True Mid/Side - Mid <> Side Channel Extractor

True Mid/Side is a unique plugin that extracts the "Phantom Center" and stereo Sides from a stereo mix. Each channel (Left/Center/Right) can be adjusted and/or exported completely independently for the upmost in stereo field processing and control.

What do we mean by "True" Mid/Side?

In mixing - and especially mastering - it is sometimes beneficial to work on the "Middle" and "Side" parts of a stereo mix rather than on the Left/Right parts. This mode of operation is known as "Mid/Side" processing however is not as straightforward as it may seem. Traditional "Mid/Side" processing is typically implemented as "sum and difference" whereby the "Mid" signal is encoded as the mono sum of left and right (M=L+R) while the "side" signal is encoded as the mono difference of left and right (S=L-R). After processing the Mid and Side signals those two signals must then be decoded by the Mid/Side processor back to Left/Right stereo.

That approach seems logical but has a few flaws. Any signals that are hard-panned left or right - i.e., pure "side" signals - will appear in both the Side and Mid channels. Meanwhile, the "Side" channel is a mono mix of the left and right sides whereby the stereo information between them is lost. This is not "true" Middle and Sides and not how we hear stereo.

The True Mid/Side plugin actually separates a stereo mix into its phantom center (what we hear in the middle of a stereo mix) and the stereo side signals panned to their respective left and right sides. All three resultant signals (Left-Center-Right) can be controlled independently.

True Mid/Side can be used to extract and render the Middle/Center and stereo Side stems from a stereo track or bus and can also be used in effects insert and send slots in your DAW during mixing and mastering. All outputs are directly usable - latency compensated and linear phase - and do not require re-encoding back to stereo.

True Mid/Side includes multiple output pins for DAWs that can support plugins with multiple I/O pins; a selection of Linear or Power separation algorithms and a Power Mono output setting that produces a true power sum mono mix that captures the full stereo image in a mono output.

True Mid/Side is a 64-bit plugin available as VST2, VST3 and AAX for Windows PC and VST2, VST3, AAX and AU formats for Mac OS 10.11+ on Intel and Apple Silicon. Free 14-day trial demos are available for download at the RJ Studios website.