Dangerous Music have announced a limited-edition run of one of their discontinued devices, the S&M (Sum and Minus), a Mid-Side processing matrix that was much loved by mixing and mastering engineers.
The S&M 20th Anniversary Limited Edition is equipped with line-level stereo inputs and outputs placed either side of Mid-Side encoding and decoding matrices. Between the matrices sits an insert send and return path, allowing the encoded Mid and Sides signals to be routed to different outboard units in order to process the two signal elements separately. Upon returning to the S&M, the signals are then decoded back into standard left/right stereo and delivered to the unit’s output.
The front panel offers just two controls: an Engage button and a Width control. The former is simply a bypass switch that switches the unit’s circuitry in and out, while the latter offers -4 to 6 dB of balance control between the Mid and Sides signals in 0.5dB increments, providing adjustment over the signal’s stereo width.
Key Specs
As you’d expect from Dangerous Music, the unit is manufactured to incredibly high standards and boasts some impressive technical specifications:
- Frequency Response: ±0.1dB from 1Hz to 100kHz
- THD + Noise: <0.002%
- Sum and Minus channel separation: -78dB
- Width control accuracy: ±0.02dBu
- Dynamic Range: 108dB
Only 100 units have been produced, all under the watchful eye of Dangerous Music co-founder Chris Muth, with each bearing his signature and shipping with a numbered, metal, credit card-style certificate of authenticity.
Pricing & Availability
The S&M 20th Anniversary Limited Edition is available now, priced at $1999.
