Pana is a sophisticated stereo tool designed to let you do more elegant, natural audio positioning than what regular balance panning might accomplish.
Panning an audio signal can be done in several ways, where the most common is to alter the volume on one channel. This is a CPU efficient way (and many times the best) to achieve a sense of positioned audio. Almost every DAW and mixing console have this feature built-in.
Another way is to add a short delay to one of the channels – the Haas method. This renders a richer sound, but can also make a sound come off as somewhat unnatural.
A more elegant way is to apply a low pass filter to one of the channels. This maintains the audio energy on both channels, but at the same time makes it sound positioned. This works very well on transient rich sounds like drums or other percussive instruments.
Pana uses both the delaying and filtering methods in combination, to achieve a more natural positioning. This makes Pana a very versatile tool for most types of sounds – and having these features in one plug-in makes for a great mixing experience. To top it all off, there’s also a crossover filter that makes it possible to leave the low end frequencies completely untouched, letting the bass remain fully centered, to prevent the mix from tipping over on one side.
