Mixing tracks as fake stereo. Is this a fault?

[aliclk]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the community, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes about posting a thread.

I have a project recorded six years ago in Cubase 5, and recently, I decided to mix it. Many of the tracks (channels) I originally recorded in mono were exported by Cubase 5 as fake stereo. Despite this, I moved the project to Pro Tools for mixing. I processed several channels, including bass guitar, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar. However, when I reached the vocals, I realized I had been working in stereo until now (a bit late, I know). More importantly, I ran most signals, including vocals, through iZotope RX and Melodyne (working as standalone), obtaining fake stereo signals and then mixing them again.

My question is whether it's wrong to mix these originally mono signals as fake stereo. If so, how can I convert these channels back to mono without losing my mix (the split into mono method seems unnecessary)?

Has anyone intentionally worked with mono channels as fake stereo? If so, why did you choose this method, or why shouldn't it be preferred?

This project is for my thesis, and that's why I'm putting so much thought into it.

[albee1952]

Welcome aboard! If by "fake stereo" you mean a track that is exactly the same on left and right(dual mono), then it will sound like a mono track. This happens a lot with audio files from Logic and GarageBand. My preference is to use the "Split to Mono" option and keep one mono track, then hide(make inactive) or delete the other mono and original "stereo" tracks, just to keep the session tidy. Even after your Melodyne and RX work, if you committed those, you can probably do as I described above(split and delete what you don't need). This is assuming there was no actual stereo effect added to the audio file. There really is no "problem" with treating(mixing) those tracks just as you would with a mono track, except that it might cause you to mix too hot(a fake stereo track will sum a bit hotter than a mono track).

As this is for your thesis, will the session be looked at? If yes, then I would probably do a lot of "housecleaning" before handing it over. I would split to mono(this will require you to redo your panning) and clean out all the "garbage". I would also rename tracks AND audio files so things are neat and clear(tracks that are chopped up into lots of smaller clips would get consolidated before the file renaming). when I do this(consolidate and rename), I often duplicate the Playlist first and then consolidate the duplicate(leaving the original chopped up track hidden away, but still available, just in case....)

[_JJ_]

Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean by "fake stereo" but if you like the sound of your mix then don't change it now because of some perceived rule. There kinda are no rules.

I do know that many DAWs export mono tracks as stereo tracks for some reason. And there's a great app called StereoMonoizer which can tell you if an interleaved audio file has any stereo content or is indeed dual-mono. If it's not really stereo you can split the track in PT, delete one side, and work with it as a mono track.

(albee beat me to it with a better answer...)

[Darryl Ramm]

^^^ and if that is not it. Do you have the original Cubase 5 sessions? If so why not go back to them and output the mono tracks as mono. You can get a free trial of Cubase if needed.

[aliclk]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Welcome aboard! If by "fake stereo" you mean a track that is exactly the same on left and right(dual mono), then it will sound like a mono track. This happens a lot with audio files from Logic and GarageBand. My preference is to use the "Split to Mono" option and keep one mono track, then hide(make inactive) or delete the other mono and original "stereo" tracks, just to keep the session tidy. Even after your Melodyne and RX work, if you committed those, you can probably do as I described above(split and delete what you don't need). This is assuming there was no actual stereo effect added to the audio file. There really is no "problem" with treating(mixing) those tracks just as you would with a mono track, except that it might cause you to mix too hot(a fake stereo track will sum a bit hotter than a mono track).

As this is for your thesis, will the session be looked at? If yes, then I would probably do a lot of "housecleaning" before handing it over. I would split to mono(this will require you to redo your panning) and clean out all the "garbage". I would also rename tracks AND audio files so things are neat and clear(tracks that are chopped up into lots of smaller clips would get consolidated before the file renaming). when I do this(consolidate and rename), I often duplicate the Playlist first and then consolidate the duplicate(leaving the original chopped up track hidden away, but still available, just in case....)

Split into mono was the first method that came to my mind as well, but I was afraid of losing data from the original mono signal this way. Because Cubase converted a lossless mono signal into a lossless stereo signal. Wouldn't cutting one side of this signal result in data loss? By the way, thank you very much for your interest.

Originally Posted by _JJ_

Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean by "fake stereo" but if you like the sound of your mix then don't change it now because of some perceived rule. There kinda are no rules.

I do know that many DAWs export mono tracks as stereo tracks for some reason. And there's a great app called StereoMonoizer which can tell you if an interleaved audio file has any stereo content or is indeed dual-mono. If it's not really stereo you can split the track in PT, delete one side, and work with it as a mono track.

(albee beat me to it with a better answer...)

Sorry about that I mean dual mono. I tried the Split into Mono method, and there is a 2 dB drop on the VU meter. Actually, this is not too significant, but I am concerned about experiencing other losses when using only one side of the signal (for example, a lower-quality signal that I may not recognize with my hardware). Thank you for your reply. The mix sounds good in its current state btw.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

^^^ and if that is not it. Do you have the original Cubase 5 sessions? If so why not go back to them and output the mono tracks as mono. You can get a free trial of Cubase if needed.

I have the original session actually. The problem is I already processed those signals with RX and Melodyne while working standalone. Thank you for advice.

[smurfyou]

No you will not lose quality if you split into Mono.

It is not a "fault" to do this, just a hassle. For instance panning.

But if you have a mix as you like it, just leave it. Not hurting anything.

[aliclk]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

No you will not lose quality if you split into Mono.

It is not a "fault" to do this, just a hassle. For instance panning.

But if you have a mix as you like it, just leave it. Not hurting anything.

Okay thank you so much.

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by _JJ_

...there's a great app called StereoMonoizer which can tell you if an interleaved audio file has any stereo content or is indeed dual-mono....

^^^^This. Anytime I get a batch of files to mix from the outside world (esp if they've come from Logic) the first thing I do is dump 'em into StereoMonoizer to check 'em - there's *always* stereo tracks with mono content.

[aliclk]

Originally Posted by Rich Breen

^^^^This. Anytime I get a batch of files to mix from the outside world (esp if they've come from Logic) the first thing I do is dump 'em into StereoMonoizer to check 'em - there's *always* stereo tracks with mono content.

I solved the issue by using only one side of the dual mono signal.

After selecting the channels that should be mono, I saved them to another location using the 'save copy in' method. For each channel, I obtained two wav files and imported one of them back into the project.

Then I performed gain staging again for each clip (using the previous settings). Afterward, I repanned all of them.

The only issue is that there's approximately a 3 dB drop when using only one side of the dual mono signal. However, this can be easily resolved.

Thank you all again for your interest.

[JFreak]

If every track drops 3dB you only get 3dB more headroom