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At 01:50 PM 6/25/2004 -0400, Colin Schlachta wrote:
>Yes it could.  It all depends on how high your levels are with your original
>two-channel version.  If your levels are just below distorting *before* you
>make your mono copy, then your mono copy could very well be distorted.  This
>is if your programme sums the signal in making that mono copy.
>If your original two-channel copy does not have much level to begin with,
>then the conversion result would be simply a mono file with higher levels
>than the two channel version.

It is rare for a CD to be published or even recorded personally with levels
at least 6 db below saturation. You are correct that if it has been
underrecorded enough the gain increase may be useful, but even then level
adjustment is all but unavoidable.

Some notes: I have some commercial CDs recorded monaurally with one channel
inverted. The result is audibly some form of pseudo-super-stereo, but of
course summing the channels leads to a (nearly) null track. It is quite
common if the recording came from an analogue source (LP or tape) for the
two to have different levels and even to suggest stereo thanks to channel
unbalance particularly near saturation. Finally, I have encountered an
occasional (non-commercial) binaural recording; your choice of processing
is then unclear. My best results have come from *expanding* the separation
and presenting the result as though stereophonic.

The safe course, inconvenient as it may be, is to extract both channels and
select one for further processing; or if the noise suggests that it is
preferable, to sum them; or if you are suspicious of apparent stereo to
analyze further and make your selection based on those results.


Mike
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