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I'm experiencing a bit of a channel imbalance with my system , maybe its just me but most recordings sound slightly louder to the right. Is this actually a fact or is it just bad stereo imaging? Could anyone recommend recordings I can use to test my system? Any songs that have a perfect stereo image where the sound from the left and right speaker becomes dead center??
Follow Ups:
Some additional causes of non-central imaging include:1) speaker distance to listener not the same (to within 1cm)
2) dud tweeter or tweeter level on one side. The treble plays a disproportionate role in setting the soundstage. Tweeters can very easily be "half dead" - still function to an extent that you can hear them but not realise that their efficiency has dropped way off due to damage.
Both from personal experience! I have a very asymmetrical listening space and still achieve a quite symmetrical and centred sound stage
Play a mono recording.
I think the first question which needs to be asked is whether or not your room is symmetrical with the speakers placed equidistant from the side walls and the wall behind, the listening position equidistant from the speakers, and no major reflective differences at the early reflection points. If those conditions aren't met, it's quite possible that the off centre image is the result of your room. If the room is at fault, then the image will consistently throw slightly, or perhaps even a great deal in the worst cases, to one side of centre.David Aiken
Of course there is no perfect. Mono recordings will let you check your system balance, they should be dead center. If they are not electronics AND the room need to be "right". Good luck.
...there are a couple of Diana Krall cuts I am very familiar with and use as references.Her voice is very well recorded and should be directly in the center and not move.
I suspect that's the caes on most of her songs, but i recommend these:
"Peel Me a Grape" from 'Love Scenes'.
"I've Got You Under My Skin" from 'When I Look in Your Eyes'.
Suggest playing pink noise with equal L/R levels from a test disc and measuring voltage at your speaker terminals. If you don't get the same reading on both channels, work your way backwards up the signal chain to identify where the imbalance occurs.If you get the same voltage reading, then your problem relates to speaker placement or room acoustics. At least then you'll know where to apply your efforts.
...with correlated pink noise.Even mono recordings have two channels, assuming you're using stereo gear (it's different if you have, say, a mono cartridge on a record player). So you need to make completely sure the two channels have the same signal level--otherwise you can't be sure about the test.
Most--maybe all--of Stereophile's 3 test CD's have "channel-phasing" tracks.
True, some mono recordings will sound exactly the same in both channels and provide a dead center image. However, this depends on the miking technique used during the recording. Don't fall into the "mono" trap to tweak your channel balance. Many mono recordings will present the image left or right of center.
...and therefore produce a central image as phase and amplitude is the same. There is no "miking technique". Are you confusing a recording of a single instrument with mono?
If one speaker plays louder than the other the one-point mono center image can be somewhat off center, but there will be no left to right soundstage unless some unusual room reflections distort the typical mono "one-point" image. OF COURSE AN AUDIOPHILE CAN IMAGINE HEARING ALMOST ANYTHING IF HIS BRAIN COOPERATES.
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Richard BassNut Greene
Subjective Audiophile 2007
and the drummer in the middle. Bass player on right, singer towards rear. I can hear that placement on mono recordings played back on stereo speakers. If you can't, then I perhaps you need to listen some more. It's very easy to hear because each band member lays down their contribution at a distinct db level. So, if the guitar player is louder, you should be able note that the sound is NOT from the center.
I emailed you through asylum mail.
.. if you think that you can hear a drummer in the middle and a bass player on the right from a mono recording. Your equipment may be poorly set up in relation to the room so that maybe some room reflections in the bass region give you the impression that the bass is coming from the right. If you check on headphones and still hear stereo from mono then please see an audiologist. A singer to the rear is fine conceptually as mono will provide depth if not width information.However a mono recording correctly produced in a stereo system can ONLY (repeat ONLY) provide a precise central image (albeit with the potential of a sense of depth). Which is why the OP is recommended to use it to check for correct stereo imaging. If the mono signal via a 2 channel system provides a central image of no apparent width then it follows logically that stereo images will be presented in their relative correct positions.I am afraid that everything that you say in your last two sentences has nothing to do with monophonic reproduction.
As you say, room effects are the likely culprit. Poor speaker matching could be another. Even a dirty pot or switch. Could even have dead driver.And don't overlook the human factor. I once spent the better part of an afternoon troubleshooting a misterious ailment: it began as "Gee, the imaging on this record sucks," and went thereafter to "Yikes, what could be screwing up the imaging like this?"
Turned out I had inadvertantly connected my biwired speakers with the left bass and right treble in one speaker and the right bass and left treble in the other. D'oh!
mono = one channel, same in both channels played back in stereo system. The miking can affect the recording process, but it cannot later make two different channels when only one was recorded....
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Agree about using a mono recording.I had a similar problem. Some of it was imbalance because of the room (different distances to walls and doorways). But most of it was because of the volume control I was using. It's incredible how bad the channel tracking is in most potentiometer volume controls -- 3dB channel balance is considered "good". Changing to a switched type attenuator fixed it.
You don't need a disc with perfect stereo imaging, you need a mono recording. When played back the image should have zero width dead centre between the speakers (although, if good, there may be a sense of depth). Many test discs have mono cuts if you have none such from your general repertoire collection. I sometimes use the final track on the Sheffiled XLO test disc (NLA) when needed. The music is bloody awful however!
If you're trying to ferret out channel imbalance, best to use a mono recording - that HAS to be dead center by definition if your stereo is balanced left to right.
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