I agree, but I learned a long time ago to adjust controls without looking at the settings, and trust my ear. (Ray Charles taught me that) Believe me, I've tweaked and RE-tweaked this mic section to every possible configuration over the last week or so, and the somewhat extreme settings that I have now are simply what works best at the moment. As for pan ... I do that to lighten the load on the internal speakers - I use a mono PA, so it's not an issue in the house. I'll see if I can do that test for you in a little while - people are still sleeping in my house. shhhhh........