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which pan law -3db or -3db compensated


tokolosh

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Forgive this ham-handed explaination.

Pan Law is the rule applied to the 'pan' on a channels attenuation of volume. To compensate for Unity (0) being reproduced perceptively louder then a pan left or right (-64 or +64). I think logic has a -3db pan law default - but this can be toggled.

 

 

From Wikipedia (i checked as when i read my expaination I lost myself)

So....

Pan Law is a recording and mixing principle that states if one has a stereo signal, then mixes it down to monophonic, any signal of equal amplitude in both channels will increase in level 3dB. Conversely, pan law applies to any monophonic signal that is not panned hard left (all the way to the left) or hard right (all the way to the right). This means that the specific level will change from 0dB to 3dB as the mono signal is panned from center to hard left or right.

Pan Law can have drastic effects on stereo music heard on mono radio broadcasts or TV broadcasts. For example, if you have a stereo mix of a pop song, then sum the channels to mono, and the vocal is in the phantom center channel, the vocal will be 3dB louder than the backing vocals and instruments that were originally isolated in each stereo channel.

Some mixing consoles have an electronic circuit that automatically compensates so that when a signal is panned to mono, it eliminates the 3dB rise.

Pan Law functions can be different in different kinds of mixing consoles and other recording gear. For example, in Digidesign Pro Tools, the pan law is 2.5 dB.

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If you don't use the 3dB compensated, your meters in Logic will be off when things are panned dead center.

The meters are never off, it's the signal itself which is attenuated when centered when using -3dB. The meters faithfully display that attenuation.

 

No pan law is perfect, they are all compromises, you have to find the one that works for you.

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As far as cross compatibility is concerned, use either none or -3dB.

 

It is one notion that the reason why some people complain about certain audio engines not being good as an other is because when these individuals did experience another audio app and its performance, it's Pan Law was set differently.

 

So, if I ever have to shift my project to another platform i just may have a better chance with mix compatibility issues.

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