What it is
A dedicated Mid / Side equalizer inside the stereo panel. The signal is encoded into Mid (L+R, the mono content like vocals and bass) and Side (L-R, the stereo content like reverb and cymbal tails), three independent bands are applied per channel, and the signal is decoded back to L/R. The result is EQ moves that act on what's in the centre without touching the sides, or vice versa.
How to use it
- Mid Lo shelf / Mid bell / Hi shelf shape the centre channel — vocals, bass, kick. The Lo (200 Hz) and Hi (8 kHz) bands are shelves; the Mid (1 kHz) band is a peaking bell
- Side Lo shelf / Mid bell / Hi shelf shape the sides — reverb, cymbal tails, double-tracked guitars
- Each band has a ±12 dB range — wide enough for tonal shaping, calibrated for mastering rather than corrective surgery
- Common moves: cut Side Lo to tighten the bass image, boost Mid Hi to push the vocal forward, cut the Mid bell to clear mud without thinning the cymbals
What it affects
EQ moves that respect the stereo image. Boosting Mid Hi adds presence to vocals and kick without making cymbals harsher; cutting Side Lo tightens the low end without losing the stereo width of pads and reverb. Mono-safe: because the moves are symmetric on the Mid and Side channels, summing the master to mono doesn't introduce phase cancellation from the EQ shelves. Pairs naturally with the multiband stereo expander on the same panel.