I am still learning about M/S processing and developing the skills that will allow me to use it intuitively. XL v2 allows me to surgically get the most “loudness”, clarity and presence out of my tracks without sacrificing my precious dynamic range. Armed with this and the Elysia Alpha compressor I am leveraging M/S for the best results.
Great tone
★★★★★
by Dotters
Been using this on all my masters since buying it. Tried the demo for about 30 minutes before deciding I need this. It's not colourless, but rather has a great analogue style tone that instantly makes your masters sound more "pro". The midside capabilities are perfect for adding perceived width without resorting to cheap widening tricks. My favorite thing however is the ability to treat the low frequencies separately – a feature that has allowed me to save the low end while getting the perceived volume desired on cleaner style house tracks. The XL feature added just the right amount of complexity and saturation to a country master I recently did as well. All around, SUPER versatile plug that imparts its own, highly desirable tone.
bx xl v 2
★★★★★
by studiocorbiere
très bon plug, pour un travail précis des dynamiques en M/S, ajoute un plus bien réel. il apporte de l’intelligibilité au mix, tout devient plus "évident" clair. je l'utilise très souvent.
Fantastic mastering tool
★★★★★
by Owl
I bought this plugin when I did some AB'ing between the XL, the Waves L2 and a few others. I use it all the time at the end of my mastering chain basically because I found the limiter on this plugin to be one of the best in terms of keeping the clarity and stereo imaging of the source material. Meeting that standard was key for me, and getting the plug just for that would have been a serious consideration. However, over and above the quality of the limiter are all the other tools thrown in. Most of them fantastic. I am still learning how to use the XL knobs. So far, using them judiciously seems to work well, subtle but impactful. Having a split band for separate limiting is also very useful. And the same goes for being able to process mid and side separately, balance panning etc. Very good and impressive stuff, and just brilliant quality. However... as a reviewer below mentioned… it is way too easy to get distortion whilst limiting the bass channel. It cracks and pops all over the place when limiting anything more than a db, or maybe two. I find it very disconcerting and surely can’t be intentional…?? I think BX needs to fix this and update to current users (i.e. not only fix for a future version). The quality on all the other functionality is 5 out of 5 – and thanks to BX for that, but for limiting the bass 1 out of 5, so why not fix it. My 2c. (PS. An idea for a version upgrade is to add dithering when reducing bits.. it is a mastering tool afterall :) )
A Must For Mastering
★★★★★
by David
The XL V2 is the perfect limiter to have at the end of your mastering chain. I use this plug on all my masters and I'm impressed with the width and depth that it adds to my work. The crossover control and M/S processing allow me to add just the right amount of limiting to each segment of the audio signal. This plug is worth every cent!
Loud and Proud - Superb Mastering Tool
★★★★★
by AreG
The bx_XL gives you that "mastered" sound and goes insanely loud and clear without squashing/distorting your mix. Setup requires a few more seconds than traditional multiband limiters/maximizers. The key is setting the Mid Lo/Mid Hi Crossover Frequency and input level correctly and using the ingenious (!) XL knobs. Very flexible mastering tool. I use the word "tool" because the bx_XL is so much more than just a limiter - the m/s and monitoring functionalities are absolutely superb. You can even disable the limiter in the bx_XL and use it to balance your mix (m/s). There is no doubt that Plugin Alliance is the new überstandard for ITB mastering.
bx_XL V2
★★★★★
by Derek
It works perfectly! I was worried when I saw the review about the distorted low end and so I checked it thoroughly. No problem - works like a bomb.This id a very good mastering and mixing limiter - it really does what the write-up says. As with all the Brainworx stuff - quality and efficiency and features that other manufacturers don't provide which just make your job easier!
Please revise this plugin
★☆☆☆☆
by Mondstein Records
The distortion in the bass band in awful. Every time the level hits the threshold there is a huge distortion which makes it impossible to limit the low frequencies. The idea ist superb but the implementation must be updated. For this price I like to have something with outstanding sound quality, so please revise this plugin.
The best thing
★★★★★
by Kristianzhe
This is the best thing happened to me musically ever to discover Plugin Alliance & the M/S mastering mode. So much clearer sound & total control. With this limiter you can with ease master your tracks to a professional level. The best thing is that it does not sound squashed at all! Top Product!