Tool Preset [portable] | Stereo

Stereo Tool Preset — Quick Guide

3) “Guitar Wide Room” (Stereo guitar bus)

Purpose: Create a wide, ambient guitar bed.

• Width: 140%
• Frequency-dependent widening: widen above 800 Hz, keep 80–300 Hz narrow
• Subtle side saturation: +1.5 dB of harmonic warmth on sides
• Phase align: small correction to ensure stereo mics are phase-coherent When to use: Rhythm guitars that should sit wide in the mix.

Example Workflow: Create a “Drum Overhead Widen” Preset

1. Insert stereo imaging plugin on drum overhead bus.
2. Set low-frequency mono crossover to 120 Hz (keep kick/snare centered).
3. Increase width to 120% above 800 Hz.
4. Apply M/S EQ: side +2 dB at 8–12 kHz for shimmer; side −1 dB at 300–600 Hz to reduce boxiness.
5. Check stereo correlation while toggling mono-sum; aim to keep correlation > 0.0.
6. Add 6–10 ms Haas delay to side channel if additional spread is needed; keep wet mix low.
7. Save preset as “Drums OH — Wide Shimmer + Mono Low”.

2. Multiband Compression (The "Sound Shaper")

Stereo Tool typically uses 4 or 5 bands. stereo tool preset

• Bass (20-150 Hz): Presets for EDM/Club will compress this heavily to keep kick drums tight.
• Low-Mids (150-400 Hz): Voice presets reduce this to prevent "mud."
• Highs (5k-15k Hz): FM radio presets often boost this aggressively to overcome high-frequency loss in car stereos.

Typical Parameters in Presets

• Width (%) or stereo spread (0–200% or similar)
• Mid/Side EQ bands (frequency, gain, Q)
• Mid/Side compression thresholds/ratios/attack/release
• Delay amount for Haas effect (ms)
• Phase invert toggles (L/R)
• Low-frequency mono crossover (Hz) — keep bass centered
• Stereo correlation meter target/alerts
• Output gain or make-up gain
• Wet/dry mix for parallel processing

Tweaking Presets: The "One Knob" Rule

While presets are great, no two sound systems are the same. A preset that sounds incredible in a producer’s studio might sound muddy in your car or harsh on a cheap phone speaker. Never use a preset "as is" without a quick sanity check. Stereo Tool Preset — Quick Guide 3) “Guitar

Here is the "one knob" rule for customizing any Stereo Tool preset: Example Workflow: Create a “Drum Overhead Widen” Preset

• Too quiet? Turn up the Final Limiter Drive (do not touch the AGC).
• Too muddy? Turn the Bass Clarity up from 0 to 4.
• Too harsh (sibilance)? Turn down the 4k band in the Equalizer section by -1.5dB.
• Not wide enough? Turn the Stereo Max Width up to 150%, but be careful—too wide collapses to mono poorly.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• Loss of low-end: Add or raise low-frequency mono crossover so sub-bass stays centered.
• Phasey or hollow sound when summed to mono: Reduce widening, remove Haas delay, check phase alignment, or reduce side-levels in low mids.
• Vocals sounding distant after widening: Reduce side content around vocal frequencies, increase mid compression for presence, or narrow the width.
• Stereo meter shows negative correlation: Reverse polarity on one channel or reduce side gain; avoid negative correlation for critical low-frequency content.