Element IV Firmware v1.6.0 – Virtual Soundstage and More

Element IV firmware v1.6.0 is now available!

We’ve taken a slower, more diligent development path this summer to resolve minor quirks and implement suggestions received throughout the year. I’ll spare you the tedious details of edge-case bug fixes, but for those curious, each improvement is documented in the changelogs found in Core. Below, we’ll elaborate on the more exciting capabilities unlocked in v1.6.0:

Mixing Tab

Element IV provides a perfect stereo image as-is, while mastering engineers have asked for mid/side controls to aid workflow. Output Offset trims volume for mastering calibration, allowing headphones or monitors to be set to a known reference level.

Virtual Soundstage

Stereo Width can be thought of as a “Virtual Soundstage”, much like moving a set of speakers closer or further apart. A value of 0 produces mono output, 1.0 maintains the original stereo width, and 2.0 expands the soundstage via the following equations:

• Left Channel = Mid + (width * Side)
• Right Channel = Mid – (width * Side)

We considered placing Stereo Width in its own, dedicated tab. However, these features are interlinked. Moving the width slider away from stereo (1.0) forces selection of the “Stereo Width” mode. Likewise,  choosing any other mode forces stereo width back to 1.0.

Try it out and let us know what you think!

Volume Tab

Some have asked for the ability to adjust volume through Core. To do so safely, firmware now supports reading volume or applying volume changes. Volume adjustments are made using “volume deltas” at the firmware level to ensure that no one can accidentally set an unexpected volume.

Element IV’s knob is still preferred, but this capability makes it possible for you to make volume adjustments when the knob is out of reach.