Stereo to Mono Convertor with Cutoff

[tylast]

Ok, does anyone know if a VST or DirectX plug in exists that can convert Stereo to Mono that has a cutoff freq? Say only freqs below 300Hz gets converted. If not, then I wish Ableton would make one. It would come in handy to ensure low freqs are mono so vinyl pressing have no issues with phase.

[Martyn]

That's a gooood idea. I love using the vinyl distortion plug on bass but really don't know how well that would translate to vinyl. I'd be interested to know if anyone's tried it or if that would cause problems. But a "vinyl safe" plugin would be great.

[monolake.]

Try this:

Select "sends only" on a track
Use two sends
turn the level on both sends to maximum

insert an EQ 3 in send 1 and afterwards the utility device
insert an EQ 3 in send 2 and afterwards the utility device

turn off the mid and high frequency of EQ 3 in send 1
turn width to 0 % and gain to - 6dB
--> this makes everything below the low/mid crossover MONO

send 2: adjust the gain with the utility to - 6dB
--> this passes the mid and high frequencies in Stereo

( i use the -6dB settings because it is not so easy to adjust ther sends to 0.0db in session view....)

This is how you can emulate pretty much the EE 150 / EE 300 "eliptical eq" of the old Neumann VMS 70 cutting lathe which was designed to solve out of phase problems when cutting vinyl.

robert

[monolake.]

oops, there was one line missing in my last post:

turn off the low band of the EQ 3 in send 2.
( but this was obvious, was`nt it ??? )

robert

[tylast]

Sorry it took me so long to reply...I was out of town. Your procedure totally works! I would be nice if I could get a plugin from Ableton that does this anyway. What cutoff freq do you recomend?

[ethios4]

possibly my understanding of stereo-to-mono phasing problems is wrong...won't there still be phase cancellation problems converting stereo bass to mono bass inside Live? the left and right channels are combined with the Utility plugin and the phase cancellation happens there, right? maybe i misunderstand the problem...i'm still learning much! also... are most sound systems mono (clubs, venues, etc...)? if so does this cause problems with stereo music? i appreciate the help in advance

[tylast]

The reason one would want to convert bass to mono is because out of phase low freqs cause lateral movement for the needle on vinyl & that throws the needle out of the groove. I'm sure there's a slight amount of cancellation when converting to mono....but it's better than not being able to cut the vinyl. Only if the channels are 180degrees out of phase will they completely cancel each other out. Anything else just lowers the volume and the volume would increase back to normal as you reach 0 degrees (either direction you go from 180).

Most clubs are stereo...but I've seen them in mono too. Playing stereo in a mono setup will cause some effects to disappear / again, I'm sure you're losing some portions of the sound (only the ones that were really out of phase from one another though).