will the problems ever go away?

oblioblioblio · Post by **oblioblioblio** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:55 pm

analogue components always vary very slightly... one of the hardest things about making high end gear is matching components for stereo.

If you've done everything that's possible with settings, then my guess is that there are 2 chips somewhere at the end of the signal path that have a very small variance.

Just pan it slightly somewhere else to make up for it... in your DAW for example. It won't affect the quality of anything to do that.

Sometimes you get lucky with problems but more often you have to work it out yourself. It sucks though when you're feeling like doing stuff and your machines are not working/dissasembled etc.

oblioblioblio · Post by **oblioblioblio** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:05 pm

i just realised you were talking about the soundcard.... i still reckon it's some "vintage analogue charm" going on. Analogue knobs are not like digital... they're not always dead centre... there should be a little trimmer to calibrate it inside the soundcard. But that might not be accessible without voiding your warrenty. Try a pan setting on the soundcard that isn't centre but gets the right levels for stereo. And if not stop worrying about it an pan in software,

pafufta816 · Post by **pafufta816** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:56 am

cables are the most likely component to malfunction. even new ones might be faulty, as they may have been bent, twisted or pinched before you bought them.

not that this is the problem you are having, but in 90% of equipment issues i've had or seen they turn out to be responsible.

s.k. · Post by **s.k.** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:50 am

pafufta816 wrote:90% of equipment issues i've had or seen they turn out to be responsible.

same here, i would try shorter cables if i were you. engineers might argue that 3m is not that big of a lenght to make a difference in two cables, but in my experience it does. have had the exact same problem like yours, switched to 1.5 meter cables and the difference went away.

but if its a small panning, i say dont bother too. dont look at the soundcard levels, if your ears dont tell you something is obviosly wrong.

Sleazebag · Post by **Sleazebag** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:55 pm

::BLM:: wrote:For some reason the pan knobs on my soundcard don make a difference otherwise I would do that.

I think he means in your DAW.

I have a similar issue with one of my synths. I just pan the mixer channel that it's on to 90 degrees and the L/R signals are balanced.

I've been meaning to solve the problem properly, but that workaround works in my case, so I don't feel any urgency.