This is simply another recording variable, strange mixes aren't that unusual. Trying to 'repair' these mixes on an individual basis is a recipe for unhappy listening sessions so I just accept them as is.
Out of Balance
So this morning I loaded a Mozart trio CD to go with my morning cup of joe. Immediately I noted the piano and violin pushed way to the left and the cello dead center. Unlistenable! While I virtually never used tone or balance controls, a did this time. A quick turn of the balance control and all the instruments now floated in space perfectly positioned (at least in my mind).
Made my wonder did the sound engineer suffer from unilateral hearing loss! Hard to imagine a wonderful performance would be ruined by such careless balancing. I have had this happen with a few other CD's.
Just wondering how often other members have had this happen and did it bug you as much as it does me.
Showing 2 responses by sns
So I'm generally speaking of mixes, as @incorrigable stated, this was the artist/producer/engineers intent, this is one valid reason for not making changes. Probably far more important for me is, I try not to focus on sound when listening, being solidly immersed in the music far more enjoyable for me. Focusing on recording blemishes only leads to frustration, I can't control what I can't control.
Now I will agree there are the relatively rare recordings where the entire sound stage is shifted to one side or the other, extremely rare when an entire album has this shifted sound stage, usually its a single cut or perhaps a few cuts on a single album. In these cases I still generally put up with the irritation. I suppose if I was running balance pot with remote I'd adjust, but having dual transformer volume control, no remote control means getting up and manually adjusting.
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