Polyverse Music has announced the release of Wider, a freeware stereo widening tool in VST, AU, and AAX plugin formats for digital audio workstations on PC and Mac.
Wider borrows its features from the stereo widening section found its big brother Manipulator ($149), a multi-effect plugin which was recently reviewed on BPB. The software’s standout characteristic is its ability to widen the processed audio signal without messing up the phase. Most stereo widening tools available today will make the output signal sound dull and hollow when summed back to mono but that is not the case with Polyverse Music’s latest plugin release.
See also: STC-3 Is A FREE Stereo Expander VST Plugin By RAZ AudioThe trick lies within Wider’s unique stereo widening algorithm which relies on a combination of all-pass and comb filtering to keep the signal in phase. Even when the plugin is pushed to its widest setting, the processed audio signal should remain free of phasing issues, at least on paper. As for the workflow, Wider comes with a simple user interface consisting of a single slider control. The slider allows for stereo widening of up to 200% although I’m guessing that less extreme settings should be used in most cases.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test Wider before publishing this article because I still haven’t received the download link. I signed up using two different email addresses but still no luck. Hopefully, this is just a temporary issue, or perhaps in some way related to my particular email accounts. If you download the plugin successfully, please let me know in the comments section below.
So, do keep in mind a valid email address is required in order to receive your free copy of Wider. However, subscribing to Polyverse Music’s weekly newsletter is completely optional. The download should be delivered to your inbox after signing up on the product page linked below, although it’s more than four hours late in my case. The effect is compatible with all VST, AU, and AAX plugin hosts on PC and Mac.
Wider is available for free download via Polyverse Music (unknown download size, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin formats for Windows & MacOS).
Last Updated on May 17, 2018 by Tomislav Zlatic.
