other suggestions?

Thanks again

OzRob · Post by **OzRob** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 3:17 am

http://www.crysonic.com/bundles.html $70 for the bundle but the discount expires 9th Feb.

Waves are good but overpriced. There're quite a few companies (like Voxengo and Flux) who make arguably better products than Waves for cheaper prices.

Post by **Acoustica Eric** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:24 am

Equalizing has a ton of influence on getting instruments to separate. For example, you don't want your bass guitar using the exact same frequncies as the kick drum or they will step on each other and sound muddy.

As for stereo separation, instead of doubling tracks, try a plugin made for that very reason. WideBoy and WideBug are both made for that and are both free.
The Classic Chorus that comes with Mixcraft has a "Vocal Spread" preset that gives a similar result.

atomicrobot · Post by **atomicrobot** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:12 pm

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all the great advice!