PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Being a Graham Cochrane fan, this technique I something I kinda stumbled upon from my own mixing evolution, and mixing a lot of high track counts it has become almost a sonic necessity in order to maintain the clarity of centre solo / melodic elements such as lead vocals.

The idea is to only use mainly hard left, dead centre and hard right, rather than half way positions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDp8rsdmdEE

Not saying its appropriate for all mixes, but its definitely worth exploring.

I second that.
But the same guy also propagates the principle of mixing in mono, for better eq-ing.
Which is also true.
Both don't bite each other necessarily, as you could start mixing in mono and finish with panning.
At least I check a growing mix in mono especially when I'm eq-ing tracks

Once I started adding vocals direct bass Mic amps it became good practice that paid off when mixing live.
If you can't mix in Mono the extra channel ain't going to help.