From naturally extracted and expanded soundscapes to full cinematic big-stage enhancement, Halo upmix delivers with intuitive ease, all the control you need to fine-tune your surround mix to perfection. With unique centre channel management, including switchable dialog extraction, Halo is perfect for all types of production from archive restoration and TV through to the full 7.1 Feature Film experience.

 

Features

Stereo to 5.1 & 7.1 upmix 

Including: LCR, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 6.1, 7.0 & 7.1

 

Highly Downmix Compatible

Coherent spatial upmix
'Exact' downmix mode
In-place downmix audition

 

Natural Panoramic Extension

Preserves character of original audio
No artificial reverb, chorus or delays introduced to downmix
Full access to all surround balances

 

Detailed Centre Channel Control

Neural network dialog extraction
Low frequency energy dispersal
Clear phantom vs hard centre control

 

Powerful Spatial Analysis & Intuitive control

Clear visual feedback representing surround panorama
Workflow enhancing direct control over upmix parameters
Full LFE control options

 

"Halo is a truly versatile upmixing plug-in. It can both be saintly and angelic, with the down-mix (from the up-mix) being virtually indistinguishable from the original; or you can take the safety catch off and you can let its Halo slip and go off-piste, and be highly creative and controllably imaginative with the up-mixing." Mike Aiton | Mikerophonics

 

Natural Extension

Powerful real-time analysis of the original stereo material identifies and extracts locational cues, to naturally extend the panorama - without the introduction of any artificial reverberation, chorusing or delay into the downmix - leaving the inherent character of the original source intact.

 

Downmix Compatibility

Because Halo generates a coherent spatial sound, you can be assured of a high-quality downmix. The 'exact' mode function ensures ultimate downmix performance where, as in TV re-purposing for instance, maintaining the relationship between the original, upmixed and downmixed versions is imperative.

 

Big sound

For those situations that require an immersive cinematic dynamic, full control is available of all the relative surround balances, allowing any surround upmix to be crafted for a perfect blend into the complete 7.1 panorama.

 

Detailed Centre Channel Control

Centre channel extraction and control is provided for in a separate 'advanced' panel for use when dealing with intricate mixes, where no access to the original stems is available, offering unparalleled control - including neural network based dialogue extraction.

 

Powerful Spatial Analysis

Halo also includes a powerful spatial analysis view, intuitively showing the energy distribution of the upmixed panorama. Colour can additionally be used to indicate the speaker source for audio in any position, clearly indicating cases including phantom vs hard centre predominance etc.

Phantom Centre	LF Centre Divergence	Hard Centre

Applications

Stem and group upmixing
7.1 cinematic sound stage enhancement
TV stereo to surround upmixing with hard centre
Re-purposing of original stereo for cinematic release
TV archive enhancement for 5.1 broadcast
Natural extension of original stereo panoramas and atmospheres

 

Cross platform/Multiple format

We support AAX, VST, VST3, AU and AudioSuite in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. RTAS is also available as 32-bit only.

Note: The AAX surround support requires Protools HD 

 

Minimum System Specification

Mac OSX 10.6.x, 512 MB RAM

Windows XP or above, 512 MB RAM

Surround capable DAW/NLE.

 

Reviews

Michael Truman | Hybrid Composer / Producer
		"Halo is quite simply magnificent. After using the competition's plugins and then replacing it with Halo, the difference is like night and day. I've no idea what kind of algorithm you guys use but I'd like to buy it lunch and possibly go for drinks afterwards. Essential if you mix in surround. "

 

Gary Zacuto | Shoreline Studios
		"HALO was used in two recent game cinematics - Fallen Empire received 'Best Trailer' award at E3 in Los Angeles, and Dishonored was 2nd. Both trailers were mixed with Halo as our upmixer. "

 

Mike Wabro | Audioinsight LTD
		"I have been using [Halo] at every possible opportunity. The way it processes stereo sounds directly into 5.1 or larger multi-channel surround arrays is astounding. I have tested all the other plug-ings that offer this functionality, & for me Halo wins hands down. "

 

Tony Friedman | Outpost Sound
		"Almost everything I mix requires 5.1 delivery, but all of my music comes to me in stereo. That's why it's so critical to have a company like NUGEN. Halo is a truly musical sounding upmixer with an easy to use interface that gives you the control you need to fine tune your sound. Get Halo today. You won't be sorry."