Yeah - I would have thought the generally-agreed upon definition of "mono-compatability" is that summing both channels doesn't lead to the process causing the program material to nigh dissappear, not that it'd sound the same as if the process wasn't applied to begin with.These devices may all be 'mono compatible', but folks who use these kinds of plugins should definitely do mono checks before printing (should be done regardless of whether you're using wideners or not). In general, the harder these plugins are pushed, the weaker the affected signal becomes when summed to mono regardless of compatibility claims.
When Polyverse Wider first came out, I had it all over a few tracks in pre-production. Sounded great. Then right before final print I did a mono check and was like "Hell NO!". Removed all instances of it on all tracks and had a lot of remixing to do. And since then it's collected dust in my VST folders along with most other widening tools that I've accumulated over the years.
Not that there's no use case for these kinds of plugins, but just because a plugin is advertised as "mono compatible" doesn't mean it's going to perfectly collapse to mono like you hear it in stereo. Best to proceed with caution on these and always check mono when you use them to make sure you're not weakening mono compatibility.
Statistics: Posted by jens — Thu Sep 05, 2024 8:22 pm
