Separate centre from sides and treat them apart.
Any stereo track can be viewed as a mid channel, everything common to both speakers, and a side channel, everything that differs between them.
Splitting them lets you treat the centre and the edges of a mix independently, which is one of the most useful moves available in mastering.
Key points
- Returns two files: the mid (centre) and the side (stereo difference).
- Lets you EQ or compress the centre without touching the sides.
- Recombines perfectly, because the split is mathematical rather than estimated.
- 1 token per run.
What it is good for
- Mastering moves. Brighten the sides for air without making the vocal harsh, or tighten the centre bass without narrowing the mix.
- Diagnosis. Listening to the side channel alone tells you instantly what is genuinely stereo and what is not.
- Mono checking. The mid channel is what a mono listener hears.
- Targeted repair. Fix a problem that lives only in the centre or only in the sides.
What it costs
Mid/Side Splitter costs 1 token per run. Tokens work across every tool, so one balance covers everything here. A Studio subscription at $19.99 a month includes a monthly allowance and the full engine alongside it.
Common questions
Is mid/side the same as left/right?
No. Left and right are the two speakers. Mid is what they share and side is how they differ. A vocal panned centre lives almost entirely in the mid; a wide reverb lives almost entirely in the side.
Does splitting and recombining change the audio?
No. The conversion is exact arithmetic, so recombining without processing returns the original file.
Related tools
- Stereo Widener (1 token) — Width that survives a mono fold-down.
- Audio Analysis (free) — LUFS, true peak, crest, correlation and band balance.
- Spectral Editing (2 tokens) — Lift one sound out of one moment, or clean the whole file up.