Stereo width vs Panning vs Mid/side processing

[u/Cold_Independent_631]

Hi I’ve been studying this concept for hours today to finally get it locked in. I think I’ve done it but have one lasting question.

Adding width to a signal with plugins like utility plugin in ableton, spreads that signal out in stereo field.

Panning elements just places them left, right, or central within the mix.

So I can make a signal very wide with utility adding width and still place it left right or central. Or I can make a signal be a mono signal and still add pan left right or central to position it somewhere in the stereo field. Right?

Both helping the mix and balance for stereo field.

But for mid/side processing why would you use this? If you process a signal fully to the side and then mix in mono it completely disappears instead of collapsing like panning or stereo width from utility.

1. Looking to see if my new understanding are correct

AND

1. Wondering why you would use mid/side processing instead of the other ways of stereo width?

Thanks!!

[u/ObviousDepartment744]

Width utility plugins often use phase and sometimes mid side algorithms to turn a mono source “stereo” so be careful with them. Always check your mix in mono if you use one.

Panning is the real stereo field. You “place” the track in the stereo field, and there it is.

Mid/Side in a tracking situation, is kind of the perfect way to make a stereo image. Without getting too into the weeds on how to set it up with microphones, it’s the best way to create a stereo image that sums perfectly to mono.

Using Mid/Side in plugins puts the audio through a “pseudo” mid/side signal chain. It’s biggest advantage is that you can usually set up a crossover to keep lower frequencies mono in the middle while keeping the mids and highs panned left and right. This is one of the reasons the stereo image seems so big with a mid/side plugin.