Cr8ive Audio is offering The Util for free (normally $9). It’s a utility plugin that brings gain compensation, stereo width control, phase inversion, panning, and bass mono compatibility into a single interface.
If you work with wide synthesized bass patches, you’ve probably run into the problem of having a sound that’s both very bassy and very wide at the same time. These patches sound fantastic, but sometimes getting them to play nicely in your mix can feel like a fantasy.
There are ways around this, though, and making the sub-frequency content mono is a common fix.
That’s where plugins like The Util step in to handle the issue with a bass-to-mono function. You set a frequency threshold, and everything below it gets summed to mono.
This keeps the low end tight and focused without affecting the stereo content above that point.
The same idea applies to full mixes with lots of stereo elements. When you have multiple wide sounds stacked together, phase issues can creep in and eat away at your overall loudness and clarity.
The Util lets you check and manage stereo width across individual tracks, group busses, or the master bus, so you can make sure everything balances properly and translates well across different playback systems.
So, although the plugin itself isn’t groundbreaking, I like how Cr8ive Audio turned it into a simple utility for fixing most stereo and phasing issues.
I also like the interface. The Gain control lets you adjust volume independently from your DAW’s track fader, which is useful if you want to keep your fader purely for overall level while making surgical gain changes inside the plugin.
The Width control adjusts the stereo spread of the signal, and Phase Inversion lets you quickly flip polarity when you need it. Pan rounds out the controls.
One cool aspect here is that The Util separates your static mix balancing from creative automation. Instead of automating your main fader (which can get messy), you can handle volume, width, and pan adjustments inside the plugin and leave the track fader clean.
Where you place The Util in your chain matters, too. Widening a signal before a limiter, for example, will affect how the limiter responds to peaks, which can change the perceived loudness of your master.
The same goes for gain staging. It’s worth experimenting with placement to get the results you want.
The Util is available in AAX, AU, and VST3 formats (64-bit only) for macOS (10.15 or higher, Intel and Apple Silicon) and Windows 10.
Download: The Util by Cr8ive Audio (FREE, normally $9)
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Last Updated on March 14, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
