A law of −4.5 dB at center is a compromise between the two. If the two output buses are to remain stereo then a law of -3 dB is desirable. 'Signal passes through both the channels at an equal volume while the pan pot points directly north.' If the two output buses are later recombined into a monaural signal, then a pan law of -6 dB is desirable. When centered (at 12 o'clock), the law can be designed to send −3, −4.5 or −6 decibels (dB) equally to each bus. 'Pan pots split audio signals into left and right channels, each equipped with its own discrete gain ( volume) control.' This signal distribution is often called a taper or law.
A pan pot has an internal architecture which determines how much of a source signal is sent to the left and right buses.
