Mono IN Mono Track to Stereo OUT Centered sounds muffled

I checked all tracks (input and output) and no track has phase enabled. I even tried recording a snipet with and without phase and got the same result.

Experimenting…

  • It is weird because If I pan to the right or left the peak is at -10db, but left in the center it never peaks beyond -14db.
  • I duplicated the track left one track panned all the way LEFT and the second track panned all the way RIGHT… Same muffled result!
  • I muted one side it sounds perfect on the other.
  • I “phase 180” the duplicated track… and NOW it sounds like I expected!!! Normal… Loud, Proud, and perfectly centered!

I don’t understand. How do I fix that?

~R