Pan Depth

[jrtme]

Below This is the part on Pan Depth in the PT 9 What's New? Manual.

Here is the question I used a 4.5 pan depth for mixes I did. I did mix stems.

So on playback in PT 9 my mixes are 4.5 pan depth.

That is fine.

I took them to a 7.4 HD system. To have have them run through an analog console (specific SSL 4000 G+) Mostly for use of the Bus Comp unit.

Since the sessions are now in 7.4HD the pan width is back to 2.5. When I pan them hard left and hard right output to say 1 and 2 on the console am I getting the full left to go to channel 1 on the SSL and the full right to go to channel 2 on the ssl. Or do you i have to split them to mono first before I send them through the console and use the panning on the console?



Variable Stereo Pan Depth
Pro Tools 9.0 lets you select the pan depth for
stereo output paths. You can set the Pan Depth
in the Session Setup window. The Pan Depth setting lets you set the amount of signal attenuation when a track is routed to a stereo output
and panned to center.
To set the stereo pan depth:
1 Choose Setup > Session to open the Session
Setup window.
2 Select the desired option from the Pan Depth
selector.
Assigning a track output to an existing Auxiliary Input
track
Session Setup window
The Pan Depth setting is a session setting,
which is stored with and recalled from the
session (rather than the system).
On Pro Tools|HD systems only, if the Stereo
Mixer plug-in is installed in the Plug-ins
folder, the Pan Depth setting defaults to
–2.5 dB and cannot be changed. Move the
Stereo Mixer plug-in to the Plug-ins (Unused) folder to be able to change the Pan
Depth setting.
Session Setup windowChapter 3: Mixing and Recording Features and Enhancements 15
The following Pan Depth options are available:
–2.5 This is the standard stereo pan depth setting in Pro Tools 8.x and lower. When opening
Pro Tools 8.x or lower session in Pro Tools 9.0 or
higher, this is the default option.
–3.0 This is the industry standard for surround
mixers and many consoles. This is the default
setting for new Pro Tools 9.0 sessions.
–4.5 This is the standard for many British analog consoles.
–6.0 This is the standard for full mono compatibility.

[daeron80]

Things that are panned hard left or right will have exactly the same level. Things panned anywhere between the extremes will have greater level. Mono tracks panned center, e.g., will be 2 dB louder. You'll need to adjust by ear anyway, since the analog channels will be affecting transients and adding a bit of grit, and the bus comp will be messing with your perception of all the levels.

They make an RTAS version of the SSL bus comp. Does that just not quite do it for you?

[slater05]

Once they're recorded to stems and you just pan them hard left/right then I don't think it should make a big difference. But why don't you have you're pan depth at -2.5db or whatever it is set to in 7.4 on sessions that you know for sure that you will be taking it to the studio to sum through the SSL.

Just a thought.

[daeron80]

Yeah, that's right. If it's all stereo stems, panning should all be hard left-right, which means no difference in levels due to pan law.