After watching a video tutorial on Loop TV where Ray Staff of Air Studio's was interviewed I am preparing my tracks for Mastering in the following ways;24 bit,sample rate 44.1 khz and mono split files.After bouncing I have been left with 2 split mono files-L and R.In the tutorial they mention lining them up-how do you do this?I am using Logic 8.Can anybody help please?

Hi daryl, Why not watch our brilliant Mastering guides here ;-) [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/Logic401[/url] and of course the Mixing guides which are shot in and use Logic... Anyways, it's not necessary to bounce your final mix to a split stereo file - unless a PT Mastering engineer asks for this. Just bounce to interleaved stereo file. If you really want to work with a split stereo file then lining it up like this: 1. Import both files into a new project. 2. Create two mono audio tracks. 3. Drag them onto their own audio tracks and make sure the beginning of the regions start at the same point. e.g. 1 1 1 1. Thanks Rounik

Hi Rounik, Thanks for the quick response,I didn't actually want to master the tracks myself,I wanted to prepare them for Mastering at a professional studio. The reason I wanted to use split files as opposed to interleaved is that according to Ray Staff they contain more audio detail and are more ''dynamic''. I have solved the problem I had with my split files-what I had forgot to do was set my master channel output to mono-once I did that the 'stereo-ness' of my file seems to be preserved on both L and R versions. I achieved this by assigning all my stereo channels to a unused bus,inserting a gain plug in,collapsing the mix to mono and then setting the master channel stereo bus to mono. Thanks. Daryl 72

Hi, Not sure I've come across the theory that split files are able to contain "more dynamic" information/detail... You could easily export a stereo file and then import it into your Logic project, duplicate it on two tracks and set the format button for each channel strip to Left and Right respectively... Glad to hear you figured out how to export to mono tracks anyway. :) R

Hi Rounik, Ray Staff didn't actually say split files contain ''more dynamic'' information/detail he said non-interleaved files contain ''more detail'' and to paraphrase-that in interleaved files some of the dynamics are lost.This misunderstanding may be down to me slightly misquoting him. The problem I thought I'd solved has lead to another which I hope you may be able to help me with.When I bounce to two mono L and R split files one of the software instruments(which I have widened in the stereo field with a stereo imager)is now a lot quieter than in the interleaved files.The rest of the file on both L and R versions seems,at least from a cursory listen,to have been preserved.Is the remedy simply a question of turning up the instrument or is there a way of preserving the whole of the initial stereo mix while still using split files? Thanks Daryl

Ok... I don't have a moment right now to check this out... was Mr Staff using Pro Tools by chance? I haven't found an interleaved stereo file exported from Logic to have less dynamic information than non-interleaved files.... so this is news to me. Infact many people I know bounce and master interleaved files and get amazing (and professional) results... Personally, unless someone convinces me otherwise I'm quite happy bouncing my mixes to the interleaved format which preseres all the info I hear in Logic...

Hi Rounik,it wasn't his actual files that he Mastered he came across the difference as he happened to have both types of files from a (bands-I think) session and compared the two.He didn't mention what software had been used so maybe this is problem specific to a particular piece(s) of software and not Logic-I dont know.If you do come across a way to bounce split files that gets rid of the problem I mentioned please don't hesitate to let me know.Thanks Daryl

Hi daryl, OK. I think I need to get this straight in my head. So, he bounced the MIX to two non-interleaved (split stereo) files... right? But when you do this you find that there is audio information missing? How are you listening back to the L and R files? Do you have them set up properly in Logic? i.e. the L file on a Mono audio track and the R file on a mono audio track? Have you tried changing the format of the two audio tracks... one to "L" and the other to "R" respectively? Thanks R

Hi Rounik,I initially tried listening to each L and R split file on my stereo this was when I discovered that one instrument was quieter.So I opened up a new project,created two mono audio tracks,imported the L and R files and then bounced them down to split files-same result.I will try and change the format of the tracks and get back to you if I have any problems but based on A B-ing a L or R split file and a interleaved file the interleaved sounds better so I'm not sure what the fuss what about.Thanks Daryl

Hey Daryl, cool. Would be interesting to know your results... :) R