Systems and method relating generally to data processing, and more particularly to systems and methods for utilizing multiple data streams for data recovery from a storage device. As an example, a data processing system is discussed that includes a first read head and a second read head each operable to sense information on a storage medium. A synthesizer circuit is operable to determine a quality metric based upon a signal to noise ratio of a first preamble pattern compared with a signal to noise ratio of a second preamble pattern. A balancing circuit is operable to generate a composite output as a combination of a first data set derived from the first read head a second data set derived from the second read head based at least in part on the quality metric.