panning drums hard right and bass hard left (1 Viewer)

[pissypants]

why is it that doubling a track and panning them left and right sounds different to one track in the middle? the single track is still coming out through both headphones.

It's louder in the middle because if you have 2 tracks with the same audio panned into the middle they are both going to both speakers instead of one each, therefor double* the power. This is despite the fact that most desks are designed to have about a 4db dip in loudness at centre panning to compensate for this. It's still a few db louder this way.

*Yes I know it's strictly not strictly "double" because dB is logarithmic, but you get the gist.

Is that what you mean?

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

It's louder in the middle because if you have 2 tracks with the same audio panned into the middle they are both going to both speakers instead of one each, therefor double* the power. This is despite the fact that most desks are designed to have about a 4db dip in loudness at centre panning to compensate for this. It's still a few db louder this way.

*Yes I know it's strictly not strictly "double" because dB is logarithmic, but you get the gist.

Is that what you mean?

no, i was talking about the difference between one single track panned in the centre and and the same track double up and panned hard left and right. maybe i am failing to take into consideration some of the things ogy mentioned. i dont have access to my studio these days to experiment. our band has a new album and i doubled up a guitar track and panned it left and right (like 18 months ago or something) and now i regret it because it sounds like a guitar track doubled up and panned left and right rather than one bigger guitar but i dont understand why, differences in volume aside, doubling and panning makes it sound like a guitar track on the left and another on the right while one single track panned to the middle would sound like a guitar in front even though the the same thing is coming out both sides regardless of the panning and track count. i must have put effects or offset one track or something i suppose... its no big deal.

 

[Beanstalk]

i doubled up a guitar track and panned it left and right and now i regret it because it sounds like a guitar track doubled up and panned left and right

I know what you mean, but this still made me chuckle!

 

[Green Goblin]

I was thinking this earlier listening to The Doors. Cream are like this too.

I don't get why they don't fix them up for the CD versions? It's a fairly basic thing I could do myself if I wasn't so lazy.

 

[Unicron]

It's louder in the middle because if you have 2 tracks with the same audio panned into the middle they are both going to both speakers instead of one each, therefor double* the power. This is despite the fact that most desks are designed to have about a 4db dip in loudness at centre panning to compensate for this. It's still a few db louder this way.

*Yes I know it's strictly not strictly "double" because dB is logarithmic, but you get the gist.

Is that what you mean?

Was doing some stuff in Audacity yesterday and was having trouble with getting percussion to sit nicely with the guitar part. Then I remembered this post so I tried out doubling the guitar and hard panning them.

I don't think I have anything sitting in the middle at this point.