A couple questions about M/S aux/bus matrixes

[Jakay]

I've put together a few of them now, but there are a couple of technical details I'm not 100% on.

Now it seems when I send my L&R channel to a mono Mid bus that the signal is doubled, which makes sense, and I think the internal buss structure is such that a bit of clipping isn't really a worry so long as the final out-of-the matrix signal is balanced, but that is nonetheless a small concern of mine.

The next issue is more hidden to me though. So once I've added my L and Rø, I get the cancelling happening, but is the leftover signal also twice as strong? I would think so, so that should all balance out, but when I recombine the two signals, with Mid sent to both out channels and Side being sent opposite phased to each respective out mono channel, I think I'm supposed to reduce those L & R signals by 3db to imitate the pan law. Then take the whole signal down by another 3db.

I mean, it sounds right to me, and either way I'm happy with what I've got coming out, but considering how weak the side can sound sometimes, it's hard to tell by ear if Im reproducing the sound properly.

And lastly, I think I've come up with a variable pan width matrix for independently L/R rich sources (ping pong delay, for example), but how much of the L/R information is truly lost in a regular matrix? It would seem to me that all of it is, and it makes me very hesitant to apply side EQing to my final mix. I don't think I can qualify my variably width matrix as a good idea until I understand a few of these concepts a bit clearer.

I don't necessarily need all of this answered either, but an insight here or there is more than welcome. M/S processes are a bit new to me, and it seems the potential to really mess up the matrix balance is very prevalent.

[john1192]

you could grab the free HOFA M/S plugin and see what it should sound like ... this may give you some of the answers to your questions .. cheers john

[Jakay]

yeah, I suppose I should just bust out some analytics and figure this out for myself.