STEREOID

BEYOND WIDTH. PURE PHASE PERFECTION. 

Your master bus deserves more than generic algorithms that destroy your low-end and collapse in mono. Stereoid is an uncompromising, standalone stereo widening engine engineered for massive dimension without the artifacts. We built this DSP from the ground up to give you gigantic spatial impact while keeping your audio mathematically coherent.

     Key Features:

• The Safe Phase Engine: Push your stereo field to the extreme. Our custom architecture guarantees absolute mono compatibility with zero comb filtering.

• Immersive Visual Control: Design is function. The phase meter is embedded directly inside the central display for instant, locked-in visual feedback, complemented by geometrically bounded EQ curves for a flawless UI experience.

• Surgical Low-End Focus: Advanced frequency targeting down to 20 Hz ensures your sub-bass remains completely anchored and untouched.

• Zero-Latency Architecture: Pure C++ performance. No lag, no CPU spikes, just standalone mastering-grade processing.

⚙️ TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Format Audio:  VST3 (64-bit)  - AU

Audio Architecture: Double Precision 64-bit Floating Point

DSP Engine: Hybrid Hilbert Transform with Parallel Crossfading Topology Preserving Transform (TPT) SVF 

Latency (Linear Phase): 2048 samples (Host PDC compensated) 

Latency (Min. Phase): 0 samples (Zero Latency)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS • • • • • • • 

Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit only).  macOS Native Apple Silicon / Intel Universal Binary

Processor: Intel Core i5 / AMD Ryzen or higher (SSE4.2 instruction set support required). 

Memory (RAM): 4 GB minimum (8 GB or more highly recommended). 

Graphics (GPU): Hardware-accelerated GPU with OpenGL 3.2 support or higher (Required for the Safe Phase Monitor UI rendering). 

Display Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels minimum. 

Host: Any 64-bit Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) supporting the VST3 plugin format. 

Internet Connection: Required for license activation and product downloads 

    TECHNICAL SHEET

🎛️ Stereo Imaging Engine

• WIDTH (Rotary Slider): Controls the main stereo width of the signal via Mid/Side processing, with a range from 0.0 (Mono) to 1.0 (Extra Wide) and a default set to 0.5.

• CENTER / PAN (Linear Slider): Modifies the stereo panorama balance (from -1.0 to +1.0) by repositioning the overall left/right image before the dynamic clipping stage.

• ENGINE MODE (Toggle Button): Allows immediate switching between two Hilbert processing architectures for phase generation.

  • VINTAGE mode routes the signal into a 3-stage All-Pass filter network for a classic character.

  • MODERN mode utilizes a denser 6-stage architecture for greater definition.

⏱️ Advanced Phase Control

• LINEAR PHASE (Toggle Button): Activates linear phase processing based on FIR filters (with a Hann window). This mode ensures maximum transparency on transients, declaring a fixed compensated latency of 1024 samples to the DAW.

• PHASE ROUTE (Toggle Button): Parameter accessible only when Linear Phase is enabled. Performs a signal crossfade between PURE mode (using the perfect unaltered FIR) and FILTERED mode (which uses an IIR to temporally align with the phase rotation).

• ZERO LOCK / FREEZE TO ZERO (Toggle Button): When active, strictly preserves phase coherence during stereo amplitude manipulation by compensating vector energies. This function is automatically disabled and hidden when the audio engine switches to MODERN mode.

• PHASE SAFE (Rotary Slider): Determines the intensity (from 0.0 to 1.0) of an automatic protection algorithm against phase cancellation. The system uses an optimized envelope follower (fast attack and 22ms release) that dynamically monitors and limits the Side channel level if its energy exceeds that of the Mid channel.

🔥 Dynamics & Coloration

• MID-PWR / Mid Power (Rotary Slider): Acts as a parallel Exciter circuit focused exclusively on the Mid signal. It applies a band-pass filter centered at 1200 Hz with a very wide bell (Q 0.3), pushes this signal into saturation by multiplying its drive, and then blends it back with the original Mid to add presence and warmth.

• CLIP MODE (Combo Box): Selects the type of distortion applied in the final stage. Offers four options:

  • HARD CLIP: Sharp, digital clipping of signal excesses.

  • SOFT CLIP: Smoother saturation based on a cubic equation.

  • WARM SAT: Analog clip emulated via a hyperbolic tangent curve.

  • CLIP OFF: Totally bypasses the Clipper module.

• CLIP DRIVE (Rotary Slider): Increases the amount of signal input to the clipping stage, pushing it up to +12 dB. The parameter is graphically disabled if Clip Mode is set to OFF.

• OUT GAIN (Rotary Slider): Manages the final output level for compensation or attenuation, ranging from -12 dB to +12 dB.

🌊 Low-End Management

• SUB MONO (Toggle Button): Selects a protection mode for low frequencies. When activated, it sends the Side channel into a high-pass filter, removing peripheral low frequencies and keeping the sub energy strictly in mono.

• SUB FREQ (Rotary Slider): Establishes the cutoff frequency (from 20 Hz to 500 Hz, default 150 Hz) on which both the Sub Mono and the internal crossovers act. It becomes interactive only when Sub Mono is active.

🖥️ Interface, Utility & Visual Feedback

• LOTO VISUALIZER (Hardware OpenGL Module): GPU-accelerated central spectrum and phase analyzer, updating at 60 Hz. It features radar meters to monitor polarity (Phase), visually highlighting danger levels (in red when exceeding 0 towards -1), spatial positioning meters (Pan L/R), and a particle visualizer reactive to RMS peaks and audio signal width.

• ADVANCED (Text Button): Toggles the user interface layout. Expands the GUI downwards (modifying the fixed aspect ratio) to reveal detailed controls for the Sub filters and Clipper stage, maintaining the overall flat and ergonomic aesthetic when they are not needed.

• BYPASS / BYP (Toggle Button): Enables or disables all internal DSP processing, interpolating a transition level to prevent audio clicks during A/B testing. Visually darkens the entire user interface when triggered.

• SAVE (Text Button): Launches an OS file browser allowing the current state of the AudioProcessor to be saved as an .xml preset file in a local folder named "StereoidPresets".

• PRESETS (Combo Box): Displays a dynamic pop-up menu that indexes all saved user presets and includes a hardcoded system entry "INIT PRESET" which immediately resets all VST parameters to their factory defaults.

• INFO / i (Text Button): Opens a dedicated overlay for security and license management information. Allows viewing online validation metadata (if active via Lemon Squeezy), performing hardware deactivation of the license, or displaying warnings regarding execution in DEMO mode.