Universal Audio UAD Plug-Ins ver.7.5 - Manual (Page 346)

UAD Powered Plug-Ins Manual - 346 - Chapter 35: Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery
Operational Overview
Ambience
Recovery
The primary function of Precision K-Stereo is for ambience recovery and en-
hancement. The plug-in doesn’t add new ambience or change the balance of
the mix. Instead, it extracts, recovers, polishes, and embellishes the ambience
that already exists in a source recording.
Precision K-Stereo does not use any comb filters, matrixing, phase processing,
or related techniques which are used in typical image processors. Instead, the
ambience recovery process is accomplished using established psychoacous-
tic principles. The result is a smooth, natural, phase-coherent, and mono-com-
patible sound that meets professional mastering standards.
In addition to ambience level and enhancement adjustments, the ambient por-
tion of the source material can be further equalized using low/high cut filters
and a fully parametric bell filter. These ambience filters affect the “wet” signal
only and are completely independent from the “dry” portion of the recording.
Primary
Application
Precision K-Stereo is designed for use during the mastering process to fine-
tune the ambience that exists in previously-mixed stereo program material.
Generally speaking, adjusting ambience during multitrack mixdown is best
managed within the mix itself because of the higher level of control and detail
available at that stage.
Of course, Precision K-Stereo can be used across the stereo bus during mixing
and/or in other creative applications as well. However, since the process is
optimized for broad spectrum mixes with at least some ambient content, the
effect may be extremely subtle on individual tracks, depending on the ambi-
ent content in the recording.
Mid/Side
Leveling
The Precision K-Stereo processor does not use or require mid/side encoding
or decoding techniques to achieve ambience recovery nor enhancement.
However, the plug-in has an independent mid/side ratio leveling feature that
can be useful during mastering to compensate for overall center-to-side level
imbalances within the stereo field.
The ambience recovery feature can then be used to recover ambience and
space that is lost when the mid-channel level is increased (such as when rais-
ing a center-located vocal or instrument).