Polyverse Music releases Wider 2.0, an improved version of their popular free stereo widener plugin.
So, Wider has just been updated to v2.0. Most of you are probably familiar with the original version of Wider. The new Wider 2.0 introduces some handy new features that should help with the overall workflow of the plugin.
The base interface is largely unchanged from the previous version. A central slider still controls the actual stereo width of the material it affects. This goes from subtle changes to extremes, with up to 200% of the original signal’s stereo width being emphasized.
Increasing the stereo width is still a breeze, but that’s to be expected with such a slim control set.
What is new in version 2.0 is the inclusion of a high pass filter and the mono button. While these don’t seem like huge features at first glance, they are, in fact, fantastic workflow improvements.
The high pass filter helps keep those low-end frequencies out of the effect’s signal path. While 200% stereo width is a fun experiment for bass, it is a great feature to exclude the lower-end frequencies without running a more convoluted routing setup.
The mono button allows you to test the affected signal for mono compatibility. Wider is supposed to be mono-compatible, and this certainly puts its money where its mouth is.
A simple button press sums the signal to mono and allows you to check for any sort of phase cancellation. Aside from the high-pass filter, this is probably the most exciting inclusion overall.
Along with the release of Wider 2.0, Polyverse is running a sale on the rest of their paid plugins for the start of spring.
From April 4th to the 18th, customers can pick up Polyverse’s paid plugins for up to 33%. This includes fan favorites like the I Wish, Manipulator, Gatekeeper, Comet, and the newly released Supermodal.
For those interested in the sale, it is available via Polyverse’s official website and authorized retailers. Gatekeeper and Comet are personal favorites, with Comet being an insanely deep reverb that you can assign key switches to for the sake of automation.
Wider 2.0 is available for Windows and Mac computers. Compatible plugin formats are VST, VST3, AU, and AAX. Apple Silicon and Intel binaries are provided.
Download: Wider 2.0
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8 Comments
4113ND3
onNice update, saves another plugin from the chain. Been using the v1 for few years now and I can definitely recommend it. Aside from the nice GUI, the plugin actually works and sounds great. Unlike with a lot of other mono-to-stereo widener plugins, I’ve never had any phase cancellation issues with this (like with Haas based wideners and such). Apparently it uses some sort of all-pass/comb filter combination to avoid it.
Febbie Ivaaden (Febbs!)
onAnyone got a download of Wider 2.0?
They wont let me send a link to it due to and odd “Forbidden” error :(
Darryl Lim
onCaptcha error for me while using Firefox. I tried another browser (Chrome) & it worked.
Rox Roll
onIt will be perfect if they make the GUI resizable.
Gery Zenz
onThe GUI is resizable! Klick on Polyverse! 50-200%
John
onIEM recently released a new granular synthesizer: https://plugins.iem.at/docs/granularencoder/
Their plugin suite is free and open-source: https://plugins.iem.at/
Tomislav Zlatic
onThank you! https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2023/04/06/iem-granularencoder/#comment-319676
Richard Cooper
onThis is actually a very useful upgrade. Awesome.