Purpose of "Air" setting
Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:31 pm
What is accomplished by adding Air in the Har-bal program?
Air adds back the side component of mid/side encoded stereo into the original stereo track. It increases the relative magnitude of the side component in the stereo mix. Aurally, it makes the mix sound wider and the technique comes from an effects switch on integrated amps and boom boxes from the 70's & 80's that was referred to as "stereo wide".
If the track you are working on is mono it will have no audible effect as a mono track has no side component. If you listening environment has a lot of diffuse sound / ambience and you are doing mid/far field monitoring then the effect won't be very audible. For different reasons, if you are monitoring using headphones the effect is not that noticeable. It is most noticeable in near field monitoring situations.
Regards,
Paavo.