M-S conversion using Wavelab; Sound Forge

[Ray Thomas]

Can anyone help with a really basic question please? If I record a M-S array
to DAT (eg cardioid mic to left mic input, fig.8 mic to right) and then
import this to either Wavelab or Sound Forge..is there appropriate decoding
software inherent in these programs to matrix the sum/difference components
correctly and allow me to alter apparent stereo width at the computer ?
Or do I need to record via a mixer into the DAT and perform the phase swap
and gain matching during the original recording, as per the 'classic '
guidelines for M-S encoding?
I suppose I'm asking whether these programs just synthesize a 'pseudo' M-S
mix from a standard left/right stereo input, or are they set up to deal
correctly with true mid-side components fed in from my DAT as described ?
Thanks for any help here,
Ray

[Kurt Albershardt]

Ray Thomas wrote:

> If I record a M-S array
> to DAT (eg cardioid mic to left mic input, fig.8 mic to right) and then
> import this to either Wavelab or Sound Forge..is there appropriate decoding
> software inherent in these programs to matrix the sum/difference components
> correctly and allow me to alter apparent stereo width at the computer ?

Wavelab includes a VST plugin called ToolsOne which will handle the
decode and width adjustment.

[David Satz]

Ray Thomas wrote:

> [ ... ] If I record a M-S array to DAT (eg cardioid mic to left mic
> input, fig.8 mic to right) and then import this to either Wavelab or
> Sound Forge..is there appropriate decoding software inherent in these
> programs to matrix the sum/difference components correctly and allow
> me to alter apparent stereo width at the computer ?

I don't know any recent versions of WaveLab, but Sound Forge has its
"Channel Converter" (in versions 4.x and 5.0, it's in the "Process"
menu). For M/S to stereo L/R with the matrixing at "default" levels,
set the output channels to "Stereo" and set the four faders at 50%, 50%,
50% and (note) -50%. In other words, L = M + S while R = M - S. Don't
check the checkboxes for inverting either channel's mix.

You can set a different "S" channel gain for example by setting the faders
to 60%, 40%, 60% and -40%. Actually the total doesn't have to equal 100%
(depending on your peak recording levels), but the first and third faders
should always be equal while the fourth fader should always be the negative
equivalent of the second one.

Be sure to preview different settings, since once this has been carried
out, it takes a fair amount of disk I/O to undo it--and one is always
tempted to run the processing without an undo buffer for increased speed
in those versions of Sound Forge. I understand that in the latest version
it's different, but I haven't seen/used that version yet.

[Hal Laurent]

"David Satz" > wrote in message
m...

> Be sure to preview different settings, since once this has been carried
> out, it takes a fair amount of disk I/O to undo it--and one is always
> tempted to run the processing without an undo buffer for increased speed
> in those versions of Sound Forge. I understand that in the latest version
> it's different, but I haven't seen/used that version yet.

Yes, that's probably the best reason to upgrade to Sound Forge 6. The
non-destructive-until-you-save editing really speeds things up.

Hal Laurent
Baltimore

[J. Joyce]

The Waves MS plugins are the best I have used--if you click on the
advanced buttons you can more or less draw in the desired stereo
field.

jj

On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 20:46:16 +0930, "Ray Thomas"
> wrote:

>Can anyone help with a really basic question please? If I record a M-S array
>to DAT (eg cardioid mic to left mic input, fig.8 mic to right) and then
>import this to either Wavelab or Sound Forge..is there appropriate decoding
>software inherent in these programs to matrix the sum/difference components
>correctly and allow me to alter apparent stereo width at the computer ?
>Or do I need to record via a mixer into the DAT and perform the phase swap
>and gain matching during the original recording, as per the 'classic '
>guidelines for M-S encoding?
>I suppose I'm asking whether these programs just synthesize a 'pseudo' M-S
>mix from a standard left/right stereo input, or are they set up to deal
>correctly with true mid-side components fed in from my DAT as described ?
>Thanks for any help here,
>Ray
>