Overview

Control Listening Tool & M/S Matrix
bx_control V2 is a powerful monitoring tool and an M/S matrix with built-in Mono Maker & Stereo Width control. bx_control V2 also features high resolution metering for Peak and RMS levels in AES 17 and square wave formats.

This handy little M/S tool can be used for a wide variety of sophisticated applications: control the stereo width of any stereo audio track by simply routing it to the Brainworx M/S matrix. You can also use the bx_control V2’s unique Mono Maker tool to set a threshold frequency below which the stereo signal of your track or mix becomes mono with no loss of power or fidelity — great for managing the low end of your mixes. As a monitoring tool, the bx_control V2 offers solo monitoring to M (mono sum), phase-corrected S (stereo difference signal), and L or R (left or right) mono channels on both speakers, or " soloed in place" using the four dedicated solo buttons — another Brainworx invention. You can also easily swap channels with the L/R flip button.

bx_control V2 is also a perfect M/S Recording Tool featuring a latency-free M/S matrix that’s ideal for recording sessions, and even chaining other plugins into the Brainworx M/S world.

Features

  • High resolution metering for Peak and RMS levels
  • (AES 17 and square wave formats)
  • New and innovative solo modes
  • M/S inside… M/S stereo width control on any stereo channel
  • Stereo Width Control from 0% (mono) to 400% (“wider than your speakers”)
  • Mono Maker Tool (Great for managing the bottom end of your mixes)
  • Solo in Place for Left, Right, Stereo Difference or Mono
  • Fully automatable
  • Dedicated BYPASS switch in the plugin GUI
  • "Mouse Over" feature: adjust parameters by holding the mouse over any knob and simply turning the mouse wheel.
  • Direct access: just type in any valid number into the text fields for direct access to the exact value

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • Dave Reitzas

    Dave Reitzas

    4 Grammy Awards, Emmy, Oscar, multi-platinum producer (Madonna, Nathalie Cole, Barbara Streisand)

    I just wanted to tell you that I was blown away with the Brainworx plugins! I can't remember the last time I got a smile from ear to ear when I started tweaking the parameters of a plugin. I think… Read More

  • JC Concato

    JC Concato

    Head of Music School - Point Blank Online

    bx_control is the first plug-in on my master channel and is an essential part of my monitoring section when mixing or mastering in the box.

  • James Wiltshire

    James Wiltshire

    Producer (Freemasons, F9 Audio)

    As the whole world goes M/S, this little beauty is an essential blade on your production knife.

  • Benjamin Rice

    Benjamin Rice

    Engineer/Vocal Producer (Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga)

    I love the bx_control, not only because it is such a quick and handy tool for monitoring M/S when I'm mixing ITB, but also because it's an immediately effective way to both tighten and widen… Read More

  • Steve Mac

    Steve Mac

    Songwriter/Producer (Rhythm Masters/Bunker Recording Studios)

    I always use this to control my mono signals. Where I have stereo bass, I can just dial in the amount of mono I want so the sub and hard hitting stuff stays in the mono area and the tops go to the… Read More

Customer Reviews

  • Excellent Channel Utility

    ★★★★☆
    by S. Newville
    Ive become pretty accustomed to using Ableton Live's 'Utility' tool. Control is a worthy replacement. Having Mid/Side control makes this a hit. The one and only thing that's missing here (and it… Read More
  • bx_control V2

    ★★★★★
    by Galaxy Bridge
    I think it's the one plugin I don't want to live without anymore! If you take it away from me, I have to cry :-)
  • Reliable Workhorse

    ★★★★★
    by Zak Rahman
    This plugin is simple, clean, efficient and powerful.
    It's not a complex plugin, in fact it's rather simple. But it's utility and ease of use speeds up my sessions and gives me more control and… Read More
  • In 2020

    ★★★★★
    by Percy Pringle
    Its 2020 and this plugin is still one of the most important plugins for me.
  • Wonderful

    ★★★★★
    by Tommy80
    An incredible useful plugin, i put it on every project!

Specification

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 12 down to macOS 10.11
Windows 11 down to Windows 8

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon (except for AAX) architecture

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Downloads

With the Installation Manager you can select, download & install all the Plugin Alliance products. Select any and all formats you need for your system! Mac & PC.

ChangeLog

bx_control V2

Brainworx bx_control V2 - Changelog

Version 2.15.1 (Jun 28, 2022)
- General: Fixed potential blacklisting of VST2 on Windows
- General: Fixed potential crashes on Windows
- General: Fixed processing being Mono with VST2 in FL Studio
- General: Fixed value readouts not being present when clicking knob

Version 2.15 (Mar 15, 2022)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for VST3, VST2 and AU
- General: added macOS Monterey support
- General: added Windows 11 and Windows 10 21H1 support
- General: discontinued Windows 7 support
- General: discontinued macOS 10.9 and 10.11 support
- General: fixed metering behavior in block sizes of 2048 samples and higher

Version 2.14 (Mar 22, 2021)
- General: Compatibility with Logic on Apple Silicon devices via the Rosetta-2 layer
- General: Fixed possible artefacts when freezing or bouncing tracks in Pro Tools
- General: Fixed automation highlighting disappearing in Studio One
- General: Improved license dialog visibility in dark mode

Version 2.13 (May 27, 2020)
- General: Qualified for use with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update
- General: VST3: Fixed potential hangs in a DAW upon loading
- General: Fixed logical issues in undo / redo behavior
- General: Fixed UI resizing issues in Ableton Live on Windows
- General: Fixed audio processing initialization issues on amp and delay products

Version 2.12 (Nov 06, 2019)
- General: Qualified for use with macOS 10.15 Catalina
- General: Qualified for use with Windows 10 November 2019 Update
- General: Fixed plugin validation in Logic under macOS Catalina
- General: Fixed preset name restore in Logic when reopening a session
- General: Fixed opening authorization dialog triggering automation
- General: Improved instantiation times for plugins
- General: Improved license functionality and branding for subscription
- General: Removed 32-bit support on macOS and Windows

Version 2.11 (Jul 10, 2019)
- General: macOS 10.14.5 Update compatibility
- General: Windows 10 1903 Update compatibility
- General: Fixed activation issue in Windows hosts set to non-English language (e.g. Cakewalk)
- General: AU: Fixed issue with increased CPU and memory on reopening UI
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with adapting to host knob mode, and now prioritizing linear
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with VST3 preset permissions
- General: VST3: Improved synchronization between parameter states and some UI functions, e.g. toolbar reset

Version 2.10 (Nov 16, 2018)
- General: macOS Mojave compatibility
- General: Windows October 2018 update compatibility
- General: adding Windows High DPI support for VST2/3 plugins
- General: Fixed potential crashes in Cubase and other VST2 / VST3 DAWs
- General: Fixed potential CPU spikes and audio dropouts
- General: Fixed rendering in Pro Tools on the start of a session
- General: Fixed missing presets in Wavelab and other VST3 DAWs
- General: Improving keyboard control, fixing issues with catched keys preventing it from passing through to DAW
- General: Fixed parallel use of host sessions (e.g. with Live)

Version 2.9 (May 24, 2018)
- General: Microsoft Windows Redstone 4 compatibility
- General: Added computer keyboard control for plugin parameters
- General: Fixed Mouse scroll wheel not working in Windows 8
- General: Fixed an issue where plugins will not validate or load after a certain amount of plugins have been loaded (Windows)
- General: Fixed visual GUI freezes when adjusting DAW parameters, meters, analyzers (Mac)
- General: Fixed possible issue with Pick Pack licenses
- General: Small licenser stability fix

Version 2.8 (Oct 23, 2017)
- General: Mac OS High Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed possible crash on online activation (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed Logic Pro X not validating AU plugins (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed CPU spikes and crashes with Cubase (Windows)
- General: Fixed bug that could lead to "AAE -6 error" in ProTools (Windows)
- General: Fixed crash with FL Studio
- General: Fixed crash when cross-opening plugins in various hosts
- General: Fixed crash when using mixdown in Audition
- General: Fixed crash in Final Cut Pro
- General: Fixed delayed parameter handling and crackling issues in Cubase with VST3
- General: Fixed bug where plugin settings were not saved in Harrison Mixbus
- General: Fixed bug that led to AAE error -9317 in ProTools when instantiating plugin
- General: Fixed bug where plugins did not render properly when "x ray" option is enabled in Sonar
- General: Modifications to factory presets were lost when reopening session
- General: Fixed mouse wheel behaviour with second monitor setup (Windows)
- Some plugins: Value labels do not appear every time when clicking on parameter in UI
- General: Faster instantiation time for plugins (Windows)
- General: Adding support for automation highlighting in Presonus StudioOne

Version 2.7.1 (Dec 20, 2016)
- General: Mac OS Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed automation issues in AU and AAX
- General: Fixed license dialog use of special characters
- General: Improved AU preset support
- General: Performance improvements

Version 2.7 (Apr 1, 2016)
- General: Major UI codebase update
- General: Fixed possible crash when authorizing plugin
- General: Added gain reduction meter support for StudioOne 3
- General: Installers show version info in Windows "Programs And Features"

Version 2.6.4 (Jan 18, 2016)
- General codebase update
- Removing RTAS/TDM/VENUE 32-bit format support

Version 2.6.3 (Jul 18, 2015)
- General codebase update

Version 2.6.2 (Jun 22, 2015)
- General codebase update

Version 2.6.1 (May 27, 2015)
- Fixed wrong installation path for 32-bit Win VST plugin version

Version 2.6 (Apr 14, 2015)
- Fixed switch graphics behavior (348)
- Fixed metering code
- Fixed plugin effect category
- Minor GUI fix

Version 2.5 (Nov 18, 2013)
- Licenser update (V3): Fixes and new features
- Prevent wrong mouse wheel behavior in 32-bit hosts on 64-bit Windows (Windows bug) (87, 95, 156)
- Fixed keyboard events after text input in Pro Tools Windows (325)
- Fixed parameter value display in VST3 (330)
- Fixed toolbar triggering automation (335)
- Fixed window size issues (279, 327)
- Fixed possible preset issues in Pro Tools 11 (312)

Version 2.4.1 (Jun 28, 2013)
- fixed installer for 32-bit Windows

Version 2.4 (Jun 21, 2013)
- added support for Pro Tools 11
- licenser update: fixes and new features
- fixed automation with VST3 offline processing

Version 2.3 (Apr 05, 2013)
- otimized performance
- fixed issues with possible high CPU load
- fixed Avid related issue in Pro Tools 10 that could lead to sporadic crashes
- fixed issue that could lead to values jumping in Ableton Live

Version 2.2.3 (Feb 25, 2013)
- fixed presets

Version 2.2.2 (Jan 16, 2013)
- added support for high resolution displays (e.g. Apple Retina)
- licenser: improved Pro Tools activation

Version 2.2.1 (Oct 31, 2012)
- fixed presets
- fixed potential TDM automation issue under Mac OS
- licenser: minor fixes
- licenser: fixed activation issue under Mac OS 10.5 / Pro Tools 8
- licenser: fixed potential crash in online activation under Mac OS
- licenser: fixed issues with USB stick activation
- licenser: fixed file handling with offline activation
- change company string to Plugin Alliance

Version 2.2 (Jun 22, 2012)
- licenser update: added toolbar and USB activation
- fixed response issues in AU format

Version 2.1.2 (Mar 21, 2012)
- fixed licensing issue with trials turned into NFRs
- fixed AAX pagetables for hardware controllers
- fixed AAX issues and crashes with Icon controller
- fixed noise problem when using AudioSuite(AAX) format
- fixed AAX GUI issue - now reacts to first mouse click
- fixed GUI issue with AudioFinder - now reacts to single clicks
- minor GUI fixes

Version 2.1.1 (Jan 27, 2012)
- fixed crashes with AAX plugins

- fixed licensing with Venue
- fixed stuttering or distorted audio with NFR licenses
- minor fixes in licenser
- added feature to insert email address into login field by default

Version 2.1.0 (Jan 2, 2012)
- added 64-bit support (VST, VST3, AU)
- added AAX Native format
- added host factory presets
- added Plugin Alliance licenser

Version 2.0.3 (Mar 21, 2011)
- maintenance changes

Version 2.0.2 (Dez 2, 2010)
- maintenance changes

Version 2.0.1 (Jun 25, 2010)
- fixed high CPU load
- fixed processing issues

Version 2.0 (Jan 28, 2010)
- Release version