Spatial Panning
Each band has independent spatial positioning with LFO-driven modulation orbits. The same LFO that drives the band’s phaser also drives its spatial movement, creating a unified relationship between timbral modulation and spatial motion.
Mono Compatibility
Splitting frequencies across the stereo field means phase cancellation in mono is inherent to this effect. If your output needs to survive a mono fold, use CHAKRABOOST on a send or bounce the result, rather than applying it to a master bus. The spatial processing is the most mono-unfriendly part of the plugin — locking all bands to center (Pan 0.0, Pan Depth 0.0) eliminates this issue but also removes the spatial dimension.
LFO-Driven Orbits
The phaser LFO simultaneously modulates spatial position:
- Pan Depth controls how much the LFO modulates the X position (left-right).
- Pan Depth Y controls how much a quadrature-offset (90-degree phase-shifted) version of the same LFO modulates the Y position (front-back).
When both depths are active, the combination of the original LFO on X and its quadrature offset on Y traces elliptical or circular orbits through the spatial field. The shape of the orbit depends on the relative depth values and the Orbit Angle rotation.
| Configuration | Pan Depth | Pan Depth Y | Result |
|---|
| Static position | 0.0 | 0.0 | No movement — band stays at its Pan/Pan Y coordinates |
| Horizontal sweep | > 0 | 0.0 | Left-right oscillation only |
| Vertical sweep | 0.0 | > 0 | Front-back oscillation only |
| Circular orbit | Equal | Equal | Circular path around the center point |
| Elliptical orbit | Unequal | Unequal | Elongated oval path |
Per-Band Spatial Parameters
Parameter IDs use the bandN_ prefix (e.g., band1_pan, band4_panDepth).
| Parameter | ID Suffix | Range | Default | Description |
|---|
| Pan | pan | -1.0—1.0 | 0.0 (center) | Static left-right position — the center point of any LFO modulation |
| Pan Depth | panDepth | 0.0—1.0 | 0.5 | LFO modulation amount on the X (left-right) axis |
| Pan Y | panY | -1.0—1.0 | 1.0 (front) | Static front-back position (surround layouts only) |
| Pan Depth Y | panDepthY | 0.0—1.0 | 0.0 | LFO modulation amount on the Y (front-back) axis |
| Orbit Angle | orbitAngle | 0—360 deg | 0 deg | Rotation of the modulation orbit path |
Global Spatial Parameters
These controls affect the spatial rendering for all bands.
| Parameter | ID | Options / Range | Default | Description |
|---|
| Speaker Layout | speakerLayout | Stereo / Quad / 5.1 / 7.1 | Stereo | Target speaker configuration |
| LFE Channel | lfeChannel | None / Ch 1—8 | None | Route a band to the LFE (subwoofer) channel |
| LFE Level | lfeLevel | 0.0—1.0 | 0.7 | Level of the LFE send |
Pan Laws
Four pan law options determine how level is distributed as a source moves between speakers:
| Pan Law | Behavior |
|---|
| Constant Power (-3 dB) | Default. Maintains consistent perceived loudness across the stereo field. Center position is -3 dB per channel. |
| Linear | Simple linear crossfade between channels. Can produce a slight level dip at center. |
| -6 dB | Center position is -6 dB per channel. More aggressive than constant power — useful for hard-panned sources. |
| Hybrid | Blends constant power and linear curves. Tighter center image than pure constant power with smoother transitions than linear. |
Stereo Width
A stereo width control with mid-side processing is available for the stereo bus. Values below 1.0 narrow the image toward mono; values above 1.0 exaggerate the stereo spread by boosting the side signal relative to mid.
Surround Rendering
When the speaker layout is set to Quad, 5.1, or 7.1, panning uses VBAP-style (Vector Base Amplitude Panning) 2D panning to distribute each band across the available speaker positions. The Pan and Pan Y coordinates map directly to the 2D speaker array.
An object panner mode provides binaural rendering with ITD (interaural time difference) and ILD (interaural level difference) models for headphone monitoring of surround mixes.
Modulation Lock
Right-click any pan knob to lock that band’s spatial position. When locked, the LFO modulation is suppressed for that band — the pan position remains static at its current coordinates regardless of Pan Depth or Pan Depth Y settings. The phaser LFO continues to operate normally on the phaser sweep; only the spatial modulation is bypassed.
This is useful for anchoring specific bands (e.g., keeping Band 1 locked to center while higher bands orbit freely).
Pan Depth Y has no audible effect in Stereo layout, since stereo has no front-back dimension. Set the speaker layout to Quad, 5.1, or 7.1 to use Y-axis movement and full orbital paths.
