However, your method allows for a more accurately adjusted comparison with a single button push.. as well as allowing for the fine tuning of that balance by adjusting the level of the linked group.
Yes, I need a single button push for comparison. This is helping me a lot because my listening skills are low.
The general idea behind this kind of "maintained energy balance across all channels while making an adjustment" approach is something I've wanted implemented in multichannel editors for years. In addition to tweaking level balances that way, I'd like to be able to make fine EQ and other filtering adjustments this way as well. An EQ change in the target channel(s) would impart a corresponding "energy balanced" inverse change in all non-target channels, such that the overall frequency balance of the entire mix remains the same as the EQ bias is shifted between sources. Not only do I feel this would be super beneficial in the 'tweaking stage' once a good rough balance is in place, making the process of finding an optimal balance considerably quicker and easier, I believe it would open up powerful new approaches to sweetening the mix. I do some of this kind of balanced trade-off tweaking now, but its a hassle to try and keep the overall balance unchanged while playing with the variations.
You mentioned this in some previous posts and you inspired me. I have been using a lot reversed tilt eq. It shows me how individual microphone pairs contribute to the overall mix and what to improve. And I usually use this reverse tilt eq (+- 1dB) in final mix too. It is possible to make reversed classic eq, mid/side manipulations or any plugin in Reaper. But tilt eq is easy and very effective for me.
For those who use Reaper - there is possibility to link all plugins parameters and set their relationship, e.g. inverse change. The procedure is very simply.
1. prepare reverse plugin - Load two plugins, link the parameters and save these plugins as FX chain.
2. use reverse plugin - Load this chain, bundle the first plugin with channels 1, 2 (e.g. center xy pair) and the second plugin with channels 3, 4 (e.g. spaced pair). Now, the change in one plugin will appear in the other mirrored opposite.