Craig Anderton
Well-known member
When listening on headphones, level imbalances between the left and right channels are more noticeable. Level imbalances can happen for a variety of reasons, but a major one is room acoustics, which can cause one monitor's output to sound louder than the other. You can get all the way through the mix and into the Mastering page before noticing the issue, because the RMS reading in the Mastering page's Loudness Information reveals the disparity.
Inserting a panpot in the mastering signal chain can help compensate for this. In the top part of the screenshot, the left channel’s average RMS level is 2 dB softer than the right channel. This may be what the artist wants. However, it could instead indicate a problem with the mix, where the overall sound isn’t centered properly. In the lower part of the screenshot, the Dual Pan plug-in trades off some of the stronger channel to the weaker channel.
Panning the right channel more toward the left increases the left channel's level, while decreasing the right channel's level. Note how the RMS values for the two channels are now matched within 1/10th of a dB. Also, the True Peak values are closer as well.
However, always mix or master based on what you hear, not numbers. If you set up Dual Pan to balance the channels, compare the sound when enabled or bypassed before deciding the more balanced mix is better.
Inserting a panpot in the mastering signal chain can help compensate for this. In the top part of the screenshot, the left channel’s average RMS level is 2 dB softer than the right channel. This may be what the artist wants. However, it could instead indicate a problem with the mix, where the overall sound isn’t centered properly. In the lower part of the screenshot, the Dual Pan plug-in trades off some of the stronger channel to the weaker channel.
Panning the right channel more toward the left increases the left channel's level, while decreasing the right channel's level. Note how the RMS values for the two channels are now matched within 1/10th of a dB. Also, the True Peak values are closer as well.
However, always mix or master based on what you hear, not numbers. If you set up Dual Pan to balance the channels, compare the sound when enabled or bypassed before deciding the more balanced mix is better.