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Julia22307392hppc
Participant
December 18, 2021
Answered

HOW MUCH do I need to pan two independent mono tracks

  • December 18, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 488 views

Hello dear community,


Could need some help. My recordings are by default two indepentend mono tracks that are supposed to make a stereo file. In editing though, I am not sure how much I should pan them on the right and left. What is the standard here? Eg, say, L20 and R20 or something similar?

 

The two mono tracks were recorded by a Audio-Technice BP 4025 and a Zoom H5 in multi file mode, that's why they are indepentend mono tracks.
It's interview files, so voices and atmosphere. I don't know if that is of any concern, but I intend to give them to a radio station. Maybe they have different standards than stereo panning for other purposes.

Hope that is clear.
Thanks a lot in advance!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer SteveG_AudioMasters_

There is no fixed standard, but in general you wouldn't ever pan a single voice hard to one side or the other. The places that it makes most difference are radio stations broadcasting in mono - they are the ones that need to keep signals so that if they are reduced to a single channel, everything's still audible. Any station broadcasting on medium or short wave has this issue to contend with. You generally get acceptable results in stereo if you don't pan any further than about 80% left or right, but often you don't want to go anywhere near that far. Ideally if you can get it to sound sensible on a pair of loudspeakers and headphones, you'll be okay.

1 reply

SteveG_AudioMasters_
Community Expert
SteveG_AudioMasters_Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
December 18, 2021

There is no fixed standard, but in general you wouldn't ever pan a single voice hard to one side or the other. The places that it makes most difference are radio stations broadcasting in mono - they are the ones that need to keep signals so that if they are reduced to a single channel, everything's still audible. Any station broadcasting on medium or short wave has this issue to contend with. You generally get acceptable results in stereo if you don't pan any further than about 80% left or right, but often you don't want to go anywhere near that far. Ideally if you can get it to sound sensible on a pair of loudspeakers and headphones, you'll be okay.

    J
    Julia22307392hppcAuthor
    Participant
    December 20, 2021

    Hi @SteveG_AudioMasters_,

    Thanks a lot! This answers my questions perfectly.

    But for my being not an especially skilled or advanced editor, could you tell me to what 80 % translates in Audition? It's not percentage in Audition but some kind of a factor, right?!

    Sorry to bother you, just want to be sure that I don't get it wrong. There is still so much I don't know...

    SteveG_AudioMasters_
    Community Expert
    SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 20, 2021

    No, it's a percentage - it's scaled to 100. If you rotate a multitrack pan control, it goes from L100 (fully left) through 0 (centre) to R100 (fully right). All I'm suggesting is that you don't need to go any further than L80 or R80 for this specific purpose.

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