Mono samples losing 3 dB

[HanZen]

Yo,

I am using the STM 2448 for mixing and mastering and I recognized that signals on mono channels lose 3 dB in the mix. For example I take the MiniScope MKII and connect its mono-out to a mixerchannel which I put to mono-in. Openening the mixer and looking at the mono channel shows me that the signal has a level of -0.1 dB (just an example). Now looking at the "Mix" channel shows me...-3.1 dB. What am I doing wrong *wonders*?

I already posted this on the Creamware forum and someone said it has to do with the headroom. But where is the sense of a channel-mono-mode then? I mean when I put the channel to stereo-mode and feed both the left and right channel with the same signal the "Mix" shows -0.1 dB. But it doesn't in mono-mode...

Hanzen

[alfonso]

It seems related to the 3db panning law of the mixer. I's a feature present in all pro mixers. You can switch also to 6db, but it's not much used.

The fact is that a sound, when panned from center (2 speakers) to a side (1 speaker) needs a boost of 3db to keep the same volume perceived.

So it's ok!

[samplaire]

It's the same when I want to export a sfile from ProTools in Mono-summed format - when I do it straight I get a distorted file. But when I pull down the master fader at about 3db below 0 I get a great result at about 0db