when i import an audio file into a project i cannot tell if the file is stereo or mono cubase shows as a single track with a two audio files ie left and right but a lot of these files i guess are mono but become a stereo image and the two parts are summed, ie twice the volume ,if i split the file to seperate tracks i can invert the phase of one track and if the result is no sound i take this as meaning that the track is mono, i don’t know if this is correct can anybody tell me if this is correct or if not how i should decide if the track is mono or stereo
I believe the 2nd part of your statement is correct, in that the two signals would be identical if they sum to zero. But I don’t know how they could also sound like a stereo image when played (without separate processing of the L/R side of the track) …?
yes my question is what is the the correct way of knowing how the audio was recorded ie stereo or mono,the problem is i have recieved multi audio tracks from other musicians for mixing, when i import these into cubase and play as multi tracks the balance is very bad, and i have noticed that tracks that i would have expected to be mono such as bass show as a doubled image and so dominate the mix ie far to loud , should i change the way i import these files or continue and check each file after importing into cubase, i can also spot stereo files by zooming in on the events and see that the upper and lower (l/r) audio images are different, i would like to know if i am dealing with these audio files correctly as i tend to learn things by trial and error and i have found in the past that this can cause problems later on when mixing down to cd.
If a mono file has been recorded into a stereo interleaved track then you can just treat it the same as a mono track.
All you would need to do is to reduce the level to balance everything. But that’s what mixing is about really. I wouldn’t expect to import a bunch of files from other people and have a good balance with all the faders at unity!
yes i agree with you i could reduce the volume by half on affected tracks but by doing this your starting point on the the faders are getting to the lower half and are no so sensitive,also i like like to listen to the tracks at the level they were supplied and percieved as a good balance, so i get a ballpark sound of what is expected for example dominant drums or bass
Drop the part fade handles down 3dB or turn the Channel gain down 3dB or Export/Import checking mono mixdown and import to pool/project or drag the dual mono part onto a mono track and apply one of the first two approaches.