Ok,hopefully someone can help me with this.When mixing,I have trouble setting levels (or levels I trust) because of my monitoring set up.I use mostly headphones(sennheiser HD 650’s) as the room I mix in is untreated and just generally unsuitable for judging any kind of mix decision.Its impossible for me to rectify this situation right now so headphones are the only option.Now setting levels in headphones can be quite tricky.I do however have a single Avantone Mix cube which is used for referencing in mono and is a speaker that focuses on the mid range.For me personally,i find setting levels on this is a breeze compared to headphones or 2 speakers,as there is no phantom image due to there being a single speaker.The only problem is,when a stereo mix is summed to mono,the volume of anything that isnt panned up the centre changes volume by a few db(the amount being dependent on the pan law selected).What i have been thinking of doing is leaving everything panned up the middle and setting levels,doing most of the eq,compression etc and then finally panning.Im looking for the pan law that puts out the same volume no matter where anything is panned.So basically i can set my levels with everything panned centre and through a single speaker,then when i pan something its volume wont change.Ill be doing the panning in stereo.Is this even possible? By using a sine wave test generator i have sent signals from a mono channel to a stereo buss and have been checking the levels,with the meters set to ‘post panner’.When the pan law is set to Odb the meters always read the same output no matter where anything is panned,but it seems louder in the centre.Now with it set to -3db there is a 3db difference in the meters output but it sounds roughly the same when panning across.Which one is the best to go for here or is it really just a pointless excercise?Thanks in advance.
I’m going to try and explain( My version - forgive me if I’m wrong). Pan laws is a technical thing. Science tells us that If you play a sound thru 2 speakers it should be 6bB’s louder than playing it thru one. Please note this is only in a perfect world. With no room interference. So pan laws are normally set according to the quality of your room. Some of the best mixing rooms in the world get away with a value of 4.5. Lesser quality mixing rooms should be ok with a value of 3.
Keep in mind, That you should set the pan law, and mix into it. Nothing will happen if you change to value afterwards. At the end of day you are responsible for setting the level…
On getting better levels. This is a tip from Andrew Scheps. When you eq or set compression settings, do it as loud as possible… When u balance do It as soft as possible… Fletcher Munson. There is no gain working at a level in the middle. Like the 85 or 85 dB SPL thing. Try it. As soft as possible. You can verify your levels by changing your master output to mono or step out of the room… If always takes a bit of trial and error… Eventually you will trust them…