Hey, I want to build a very simple box with two stereo inputs, two pan knobs (one for each input) and one stereo output.
Thing is I'm not really sure which pots to use, anything about resistors or other components, nor how exactly to wire them.
Any tips?
Thanks,
Rafael
Thing is I'm not really sure which pots to use, anything about resistors or other components, nor how exactly to wire them.
Any tips?
Thanks,
Rafael
You are best off with an active circuit for a balance/pan controls, more flexible and easier to play with the response curve. However a 10k linear dual-gang pot can be used as a pan control, with reversed sense on the two gangs (ie fully anticlockwise is 100% for one output, 0% for the other and v. versa). If combining outputs from two of these you need summing resistors on the wipers so that the controls can't cross-short the inputs to ground. (For instance if channel 1 is panned to left and channel 2 to right, the left wiper on 1 is input 1 left and the left wiper on 2 is ground - commoning these left wipers directly would short the left input 1 to ground).
Thanks for your reply!
I'm trying to figure this out. I don't really want an active circuit, no idea how to do that, my knowledge on the subject is very limited and I just want a simple tiny box, just big enough to fit a pot and to jacks inside and put it under my pedal board.
I was thinking something like this, but in this case, the output signal would be mono when the pot is centered. if I flip yellow and blue on channel 1 or 2 on the pot, the signal is stereo while 100% clockwise, flipped stereo while 100% CCW and still mono centered.
is this where the resistors come in? if so, what kind of resistors should I use and where exactly to connect them?
I'm trying to figure this out. I don't really want an active circuit, no idea how to do that, my knowledge on the subject is very limited and I just want a simple tiny box, just big enough to fit a pot and to jacks inside and put it under my pedal board.
I was thinking something like this, but in this case, the output signal would be mono when the pot is centered. if I flip yellow and blue on channel 1 or 2 on the pot, the signal is stereo while 100% clockwise, flipped stereo while 100% CCW and still mono centered.
is this where the resistors come in? if so, what kind of resistors should I use and where exactly to connect them?
Looks like this would be suitable. Panning is really for a mono input though, not for stereo.
You could convert each stereo input to mono with summing resistors, and then use the circuit below.
The level pot is a log type, and the pan pot is linear.
You could convert each stereo input to mono with summing resistors, and then use the circuit below.
The level pot is a log type, and the pan pot is linear.
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@Mark Tillotson , if I got it right, in your diagram each pot controls both same side channels from both inputs at the same time but sending them equally but reversed to each side?
I suppose that would work, but I kinda wanted to pan each channel individually and then combine them later, so I was thinking of the circuit as an individual channel so far.
I was even thinking if there's a way to do actual stereo panning with a single pot, (as in throwing the left signal into the right while turning the pot clockwise and vice versa, instead of stereo balance, which the way I understand it just controls the level of each channel).
I suppose that would work, but I kinda wanted to pan each channel individually and then combine them later, so I was thinking of the circuit as an individual channel so far.
I was even thinking if there's a way to do actual stereo panning with a single pot, (as in throwing the left signal into the right while turning the pot clockwise and vice versa, instead of stereo balance, which the way I understand it just controls the level of each channel).
how does this work, having each signal connected to the pot, but also directly to the L/R outputs, while the wiper is connected to gnd? also, in this diagram are the incoming wires just the direct L and R input signals or are they summed?
I get you, but if Stereo panning doesn't work out, stereo balance could maybe work for me.
summing them to mono would kinda kill the need for this whole thing for me
All the circuits shown so far will pan a mono input. The OP says he wants to pan two stereo inputs (whatever that means).
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
@ruffrecords I used the word "pan" but I should probably have said "balance".
Ignoring that I need two inputs since they're identical and will be summed later, Ideally what I want is one stereo input connected to a pot that keeps the signal stereo while centered, moves the L channel to the right when fully turned clockwise, and moves the R channel to the left when turned counter clockwise.
Ignoring that I need two inputs since they're identical and will be summed later, Ideally what I want is one stereo input connected to a pot that keeps the signal stereo while centered, moves the L channel to the right when fully turned clockwise, and moves the R channel to the left when turned counter clockwise.
That is a much better definition of what you want. It seems to me to be neither a pan nor a balance control since the latter turns off the left when rotated clockwise and vice versa rather than collapsing the stereo to mono in each case which is what you are asking. I am not sure if this has been done before. Needs thinking about.
I am not sure about your comment "ignoring the fact that I need two inputs since they are identical and will be summed later". If they are identical they are not stereo and if they are identical why sum them?
Seems like a classic case of the XY problem: https://xyproblem.info/
Cheers
Ian
I agree your circuit has stereo in and out but it is a stereo balance control not a pan. That circuit can be reconfigured as a mono pan, in fact it if you short the two inputs together it is a commonly used pan circuit.
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
That's fair. I was trying to simplify the problem so I'd be easier to get some help, but I might have made it a bit confusing.
By the two inputs being identical, I meant it would be two identical channels as in a mixer, but they would have different things connected to them.
Anyway, for context, stereo pan is pretty standard in some DAWs such as Pro Tools, except it's basically just two mono pan knobs, one for each side of the stereo signal, so when one pot is 100% clockwise and the other 100% counter clockwise, you get the actual stereo signal, and by turning the two pots you can flatten it to either side, center it as mono, or anything in between. This shows it well: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pr...ference-between-stereo-pan-and-stereo-balance
But since I don't really need the hability to invert L and R nor have them both centered, and all I wanted is to have the original stereo signal with the pot centered, L+R on the right with pot turned CW, and L+R on the left with pot turned CCW, I was wondering if it was achievable using a single dual gang pot. (or even tri or quad gang, for that matter)
Now, for my actual problem, I'm trying to come up with a solution for stage monitoring. I have two behringer MA400s (https://mediadl.musictribe.com/medi...ucts/P0491/2000Wx2000H/MA400_P0491_Top_XL.png) under my pedal board. Each of those has an XLR input and an output, so each of them work as a passthrough for one microphone, while also sending the mic signal into a headphones output for monitoring. Each MA400 also has a stereo monitor input, so the headphones output can be mono or stereo by toggling a switch.
The way mine are connected: my vocal mic is hooked up to MA400 #1, and my guitar amp mic to MA400 #2. I often have the stereo mix of the entire band coming from the house mixer's auxiliar output hooked onto MA400 #2's monitor input, then I hook this one's stereo output (containing the band stereo mix plus my direct guitar mic signal) onto MA400 #1's monitor input, and then I have my phones connected to MA400 #1's stereo output.
This sort of works, I have the band stereo mix on my phones, and I can individually adjust its level, as well as the level of my voice and my guitar. The problem is that both my voice and my guitar are centered, playing equally on both sides of my phones, and kinda overlapping since all I have is control over their levels.
For me it would be more important to have pan control so I could put each one like 75% to either side. This would be achievable since both are mono signals, but it gets tricky since the band's stereo mix signal is coming into both MA400s and being mixed together. If I was able to pan voice and guitar only while keeping the band mix stereo as it is, that would work, but that's not possible with these MA400s the way they are mixing everything.
So since I was going to have to come up with something for panning, I thought it would be ideal to have a stereo pan for the band mix, so I could have like my guitar 90% to the right, my voice 60% to the left, and I'd be able to pan the band stereo mix signal as I felt like, just a bit to either side so it doesn't overlap with the rest, but flattening the signal like I mentioned above so I don't lose anything.
That got a bit complex to explain, so I was trying to figure out just a way to do the panning, and experiment with it later myself, but since it's out there, maybe there could be different ways to do what I want.
I guess I should mention I have a very limited space under my pedal board, it's already very heavy, and I wanted to keep using a 9v power supply only, so that's why I wanted a small passive box with only two pots for panning. It could have more pots than that sure, but anything more like putting an actual mixer under my board isn't really an option
Cheers,
Rafael
True. Its balance. But how do you pan stereo? Balance should work.
He can have these circuit twice, since he has supposedly two stereo signals, then just sum two left channels, and sum two right channels. All remains stereo.
That was my understanding what he want.
But i will leave it up to him. I am out.