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Panning in Ableton: Sounds Not Performing Properly in Headphones?
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| cenik |
Hi guys.
I have two sound files (wav drum loops) setup in Live 7 in the arrangement window: in terms of panning, one is set completely to the left (50L) and the other completely to the right (50R). When I solo the sound that is panned to the left I hear the sample just fine, although I hear it through both the left and right headphones; when I solo the sound that is panned to the right I can hardly hear anything (there is a barely audible sound playing through both sides of the cans). Can someone explain to me why this is the case, i.e., why I am not hearing the sounds as they should be playing as per my panning settings? I'm using Live 7, an AudioFire 4 sound-card, and a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs cans. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Edit: to make this easier: if I pan just one sound file completely to the left the sound plays fully through both sides of the cans; if I pan fully to the right the sound plays very quietly through both sides of the cans. |
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| derail |
| To me it sounds like a stereo panner on a mono channel. Left is the generally accepted mono channel on hardware. Check all the variables - are the WAV drum loops mono or stereo? Are they on mono or stereo tracks? Are there any other processors in the chain? Switch the audio clips over onto each other's channels - start as basic as possible and eliminate possibilities one by one. |
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| Zombie0729 |
| is there a mono switch on your headphones? make sure thats off. |
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| cenik |
| quote: | Originally posted by derail
To me it sounds like a stereo panner on a mono channel. Left is the generally accepted mono channel on hardware. Check all the variables - are the WAV drum loops mono or stereo? Are they on mono or stereo tracks? Are there any other processors in the chain? Switch the audio clips over onto each other's channels - start as basic as possible and eliminate possibilities one by one. |
The loops are both stereo. I'm not sure how to check whether they're on stereo or mono tracks.
| quote: | Originally posted by Zombie0729
is there a mono switch on your headphones? make sure thats off. |
I do not believe that there is such a switch. Could my issue be being caused by the fact that my headphones have a connector on the end of the plug? I need the connector in order to be able to connect the headphones to the sound-card, since without it the plug on the headphones (a thick, gold-plated one) is too thick to insert into the headphone jack on the card. I was given the connector by the guy at the music store where I bought the cans. |
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| Khayat |
I dont know but try this maybe:
Under Audio effects/utility/Left drag it on your loops and try to pan them try it and tell us. |
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| Leighton_Tyler |
| how do things sound when u just play a normal mp3 outside of ableton? Make sure that ur connectors are nice and tight, as u said u use a 1/4 inch to mini connector. If its not pushed in all the way (the two connectors or the connection into the audiofire) u might get some funky mono-type effects. |
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| echosystm |
| quote: | Originally posted by cenik
etc. |
you have an audiofire right? what level is the headphone amp knob set to?
at the lower and upper extremes, you will get screw ups in stereo. both my audiofire and m-patch do this. try reducing the volume of the channel in the console and put the amp vol in the middle. |
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| cenik |
The Utility option did not work.
Connectors are all secured well.
Headphone amp is now turned up to the middle and the ANALOG Out1 and Out2 in the Audiofire Console are turned down (to -15dB each).
The problem continues :( |
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| Lucidity |
| First thing you should do is check the meters in ableton. Are the meters telling you it is playing correct? If they are telling you it is correct than it is your headphones, adapter, or soundcard setup. |
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| cenik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lucidity
First thing you should do is check the meters in ableton. Are the meters telling you it is playing correct? If they are telling you it is correct than it is your headphones, adapter, or soundcard setup. |
Yes, the meters do indeed show the sound playing on the right channel when panned right and on the left channel when panned left.
If it helps, I've taken a few screen shots of what may be some relevant settings in Ableton and the AF console:
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| cenik |
| So I decided to try out another pair of headphones (I don't know why I didn't think of this before) and the panning works just fine on those headphones. Obviously, thus, the problem lies with my headphones. The headphones I have are the audio-technica ATH-M40fs studiophones (see here). I know somebody asked where there is a mono switch on the cans but I can't seem to see one (unless I'm simply not looking in the right place). I'm going to send an e-mail to audio-technica and see what they say. I wouldn't imagine that there's a possibility that these headphones simply cannot play panned sounds--that'd just be silly, right? Or maybe the guy at the music store gave me the wrong connector (i.e., one that uses mono only)? |
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| Lucidity |
| I bet its your adapter, does it have 1 or 2 rings? If it is 1 ring then it is a mono adapter, 2 ring is stereo. |
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