Poll: Opinions re best panning law to use

I prefer -3dB center, sin/cos taper, constant power, as it sounds like all the good consoles I've worked on. Benefits are that I'm used to a pan pot behaving like that, and so don't have to adjust relative values as I would with the default setting.

Gary:
educate me here - What is Active Panning?

-D

Unless you're doing active panning - e.g. changing panning during playback, it doesn't matter one little bit which panning law you choose. It's totally a non-issue.

But it's a MAJOR issue if you collaborate with non-Sonar users. A mix you did in Sonar can sound completely different if loaded into a sequencer that defaults to a different panning law. Worst case is you'll get distortion if you choose the option that boosts the left and right channels rather than drops the center.

I wrote an article about panning laws in the April 2005 issue of EQ magazine that answers a lot of these questions. You can read the online version at:
http://www.eqmag.com/story.asp?sectioncode=41&storycode=7672

Hope y'all find it helpful.

ORIGINAL: Anderton

Unless you're doing active panning - e.g. changing panning during playback, it doesn't matter one little bit which panning law you choose. It's totally a non-issue.

But it's a MAJOR issue if you collaborate with non-Sonar users. A mix you did in Sonar can sound completely different if loaded into a sequencer that defaults to a different panning law. Worst case is you'll get distortion if you choose the option that boosts the left and right channels rather than drops the center.

I wrote an article about panning laws in the April 2005 issue of EQ magazine that answers a lot of these questions. You can read the online version at:
http://www.eqmag.com/story.asp?sectioncode=41&storycode=7672

Hope y'all find it helpful.

Good call, Craig. I wasn't considering compatibility with other apps. I stand corrected.

Don, my point was that (assuming you're mixing only for yourself and not automating panning) the panning law is irrelevant to the mix per se since levels are set by ear. As Craig correctly pointed out, it quicly becomes relevant when you work with different apps which may use different pan laws.

hi craig,
just wanted to say i realy am enjoying your book mastering with sonar 3.
it realy made alot of things clearer for me.
if anyone here doesnt have it yet they should go and get it it would explain alot of things.
also the sonar power books are good to.
i didnt mean to cut in on this topic but this is the first post i have seen from craig and
wanted to thank him.

i didnt mean to cut in on this topic but this is the first post i have seen from craig and
wanted to thank him.

Well thanks very much! The Sonar book has been quite successful, and because so much of it applies to Sonar 4, it's still doing pretty well. I do post here from time to time when I can, this is a fun forum and I always learn things...and as you probably know I use Sonar a lot.

Speaking of panning laws, I have a theory that some of the "sonic differences" that people hear between different programs is due to different default panning laws. They assume that if they load an OMF project into three of four different hosts, it will sound the same. But as we now know, the panning laws can actually change the sound quite a bit.

Hi think about it everybody
I would say im the reason for the pan law introduction,although they must have forgot about my biggest issue[the useless GAPPING audio engine].I must say it doesnt bother me anymore, i wonder why.



shea

although they must have forgot about my biggest issue[the useless GAPPING audio engine].

I'd love to forget... I've been doing nothing but work on this issue for the last 3-4 months.

ORIGINAL: Ron Kuper [Cakewalk]

although they must have forgot about my biggest issue[the useless GAPPING audio engine].

I'd love to forget... I've been doing nothing but work on this issue for the last 3-4 months.

I'd love to forget... I've been doing nothing but work on this issue for the last 3-4 months.

we'll love you later Ron ;-)
jeff
ps: the suspense is killing me.

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

changing panning during playback, it doesn't matter one little bit which panning law you choose

Is that really true? I thought that using the sin/cos algorithm allowed the stereo image to
be rotated, not simply attenuated .. which is a subtle but spatially important distinction.
jeff

The pan law only effects mono tracks. When a track is stereo the "pan" control is really a balance control, and just turns down either the left or right channel. So no, there is no ability to rotate a stereo image.