KLEVGRAND HAAZE 2

Applying stereo delay and panning in a multiband environment, this new plugin provides an interesting take on a classic technique

Haaze 2 (AU/VST/AAX/iOS) is the latest effects plugin from Swedish developers Klevgrand. It’s a stereo processor conceptually similar to their original Haaze effect, but a complete rewrite from the ground up, creating a sonically superior, more user friendly and considerably more powerful effect.

Haaze 2 has 16 fixed frequency bands across which the four parameters – Haas, Pan, M/S and Gain – can be adjusted. Each parameter has its own tabbed window and colour-coded sliders, and the currently topped window also indicates the values of the other three parameters via coloured shadow lines. Metering is incorporated into the background, with band-specific VU level meters and a shaded stereo-width waveform across the centre. A drawing option allows swift changes to multiple bands.

Haazy days

Let’s look at each process. Haas (red) adds a small delay (0 to 40ms) to either the left or right channel, depending on which way you move the slider. The slider scale is non-linear and the first 100ms are measured in microseconds, allowing very accurate short delays to be applied to either side. Short delays are particularly obvious on higher frequencies, and we successfully widened a white noise sweep just using delays less than 100ms. Of course as you introduce longer offsets, the effect becomes more extreme. One trick that worked well for us was applying a straight diagonal line to the Haas parameter sliders, thus delaying the lower frequencies on one side and the higher frequencies on the other side of the stereo field, with the middle frequencies less affected.

Next, Pan (green). Here, left and right panning are applied using up and down slider positions, respectively. Used on its own and in all but the most extreme settings, the effect is quite subtle, and our most pleasing outcomes were achieved by adjusting a set of consecutive bands in the same direction.

The final effect process before the Gain is M/S (orange). This allows you to rebalance the mid and side components of the signal. As noted in Mid side rebalancing, you can only reduce the stereo width and you can’t flip the L/R stereo image, which limits the creative options. Even so, the process is great for focusing the sound created by the first two stages. Finally, Gain (blue) offers +10dB to -inf on a band-by-band basis and functions like a graphic EQ in isolation.

Haaze 2 can create quite complex parameter combinations, and the 45 presets provide good insight into what it’s capable of. These include basic stereo width and stereo positioning options (Widen All, Musical Left), as well as more instrument-specific settings (Bass Cab 1, Backing Vocals 1). What many of these presets do is focus the EQ content and apply some level of stereo enhancement. So with preset Acoustic Git 2, for example, a mono guitar can be broadened using some Haas delays and moderate Gain boosts in the low mids. Obviously, if you’re after more extreme outcomes, these are possible too, but we found that applying extreme settings across the three main processors didn’t typically achieve beneficial results.

All told, Haaze 2 is an interesting processor that straddles the functional and creative aspects of stereo processing to deliver something quite unique. Info iOS version: $15 Web klevgrand.se