Soundtoys MicroShift

What MicroShift 5 Is For

MicroShift 5 is an effects plug-in dedicated to stereo widening and enhancing key elements in a production. It is suitable for pop and electro sessions as well as rock, hip-hop, or sound design projects whenever you want to create a richer and more immersive stereo image. On background vocals, it opens them up and blends them into the mix without overpowering the lead vocal. On a guitar, synth, or pad, it adds a sense of breadth and presence, ideal for adding dimension without stacking doubles.

Main Features

The Classic Studio Trick, Modernized

MicroShift 5 revives a well-known studio technique to widen a mono or already stereo source by combining pitch shifting (micro-detuning) and modulated delay (time-varying delay). This combination creates a dense and musical width while maintaining a simple and fast approach. In practice, you get a livelier width effect than simple panning or static delay, with a sense of movement and depth.

3 Widening Characters to Suit the Track

The plug-in offers three flavors of widening based on popular hardware references. The benefit is twofold: quickly change the widening color according to the arrangement, and more easily find the right "grain" for a vocal, rhythm guitar, lead, or synth. Depending on the chosen flavor, the effect can sound softer and more discreet for a natural blend or more pronounced to put an instrument in the spotlight.

Focus Knob: Widen Without Unbalancing the Spectrum

An effective stereo widener must also respect the mix: too much width in the low end can weaken impact, and too much processing in certain areas can make the source blurry. The Focus knob allows concentrating the widening on a specific frequency range to maintain a solid center while opening the air, presence, or brightness. This is particularly relevant on vocals (sibilance and air), guitars (presence), or synths (harmonics) when you want to avoid an overly global effect.

Detune and Delay: From Subtle to Spectacular

With Detune, you control the amount of micro-detuning to manage the sense of width and thickness. With Delay, you adjust the delay range and its impact on perceived depth. Together, these parameters allow you to go from an almost invisible widening (perfect for "gluing" backing vocals around the lead) to a more obvious opening to create a hook, enlarge a synth lead, or give a guitar a stereo signature.

A Fast Workflow for Mixing Decisions

MicroShift 5 is designed to get straight to the point: a clear interface, essential controls, and quick results. It suits both insert use on a track (vocals, guitar, synth) and more creative production approaches. Whether your goal is to bring an instrument forward or blend it subtly into the background, the plug-in facilitates decisions in seconds without multiplying menus or unnecessary options.

Technical specifications