Stereo Mix Track vs. Separate L & R Tracks

[Gtr65]

I'm trying to understand the difference between a track that records a stereo mix of Sends 1 & 2, panned Center, versus two tracks of the same mix, with Send 1 routed to one track and panned hard left, and Send 2 routed to the other and panned hard right.

Is the same stereo separation being achieved both ways?

Is there any advantage to employing one method over the other?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[TONDOG64]

If you pan the mono tracks hard left and right the output will be stereo just as you would expect from a true stereo track. I don't know why one would bother having the same recording on two different tracks unless you have some need to do something different with each side. It makes more sense and uses less of everything to have it on one stereo track.

[Gtr65]

Originally Posted by TONDOG64

If you pan the mono tracks hard left and right the output will be stereo just as you would expect from a true stereo track. I don't know why one would bother having the same recording on two different tracks unless you have some need to do something different with each side. It makes more sense and uses less of everything to have it on one stereo track.

Thanks, Tony. I guess what I'm not quite understanding is the concept of a single stereo track; that is, a single track containing two separate wave forms, panned center, yet yielding slightly different signals to the Master left & right channels, thus preserving its stereo mix.

[TONDOG64]

Originally Posted by Gtr65

I guess what I'm not quite understanding is the concept of a single stereo track; that is, a single track containing two separate wave forms, panned center, yet yielding slightly different signals to the Master left & right channels, thus preserving its stereo mix.

It sounds to me that you understand it quite well.

[Gtr65]

Originally Posted by TONDOG64

It sounds to me that you understand it quite well.

Believe me, it was a lucky guess!

[Staccato]

Having a left and a right does not make a track stereo by any means. True stereo is recorded with two seperate sound sources. If you use identical input (one sound source) on both the left and right, you still have mono.

[Yaz]

Say you record an instrument with 'wet' sound such as a guitar with stereo chorus or ping pong delay. 1 stereo wave panned to the left in the mix would decrease sound levels of any signal recorded on the right side of the stereo wave file. thus 2 seperate waves with "wet" effects could be panned to the left say -60 and -40 thus preserving the stereo effect applied to the instrument but panned left.

The same could be applied on a dry signal such as doubling a weak vocal. 2 seperate waves one can be offset and panned differently from the other to create a fatter vocal.