Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Balance problem (Read 4259 times) previous topic - next topic

Balance problem

Yesterday, I opened a file I had created on my previous computer and found that all of the balances were off.  I had put one guitar all the way to the left and another all the way to the right, with one more in the middle.  The L and R guitars were then very quiet as compared to the middle guitar, so I lowered the volume of the middle guitar to compensate for it.
Now that I have a different computer, the L and R guitars ARE VERY LOUD, and I can't hear the middle guitar, even if I "unlower" the volume of that staff.

Please help!

Re: Balance problem

Reply #1 –
The only thing I can think of is that the phasing is reversed on the speakers on the second system. Try a different set of speakers, or - better yet - try it with a set of headphones.

Re: Balance problem

Reply #2 –
I assume that the new computer has a different sound card. Different sound cards/synthesizers can respond differently (or not at all) to stereo panning.

Re: Balance problem

Reply #3 –
...the new computer has a different sound card.
Yes, I now have SB Live! and used to have Yamaha OPLx.  I guess this is the reason.
Follow-up:
Would it be more likely that most people will have systems that cause a staff which is balanced all the way to one side be louder or softer than a staff which is balanced to the middle?  If I turn my .nwc files into .mid files to send to lots of people (or post on the web), which way are they going to hear it?
Oh, and if I install the drivers for the Yamaha OPLx onto the new computer, would this be a bad thing?

Re: Balance problem

Reply #4 –
I would suggest that you de-install the drivers for the Yamaha card and make sure that the Soundblaster Live! is properly installed from the disk supplied with the card. If it is installed properely you shouldn't have problems with the balance. If you play around with sound fonts you can really get that card to perform well. Search for links to sound font discussions. Good luck!

Re: Balance problem

Reply #5 –
I would suggest that you de-install the drivers for the Yamaha card...
I haven't installed them yet.  I was asking to see whether that would mess up my SB Live! card/drivers.  I'm guessing it would.
SB Live! is properly installed - everything checks out.  I take it my computer is the only one that behaves this way?  Which brings us back to:
<<<Would it be more likely that most people will have systems that cause a staff which is balanced all the way to one side be louder or softer than a staff which is balanced to the middle? If I turn my .nwc files into .mid files to send to lots of people (or post on the web), which way are they going to hear it?>>>

Re: Balance problem

Reply #6 –
To attempt an answer to your question - I've never known it to be an issue, at least not a significant one. While there will be variances amongst different sound cards and synthesizers, there are other differences (including relative instrument volume, behaviour of volume and velocity, instrument timbre, attack/sustain envelope, all those sorts of things) that would collectively vastly overshadow any minor difference in pan volume.

Re: Balance problem

Reply #7 –
To my knowledge, the sole solution if you want people hear the same way as you hear on you system, is to record it into "wave" form and propose the file in that format (VQF, WAV, MP3, AIFF, LiquidAudio, ...whatever format you prefer).
In Midi format, you'll never know how it will sound on another system.
Of course, this takes a lot of bytes, and the end-user won't be able to use it in midi format (i.e. to display a score, and so on).

In the similar way, you may want to use PDF or EPS files (or even bitmap formats) if you want to be sure that people may print a score the same way as you do.

P.S. It's the rare case where I find MP3 "quality" acceptable. Probably because my sound card isn't good enough (yet).

Re: Balance problem

Reply #8 –
en francais  merci !  j'ai pas de son qui sort quand je lis une partition ?  ou autre je fais play et je n'entends rien pouvez-vous  m'aider a resoudre ce probleme  merci  en franncais  merci beaucoup