manman

Intro
Hi, my name is Alex and I am a local Nyc techno producer. I specialize on German styled techno, we have tracks released on Beatport under UberKontrol label.

First i should start with a quote

A switchable mid-side
A coincident-pair stereo microphone technique using a forward-facing unidirectional, omnidirectional, or bidirectional mic and a side-facing bidirectional mic. The microphone signals are summed and differences to produce right- and left-channel signals.
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insert.This is new terminology for me. What does middle side mean? Or is this mid as in mid range?

Mid-side refers to spiting a signal in panorama from left mid and right, so you are separating in imaginative panorama whatever is playing at left and right speaker and imaginative center position signal such as snares vocals, bass. Sides are instruments that are panned hard left and hard right such as guitars, tambourines, hi-hats etc.

So mid refers to center sounding signals in imaginative panorama and side refers to side left &right panned instruments. So you can process center and left&right without affecting each other.

M/S is not midranged separation. SPL also incorporate filters on Side processing read below.[its usefull to leave the bass unsplitted, while everything above 800hz will be splitted for further adjustments.]

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I want to improve quality of music we release on Beatport by using the M/S analog processing, so listeners will greatly enjoy the quality of music and with German SPL touch

With all respect I prefer the sound of German products. SPL has been in business where serious and the most high quality and demanding product is needed.

Digital vs Analog?

SPL measures 10Hz-100kHz by -3 scaling at frequency response.
There is no digital plug-in that can compete with such highest quality of processing.
Based on Nyquist theory sampling frequency should be as twice higher +10% extra for headroom to avoid frequency cut off and artifacts.

In order to achieve high quality standard we need a digital system of 100kHz*2+10kHz=210kHz sample rate.

Current 192kHZ sampling rate is not exactly the same because 20 kHZ of extra headroom opens new possibilities to better music quality. It makes music sound more alive and present

Why I need one!

Since I specialize on techno music there is lots of M/S processing needed. Equing side and compressing mid is exactly what i m looking for. Im currently using RME FF800 setup and in future i m planning to build my own passive eq, and mastering compressor. My budget is not high and it can only go to build simple passive eq and compressor. I need to M/S mode to compliment my custom gears. Also keep in mind SPL Master can be used as mastering console as well because it has inserts points.

I also need to adjust the width of the my mixes and make them sound more 3-D. I want to give music we release best quality touch for people to enjoy the German music and German touch of SPL!

Analysis

I think Filter button is great because it does not affect lows as much for processing and splitting M/S which is essential for Techno music.

Floating button is superb, because lots of Techno is played in Mono in Clubs and Stereo and Mono Compatibility is an issue there.

Design Philosophy

This is relatively new piece of high quality mastering gears that there are out in the business and we can trust SPL sound. the German engineers strive to produce the best quality sound possible, no wonder why its called Sound Performance Laboratory.

Inserst are just as the many you need and they are XLR for superb quality. Buttons are wide and precisely marked.

MASTERING TECHNIQUES & TIPS:

1. Use 1 high quality A/D converter and 2 D/A [1 for chaing 1 for speakers] Lavry, Mytek, Rme
2. Connect Mastering Eq Left Channel to SPL MID
3. Connect Mastering Eq right Channel to SPL SIDE
4. Connect 1 Compressor for Punch such as API 2500, and others to SPL MID
5. Connect 1 compress for Ambient compression such as Manley Vari-MU to SPL SIDE
6. Now you have create Analog masterpiece, you can make your mixes sound more 3-D, more high quality and compress & eq separately mid information and eq and compress side information with clarity

Limiting could be done with plugins or hardware A/D clipping and Waves L2 limiting.

Use your ears as a final judgment, make sure your room is Treated good, otherwise your mixes may not translate because of your room.

Speakers is a personal choice, you can master on nearfields too, you can use headphones too for help.

Many Thanks!
Sincerely Alex Salganik