7 Pro Tips for Using Voxengo MSED to Widen Your Mix

Mastering Stereo Imaging with Voxengo MSED: A Complete Guide

Overview

Voxengo MSED is a free mid/side encoder/decoder plugin that lets you separate, process, and recombine the Mid (center) and Side (stereo) components of a stereo signal. This enables targeted control over mono content (vocals, bass, kick) and stereo content (reverbs, pads, wideners) for clearer mixes and more precise mastering.

When to use it

• Correcting a mix with cluttered center content.
• Controlling stereo width without affecting mono balance.
• Tightening bass and low-end by keeping it mono.
• Enhancing ambience or widening elements selectively.
• Preparing final masters for mono compatibility.

Key controls

• Mid gain / Side gain — adjust relative levels of center vs. stereo field.
• Mid/Side invert switches — flip polarity of M or S for phase fixes.
• Stereo width (via gain differences) — increase Side level to widen, decrease to narrow.
• Decode/Encode operation — use MSED to encode to M/S, process, then decode back to L/R.

Practical workflows

1. Mono-compatibility and low-end control

   • Insert MSED on master or low group.
   • Reduce Side gain below ~120 Hz (use a high-pass on Side or automate gain) so low frequencies stay mono.
   • Ensure Mid remains strong for bass and kick.

2. Cleaning up a cluttered vocal

   • On the vocal bus, slightly lower Side gain and raise Mid gain to center the vocal and reduce competing stereo information.
   • Optionally invert Side if phase issues appear when summed to mono.

3. Widening ambience and effects

   • On reverb/pad buses, raise Side gain +2–6 dB and leave Mid unchanged.
   • Add subtle saturation/EQ to Side only for a perceived larger space.

4. Fixing phase/cancellation problems

   • Use the invert switches to test and resolve cancellations between L/R channels before decoding back.

5. Mastering adjustments

   • Small Side boosts can make a master sound more open; small Mid boosts can add focus and presence.
   • Apply gentle changes (±1–3 dB) on the master to avoid stereo image being exaggerated.

Tips & best practices

• Always A/B with MSED bypassed to judge impact.
• Check in mono regularly—if elements vanish, reduce Side processing.
• Use EQ/compression on Mid and Side separately for surgical control.
• Be conservative on masters: minor tweaks often suffice.
• Combine with linear-phase EQs when working on masters to avoid phase artifacts.

Common pitfalls

• Excessive Side boosting causes unnatural widening and mono collapse.
• Applying dynamic processing only to Side can create pumping artifacts.
• Forgetting to decode back to L/R (use MSED’s built-in encode/decode correctly).

Quick preset ideas

• Mono tighten: Side -6 dB, Mid +1 dB
• Wide ambience: Side +4 dB, Mid 0 dB
• Master subtle widen: Side +1.5 dB, Mid +0.5 dB
• Bass mono: Side -inf below 120 Hz (use multisplit or HPF on Side)

Use this guide to make targeted, tasteful mid/side moves with Voxengo MSED to improve clarity, width, and balance in mixes and masters.