Check your mix in mono: bass correlation and mono-sum loss
A mix that sounds wide in stereo can lose level, and its bass, the moment it is summed to mono on a club system, a phone, a laptop or a small speaker. Drop it and the report reads how well it holds up.
Your report opens with a 3-day trial. Stored on our own servers in the EU, never used to train anything. Without an account it is deleted after 7 days. See a sample report
What it answers
- Bass correlation, against 0.7 and above. Correlation below 120 Hz, −1 to +1. Near +1 the low end is mono-safe; under the band the bass partly cancels on a club sub, a phone or a laptop.
- Mono-sum loss, against −1 dB to 0 dB. How much level you lose when the mix is summed to mono, M = (L+R)/2. Near 0 dB nothing is lost; past 1 dB something is fighting itself.
- Correlation, against 0.3 and above. How much the two channels agree, −1 to +1, over the whole track. Near +1 is as safe as stereo gets; under the band the mix is wide at the cost of anything played in mono, and under 0 it cancels.
How to read the result
- Bass correlation below its band is the one to act on first: on a mono club system or a phone, part of the low end cancels.
- Mono-sum loss past its band means something in the mix is fighting itself when the two sides meet.
- Stereo correlation low across the whole track is width bought at the cost of anything played in mono.
Each reading in the report says what it means and how to fix it. The usual fixes: keep the sub and the kick in the middle and widen what sits above them; look for a layer flipped in polarity, or a stereo widener pushed too far on a whole bus; and listen to the mix in mono, because whatever disappears is what is fighting itself.
Questions
Does mono still matter?
Yes. Club systems, phones, laptops and many small speakers play in mono or close to it, and that is where a mix that cancels loses its bass.
Is the mono check free?
No. It is in every report, in DJ and Studio, each with a 3-day trial.
How is this different from the stereo width checker?
The same readings, asked the other way round: the stereo width checker starts from width, this page from what survives in mono.
The same readings from the width side: the stereo width checker. The whole mix: the mix analyzer.