Pan Law settings, once and for all..

Its Universal

Normally i think its 0dB

others use -3dB to get more head room for mixing and mastering

others use -3db compensated for mixing/mastering, thats like 0db but you can pan wider and fill the stereo image up with more instruments

the 0dB can pan as well but the more you pan the more you lose the opposite side

I'm just creating an audio to show everyone

its easier that way

OK here

http://idisk.mac.com/myspaceee/Public/PAN%20LAW%20TEST.zip?disposition=download+ 919

Listen to all of them then ask questions

its easier so that way we are all on the same page in questions and answers and opinions

stash

you can also try this test yourself by...

1) Importing the 0dB.m4a File into logic
2) Make sure your pan Law is set to 0dB before you proceed the rest
3) play and get use to the sound and level then change the pan law settings as you go through
4) now set it back to 0dB then pan the channel of the sample to - or + 35
5) Go through all the pan law settings again and Listen to all the level and the stereo image as you go through

now picture what you just heard and think about how your mix is sitting and apply which one works best for you

you can even open your mix if its been pan and mix alright then go through the pan laws and listen to the level chain plus the stereo image changes on panned instruments

stash

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really think pan law settings make the mix "wider" per-se. -3db compensated simply means that Logic dips every channel that lies in the center by 3db. This makes the extreme L and R channels louder in comparison to the center channel. So, its a way to achieve a certain type of sound that could also be done in different ways. For instance, you could simply boost the gain on everything that is panned hard left and right. This would be the typical analog solution. After my fiasco where the pan law settings won't bounce (which I'm still working on), I think I'll stick with 0db and make the compensation myself...

noah, originally analog mixers had no compensation.
everything was ok as long as the music was played back in stereo.
in mono, however the centre signal would increase by 3db and the sides would decrease by -3db. this is called "centre channel build up".
this is why the mono - stereo switch on mixers is important.
(i constantly check the mix between mono/stereo at mixdown.)
this compatibility is still important today. (am radio, fm radio, clock radios etc.)
the way around this is to artificially increase the sides (+3) and dip the middle (-3) of the mixers panpots.
in the daw world as in the analog one, this is for monitoring only.
it's an illusion. and a useful one.
it only effects wot goes to tape/HDD because the pan law is forcing you to compensate when you mix with it on. really, it just saves time checking the mix in mono.
to prove my point, download the demo of elemental audios excellent XL meter plugs.
one of these clearly shows the difference between mid and side signals.
ergo: more side = wider stereo. more mid = narrower image leading to mono.
note: you cannot naturally increase the side signal as this leads to antiphase components which will virtually make the music have no center at all. great for the occasional sfx. hendrix used antiphase on EL a lot to good effect for eg.
there is a lot of mumbo jumbo and misinfo re: this topic.
it is not voodoo, merely slight of hand.
since the early 70s i have always checked mixes in mono, pan-law or no.
footnote: if you think this is confusing, try collapsing a 5.1 mix back to stereo, then mono.........