Blue Tubes Stereo Imager ST2S

Name: Blue Tubes Stereo Imager ST2S
Price: 9 USD
Author: Nomad Factory

by Nomad Factory · Imaging · Stereo width control

Not rated yet

Blue Tubes Stereo Imager ST2S by Nomad Factory

Blue Tubes Stereo Imager ST2S controls stereo width, from mono to wide, while aiming to keep tonal balance and mix integrity.

Nomad Factory says it avoids the phase artifacts common in digital widening; it lists at $99.

Best for: Mix Bus, Mastering, Keys & Synths, Guitars. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: wide, tube, full mix, mastering, mixing, room mics, drums, electric guitar, synths, vocals, bus processing, heavy, mix bus, subtle.

What it does

The ST2S is the Blue Tubes series stereo width tool, for subtle or dramatic changes to the stereo spread of a track or mix. Nomad Factory says its processing is tuned to stay natural and avoid the phase artefacts common in digital wideners.

Width control: narrows a source towards mono or widens it beyond the original spread.
Width display: a visual readout of the stereo width while you adjust it.
Mixing and mastering: aimed at refining the spatial balance of single tracks, buses and full mixes.
Phase behaviour: designed to avoid the phasey artefacts of many digital wideners, per the developer.

The current release came out on 2 March 2026. KVR's marketplace showed a heavy discount when checked. No demo is mentioned.

Source: Nomad Factory product page

When to use it

The ST2S is a basic width control that suits users already working with Blue Tubes plugins. Compared with iZotope Ozone Imager, which is free, it has no multiband splitting or detailed correlation and vectorscope metering. Waves S1 Stereo Imager and bx_stereomaker also give more control, such as rotation, asymmetry or mono-maker filtering. Its strength is simplicity: one main job, done with little fuss.

Best for: widening or narrowing synths, guitars, drum overheads, room mics and vocals.
Genres: general purpose.
Look elsewhere if: you want multiband imaging or a free option (Ozone Imager), bass mono-making (bx_stereomaker) or detailed metering (S1 Stereo Imager).

What producers say

There are no reviews of the 2026 release yet; Tape Op liked the earlier version as a useful mix trick.

Tape Op (Larry Crane, issue 45, 2005, Blue Tubes 2.0) found it widened or narrowed stereo images well, with interesting results on vocals, drums and room mics, and called it "a neat little trick" for stereo sources.
Caveat: that review covers a much older version of the plugin.

Tape Op review (Blue Tubes Bundle 2.0)

Where to buy

PluginFox: $9 (regular $50)
AudioDeluxe: $9 (regular $50)
Best Service: $19.99
Nomad Factory: $99

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