New Music Gear Monday: Fiedler Audio Stage Stereo Toolkit Plugin

We’re at the evolutionary point in audio software where it’s not enough to be just another me-too plugin. If you’re going to launch a new product, it better have a new twist that goes beyond refinement of an old standard. That’s the case with the new Fiedler Audio Stage Stereo Toolkit, a new sound stage plugin that indeed takes that genre to a new level.

Audio Stage takes a stereo track and manipulates and enhances its stereo field in new ways, or even better, can take a mono track and realistically make it stereo. It does this not only via M/S processing, but via Haas delays, LFOs, phase inversion and proprietary psychoacoustic algorithms.

The Input section features not only an input gain control but also stereo corrective tools like M/S blend and L/R tilt so that it can easily and quickly change the balance between mid, side, left and right information of the source material.

The Panorama section has two sophisticated algorithms that allow for panoramic adjustment of mono and stereo sources using its pan and width controls. The Ambience section starts with size and feedback controls, which are augmented by an LFO section with frequency (speed), amount, and phase spread controls, and a Colour tone control section with brilliance, presence, body and bass adjustments. A routing system allows for the wet and dry signals to be monitored either in tandem or separately, as well as vary the Wet/Dry balance.

As you tweak the settings, two animated fields within the plugin window visualize the changes that are being made, so you don’t just hear the difference but you see it too! Another cool thing is that the plugin is also optimized for use with touch screens, if that’s what you’re DAW is running on.

The Fiedler Audio Stage plugin is available from the Plugin Alliance with an introductory price of $99 (normally $179) and a 14 day free trial period. It works with all platforms.