Tracks Dissappearing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter flextone
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flextone

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Hi

I'm sure this is a stupid question but here it goes:

At work, the right side speaker of the Hi-Fi system is dead. So when I listen to music, entire tracks disappear, guitar solos mostly. Now, I find it hard to believe that all those tracks were panned 100% hard left in the mix, still I can't hear a trace of them through only one speaker. I don't know what setting the winamp, i'll need to check, but it's possible that it's on "mono".

I'm sure this is easily answered by somebody with greater knowledge of the mixing process.

Thanks
 
Can you describe what you mean by "Hi Fi system" in more detail? Obviously there is a computer involved somehwere, since you're talking about Winamp.

But even though we need more information, I'll take a shot in the dark here already. Are you connecting your computer to an external stereo system? If so, I'd gamble that you are either plugging a mono plug into the stereo output jack on your computer soundcard, or that the plug on the other end is a mono plug (or both). Whenever I hear that the "right channels is missing", using a mono plug or cable for a stereo connection is the very first thing that comes to mind.

If that's not it, please continue with a more detailed description of your setup.

G.
 
The plug is a stereo 1/4" > 2 RCA's. The output of the PC is connected to the aux input of a mini stereo system yes.

Even if the plug was mono, wouldn't that mean the a lot of tracks in pop and rock today are mixed fully panned right/left?
 
flextone said:
The plug is a stereo 1/4" > 2 RCA's. The output of the PC is connected to the aux input of a mini stereo system yes.

Even if the plug was mono, wouldn't that mean the a lot of tracks in pop and rock today are mixed fully panned right/left?
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Actually, a LOT of them ARE (unfortunately, IMHO). There's a whole lot of people who use what's called "LCR panning" style, where almost everything except maybe some reverb or an odd track here or there is panned either full left, center or full right. Whether that's actually a great idea is a subject of old, old debate, but it's done a lot more often than one might think. When that's done, if you use a mono plug in a stereo jack, only the left side stuff will come through (center panned will be there on the left side also, but at lower volume than normal.)

If you do indeed have a stereo plug on the computer end (more on this in a second), then you might want to check the cable itself vs. the jacks on hi-fi An easy check would be to simply reverse the L and R RCA plugs on the hi-fi end and see if the sound moves with them. If it does, then the problem is not on the hi-fi end, and may be either in the cable or the computer. The way to tell that next step would be to try another cable.

As far as the connector on the PC end, you mention a 1/4". I assume this was probably a simple typo, as typical PC soundcards actually have 1/8" jacks. Make sure the plug is actually a 3-conductor plug- i.e. that it actually has two plastic insulation rings on it's metal plug separating it into three metal "zones"(tip, ring and sleeve). If you have only one plastic insulator (two metal conduction zones, tip and sleeve) on the plug, then it's only going to pass the left channel. BTW, this is also true if your cable has a 1/4" plug on it that is only 2-conductor, even if you are using a 1/4"-to-1/8" stereo adapter.

G.
 
Thanks Glen

I was indeed referring to an 1/8" plug btw. I don't really care about fixing this as I am quitting my job :), but I was curious as I almost never pan tracks so hard and the ampunt of material gone in songs I know really surprised me. I imagined that it was a mixing technique. However, I have never noticed these tracks to be panned so hard when listening in stereo so I guess it works.

Thanks
 
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