Dual Mono vs Stereo Meters

OK, maybe I'm going crazy, but if I have a 2 channel audio track in the time-line set as a stereo track, the meters show different levels for channels 1 & 2 (L/R). If I change the track to dual mono, the audio meters show two tracks with exactly the same levels, as though there's only one track. Is this correct? I talked to Apple and they thought it sounded odd.

If I expand audio components, I can see each waveform as slightly different from one another, so is it just the metering that's not showing correct behavior?

Paul G
IMac Pro, 10.4.6

In stereo mode, the left channel is only playing on the left side, same for the right, thus you see the difference between the two channels independently. In stereo mode, you can only effect and adjust both channels equally together, they are "married" so to speak.

In dual mono mode, they both play centered, meaning equally on both channels, so you see the combined levels equally on each meter channel, also.

All NLEs and DAWs work this way.

If you want dual mono, but to see each channel in it's own meter, pan one channel all the way to the left, the other all the way to the right. This mimics how they show up in stereo mode, but you can now effect and adjust each independently.

As for Apple phone support, or retail store support, it S-U-C-K-S! Always has, those kids get two minuets of sales pitch training, and that's it.

Yup, that did it. I wonder why you'd want to see the mono channels summed instead of each showing what it's doing. The panning trick works, but only for metering levels. If you 're using a lav and boom on each track for example, you probably don't want hard pans for voice that should really be centered. Oh well...