M-Box and 16 Bit Audio

[gnosticbeast]

Hi All,

I produce music at 24bit with 192 sample rate. I dither down to 44.1
and 16bit. The subsequent WAV files sound perfectly fine in Pro Tools
or something like Sonar Producer (or when I burn to a CD and play back
in a car stereo).

When when I listen to the song using Media Player or some other audio
player, there is a problem with the panning- whatever is panned to the
right decreases in volume instead of moving in stereo. Does that make
sense? Anyway I am using an M-Box mini to playback my 16bit files. If I
plug the speakers into my SB Live and use that as the output device,
everything is fine.

I assume that the M-Box is having trouble playing the 16bit file due to
the panning. However if I listen to any commercial CD using M-Box- I
don't notice the problem. Can anyone help?

Thanks.

Paul

[Abemeister]

I don't think the problem is with the sample rate. I believe you did
not master your recording in stereo.

You took a mono recording and mastered it thinking that you are in
stereo.

On Jan 24, 12:03 pm, "gnosticbeast" >
wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I produce music at 24bit with 192 sample rate. I dither down to 44.1
> and 16bit. The subsequent WAV files sound perfectly fine in Pro Tools
> or something like Sonar Producer (or when I burn to a CD and play back
> in a car stereo).
>
> When when I listen to the song using Media Player or some other audio
> player, there is a problem with the panning- whatever is panned to the
> right decreases in volume instead of moving in stereo. Does that make
> sense? Anyway I am using an M-Box mini to playback my 16bit files. If I
> plug the speakers into my SB Live and use that as the output device,
> everything is fine.
>
> I assume that the M-Box is having trouble playing the 16bit file due to
> the panning. However if I listen to any commercial CD using M-Box- I
> don't notice the problem. Can anyone help?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Paul

[gnosticbeast]

On Jan 24, 10:33 am, "Abemeister" > wrote:
> I don't think the problem is with the sample rate. I believe you did
> not master your recording in stereo.
>
> You took a mono recording and mastered it thinking that you are in
> stereo.
>

I thought about this also, but I've done it probably a hundred times
with different "bounce" and "export" settings. While in Sonar 4, I
"bounce" to a single stereo track. EQ, etc. Then I "export" as a Stero
WAV file.

It probably is a simple problem to solve, but I hope I haven't been
that dumb to overlook the Stereo aspect.

Are there any other ways to check this? Stereo Panning laws or
anything?

Thanks.
Paul

[Abemeister]

I ran into that with Cubase also.

The problem was how I created the original recording. I was not
panning my instruments and audio properly.

When you mix down, make sure your have the tracks panned correctly.

Another problem I had was the way my soundcard was configured. Windows
did not work properly until I downloaded the proper DSP drivers for my
card. This was my EMU card. The Mia Midi worked fine.

I am very interested in knowing what happened. I will look at my system
to see if I can duplicate your problem.


On Jan 24, 1:40 pm, "gnosticbeast" > wrote:
> On Jan 24, 10:33 am, "Abemeister" > wrote:
>
> > I don't think the problem is with the sample rate. I believe you did
> > not master your recording in stereo.
>
> > You took a mono recording and mastered it thinking that you are in
> > stereo.I thought about this also, but I've done it probably a hundred times
> with different "bounce" and "export" settings. While in Sonar 4, I
> "bounce" to a single stereo track. EQ, etc. Then I "export" as a Stero
> WAV file.
>
> It probably is a simple problem to solve, but I hope I haven't been
> that dumb to overlook the Stereo aspect.
>
> Are there any other ways to check this? Stereo Panning laws or
> anything?
>
> Thanks.
> Paul

[gnosticbeast]

On Jan 24, 11:27 am, "Abemeister" > wrote:
> I ran into that with Cubase also.
>
> The problem was how I created the original recording. I was not
> panning my instruments and audio properly.
>
> When you mix down, make sure your have the tracks panned correctly.
>
> Another problem I had was the way my soundcard was configured. Windows
> did not work properly until I downloaded the proper DSP drivers for my
> card. This was my EMU card. The Mia Midi worked fine.
>
> I am very interested in knowing what happened. I will look at my system
> to see if I can duplicate your problem.
>

Glad to hear from you Abemeister. I have been looking around for info
on the web regarding the M-Box Mini and it's drivers, but from what I
can see it should be fine with the default drivers that come with it.
All the tracks are Panned using envelopes so I don't think the issue is
that. What is so strange is that when I play either the 16 bit final
mix THRU a Sound Blaster Card it sounds fine, but when I play the same
mix THRU the M-BOX- no dice.

[Abemeister]

I do have that problem with the EMU too.

When I get in my studio, I am going to test this.



On Jan 24, 3:34 pm, "gnosticbeast" > wrote:
> On Jan 24, 11:27 am, "Abemeister" > wrote:
>
> > I ran into that with Cubase also.
>
> > The problem was how I created the original recording. I was not
> > panning my instruments and audio properly.
>
> > When you mix down, make sure your have the tracks panned correctly.
>
> > Another problem I had was the way my soundcard was configured. Windows
> > did not work properly until I downloaded the proper DSP drivers for my
> > card. This was my EMU card. The Mia Midi worked fine.
>
> > I am very interested in knowing what happened. I will look at my system
> > to see if I can duplicate your problem.Glad to hear from you Abemeister. I have been looking around for info
> on the web regarding the M-Box Mini and it's drivers, but from what I
> can see it should be fine with the default drivers that come with it.
> All the tracks are Panned using envelopes so I don't think the issue is
> that. What is so strange is that when I play either the 16 bit final
> mix THRU a Sound Blaster Card it sounds fine, but when I play the same
> mix THRU the M-BOX- no dice.