Utility

The Utility FX is a stereo toolbox rather than an effect. It can invert the polarity of either channel, choose which input channel feeds both outputs (or swap them, or sum them to mono), set the stereo width, balance the signal left or right, and remove DC offset. Like all FX, it receives audio via Delay Lines or its external input channel.

With every setting at its default, the Utility passes its input through untouched. That makes it a clean junction: connect several Delay Lines into one Utility to sum them into a single signal, then send that signal onward over Delay Lines to as many FX, Audio Input exciters, or Envelope Followers as you like.

The Utility applies its settings in the order they are listed below. Polarity comes before the channel routing, so inverting a channel that the Channels setting then discards has no effect.

Utility Properties#

• Invert Left: Inverts the polarity of the left channel.
• Invert Right: Inverts the polarity of the right channel. Inverting one channel of a stereo pair puts the two sides out of phase, which sounds wide and hollow on speakers and cancels when summed to mono.
• Channels: Which input channels feed the two outputs: both as they are (Stereo), the left or the right one on both (Left, Right), the two swapped (Swap), or their average on both (Mono).
• Width: Stereo width. A value of 0 sums the signal to mono, 1 leaves the stereo image unchanged, and values above 1 widen it.
• Pan: Balances the signal between the two channels: negative values attenuate the right channel and positive values attenuate the left. At 0 both channels pass at full level.
• DC Block: Removes any DC offset and rolls off frequencies below 10 Hz. Physics models can produce a steady offset, for example from a Body held away from its rest position by Gravity, and that offset can push a downstream Compressor or Distortion off its intended operating point. Turning DC Block on in the middle of a chain clears it.