hey. So I am doing some voiceover stuff for some Skyrim Mods...  

the problem is, that skyrim needs mono files... well that's not the problem. 

the problem occours when I try and render a mono output. 

Basically I am compressing the vocals, and then using the concrete limiter on the output just to get it right near zero (i have played bethesda games with no sound or music just to hear how they do their voices, they are heavily processed and gated - surprisingly) 

so my concrete limiter is set at -0.5 and my master fader is at 0 

when i render a stereo file. no problems, no clipping nothing.. 

i try and render out a mono file and it is now clipping at the louder parts!  

does anybody know what could be happening? I am using all CW effects. (gate and vx64 on the mixer 1)  

here is the project if anybody wants to see if I am doing something wrong... 

http://www.elijahlucian.c...hlucian-krundlines.omf

This is because of the way the pan laws are set up in Sonar.

Check how yours are configured and play around with the various options.

If this is just a simple vocal track you're dealing with then presumably it's a mono track to start with yes?

yep it is mono to start, i am only using gate, prochannel compression, eq and limiting,

thanks for the advice on panning laws im going to check that out.

The application of panning law in certain operations within Sonar/cakewalk/Xx products has been one of my most despised and idiotically unrecognized flaws in the product line. When I bounce to clip or create a v-vocal clip the audio will sometimes be reduced by 3db depending on panlaw. Dumb. 

Mostly I just work around it by tracking with one of the pan laws that doesn't have that problem (I think it's 0db center/balance control) but I prefer mixing at -3db center most of the time. 

A mono signal when converted from a stereo signal will always be louder when everything is set the same. Your combining 2 channels into one channel. And yes, pan laws play a role in this also

CJ

It's normal to see an increase, at least 3 db, regardless of the pan laws.

One solution would be to set the master bus interleave to mono, route it to a new bus rather than to the main outs, and move your limiter to the new bus. This will guarantee that limiting occurs after the stereo mix has been folded to mono.

Alternatively, you could turn down the gain/trim slider on the master bus by 3db, then set the limiter's brickwall limit to -3db.