Hey guys,

I received some mono files from a band from their liveshow, two from the FOH mixer and another two from the ambiance microphones, and i have to make a mix and master on those.
What i did so far and where i'm not 100% is how to use the two mono files - which are basically the same audio. So far i tried to:
- pan one Left 100% and one Right 100% and moved the left channel a couple of milliseconds out of sync.
- Dual mono comp on the master to slightly compress the low freq MIDside.
- directional mixer to keep everything under 100-120hz somewhat centered.
- Now i'm working with ozone on individual freqbands.

I made an AB comparison with using this technique against working with a single mono and useing a widener plugin (which i don't really like on a full mix) and to me it sounds more "natural"?

If my approach is not correct, any input here would be much appreciated.

Thank you. sirs!

 

NovoNotes 3DX -> Input Mono, Output Stereo. Pan as you wish and widen after.

 

Sounds good, but i don't have that plugin. What do you think about my initial approach?

 

You can do this for a kinda okay stereo perception. But you do not get a real stereo image without binaurality.

Very short stereo delay (maybe 10ms or whatever; ideally several delays with slightly different times) and a slight frequency dip in the 6-12kHz area on one channel is advisable to add. It makes more sense to just add a mono maker on the stereo out channel, because you want to keep everything unter 150Hz in kinda mono anyways. It is usually not advisable to use multiband spatial imagers because you massively intervene into the tonal balance (it is important in this manner to always make sure to use FIR Filter).

 

Last edited: Aug 3, 2025 at 10:24 AM

Any multiband widener is enough.
Bass in mono, mids a little wide, highs wider

haas delay on everything is not a good idea (bass will "smear")

check that too :
Ozone and free ozone imager can do it
https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/6-tips-for-using-imager-in-ozone-9

 

Thanks guys. Already have the Ozone imager in place and some other tools.
Biggest question was if my approach - by panning each of the two mono sources 100% left and 100% right - is the correct one or it's better to work with just one mono file.

 

Your mono files are probably the L and R channels of stereo recordings. So panning them is probably the thing to do. Just be careful with phase shifts in the low frequencies which could make them blurry and weak.
A little stereo content goes a long way. Width can make things weak.
Did you listen with tracks centered, with one polarity inverted ? It will show you what parts of the spectrum are different in the two channels.
It is important to avoid phase shifts in the low frequencies.

It is difficult to give an opinion without hearing what you're dealing with. There's no 'correct approach' on principle. The good one is the one that works.
Dont get too involved in a quest for stereo width. In the end, clarity and punch are more important.

 

Tracks centered and one polarity inverted? I don't exacly know how to do that so I have to check it out - do you have any tutorial on this by any chance?
Thank you!

 

Just pan your tracks to the center and on one of the two, invert the polarity in your mixer channel. There's probably a button labeled "ø" . This is the polarity inverter. Now, what you're hearing is the difference between your tracks. If there are many low frequencies in the difference, it indicates that they'll partially disappear in mono and lose impact in stereo. In fact the diffrence signal is the stereo content of this pair of tracks. If there's none, your tracks are identical.

EDIT : if you've got Ozone imager, put it on you master channel. Check "mono" and "invert L" (or "invert R") boxes and done.

 

I did the phase invert on one of the tracks and all low/low-mid freq disapeared.

 

OK, the low/lo-mid content is centered, which isnt surprising as it a FOH mixer output.
What I'd do is hard pan the tracks.
Did you check the ambiance mics ? there's probably more phase shift in the lows on those tracks. If you use them, it could be good to cut their lows and lo-mids and you may use some widening on them to bring a little stereo excitement without losing punch and focus on the FOH mix ones.
In fact, what I'd probably try to do is let the FOH tracks alone for stereo and get some extra width from those ambiance mics. Maybe phase align them with the main tracks if there is comb filtering occurring due to phase shifts between them and the main pair.
But without having heard, I'm just shooting in the dark here.