?Mono? what does it tell us, and how much should it matter?

[jgimbel]

Pretty sure I've seen this in Cubase as well.

When I add a new audio track in Cubase it asks if I want to do a mono or stereo track. Not that it matters, just saying!

This isn't completely related to the idea of this thread, but just speaking of listening to things from a single speaker, etc., my girlfriend's car has a speaker blown on the driver's side. For whatever reason changing the "balance" so it's all the way to the speaker that's working doesn't do anything. It's annoying to have to turn music up way louder to hear it at a volume I want when driving, but it's giving me a very interesting perspective on mixing/panning/ducking of the music on the radio. There are more songs than I expected that have some completely hard-panned elements in parts of the songs, so I'll be listening and everything seems normal, and then all of a sudden there is no rhythm guitar, or even vocals or drums (there's a Killers song that starts with hard panned drums that are non-existent in my situation). It's annoying occasionally but it's kind of fun to be forced to pay that much attention to how these folks are panning their mixes.

[ashcat_lt]

When I add a new audio track in Cubase it asks if I want to do a mono or stereo track. Not that it matters, just saying!

My version of Cubase SX doesn't have the decency to ask. Now that I've gone to double check, though, I find that it creates mono tracks by default, and you have to switch it to stereo.

The point I'm trying to make is that it's at least possible that folks who aren't paying attention could track in stereo without knowing it.

Got nothing to do with this thread, though, I suppose, but...

I usually leave most of my stereo-ness to mix time. Let's say, for example, I've got a guitar part which I think needs a stereo ping-pong delay. So I track it to stereo. The dry signal is centered, and the delays bounce back in forth. Well, what happens if the final mix requires the dry signal to be off-center, but the delays to be at equal volume and hard-panned? Can't be accomplished now.

For the sake of contributing to the actual thread, I won't say that I always start out in mono. I do always check occassionally in mono just as a kind of "reality check".

Phase issues are not the only reasons things don't collapse well. Sometimes hard-panned elements disappear when mono-ized. They sound louder when they're all the way out there on their own.

[JGriffin]

For one, YouTube currently puts all audio in mono.

Not true. I just watched a bunch of stuff that was definitely in stereo.

[jnTracks]

when i mix i check my mono button when i finish the drum mix and then once again at the end. so far i don't think i've changed anything because of it. but, just in case. (i also toggle my sub off and on at these points in the process)

at the end of the mix, when i think i'm done; i also check turning it down super quiet, so i can barely hear it. somebody taught me that many years ago as a way to see if one track is sitting on top of the mix. it's never stopped being an interesting thing to check

so if the initial question is "is mono checking important?" my vote is sure, why not. you'll probly do it on a thousand mixes and never find anything bad but you never know. the one mix that you forget to check might be the one that something got by your ear

[farview]

For whatever reason changing the "balance" so it's all the way to the speaker that's working doesn't do anything.

The balance control doesn't change what gets sent to the speaker, just the relative volume of the two speakers to each other. If you turn the balance control all the way to the right, you are just turning down the speaker that doesn't work.

[farview]

For one, YouTube currently puts all audio in mono.

Not true. I just watched a bunch of stuff that was definitely in stereo.

You have to have a special account to default to stereo. If any of us just throw something up there, it's in mono.

However, if you put &fmt=18 at the end of the URL, you will be able to listen to it in stereo (assuming it was stereo in the first place).

[hank alrich]

If you are listening to an FM station and the signal is getting weak, it will revert to mono.

Even if the signal is still strong, multipath distortion of an FM transmission will cause the receiver to revert to mono.

Watch that little indicator light when driving around sometime.

[mojobone]

Try not to crash.

[uncle bastard]

I'm going to betray my ignorance, but if you don't ask questions you'll never find answers. By 'mono' are those of you with more experience ( everyone ) and better trained ears ( ditto ) referring to a whole mix which has no panning, to individual mono tracks with or without panning, or to something else altogether? *dons Nomex suit, covers eyes*

[Lumin]

I'm using Sonar now. When I "Add Audio Track" it always comes up as stereo. I have to click the "Mono/Stereo" button before recording, or it will record in stereo. Even if the source is set to a single mono input, it just records the same thing on each side of the stereo file. Pretty sure I've seen this in Cubase as well.

I'd be willing to bet there's a setting somewhere in one of the 14 "Options" menus (ok, maybe I exaggerate a little) to tell it to default to mono...

On a related note, many times the "Bounce" or "Export Mix" functions default to stereo as well. If you've got clients bouncing tracks in their projects down to .wav for you to mix, this might be another place you're ending up with "meaningless" stereo tracks.

you arent setting up your track correctly to record a mono signal. simply clicking the mono/stereo button is not going to change the way it records. you must change it at the input select menu for that track.
as for checking the mix in mono in sonar, just click on the mono/stereo button on the master bus. no need to print a wav.
i think that the "exporting mix" files differ if the outputs or busses they are assigned to are mono or stereo. i might be wrong but thats what i have been figuring out with my own setup.

[The Scum]

I'm going to betray my ignorance, but if you don't ask questions you'll never find answers. By 'mono' are those of you with more experience ( everyone ) and better trained ears ( ditto ) referring to a whole mix which has no panning, to individual mono tracks with or without panning, or to something else altogether? *dons Nomex suit, covers eyes*

It the context of the original question, it means referencing a stereo mix by folding it down to mono. Large consoles and monitor controllers have a button on the master section that turn stereo into mono - both speakers get the sum of the L and R signals. It's usually only on the control room circuitry - the main mix outputs are stereo, but the control room outputs will be mono.

(technically, I believe mono i short for "monoaural" meaning a single speaker, while the above describes the same signal hitting two speakers.)

You can also make a mono mix by centering all the panpots...though it's easier to compare & contrast by hitting the button.

When you mix, it's a good idea to check what happens to the mix when heard in mono. As described above, there are many situations where a stereo signal might get thwacked to mono for playback, so you should check that nothing absurd happens in mono.

[rpmsongs]

When I add a new audio track in Cubase it asks if I want to do a mono or stereo track. Not that it matters, just saying!

Phase issues are not the only reasons things don't collapse well. Sometimes hard-panned elements disappear when mono-ized. They sound louder when they're all the way out there on their own.

Why the f is that? It drives me crazy. someone please explain this.

[ashcat_lt]

Why the f is that? It drives me crazy. someone please explain this.

First, you can say fuck on this board.

Second, I think this is usually only an issue in denser mixes. There's nothing for the track to "fight with" when it's way out there on the edge. When it's brought into the center it gets masked sometimes by the other elements of the mix.

This is one of the reasons I (who usually am dealing with fairly dense mixes) only ever hard pan "ear candy" - special effects and extra stuff the track could live without. This way it sounds fine when collapsed to mono, but there's some bonus material when you actually sit down in the sweet spot of a stereo set.

[r0ck1r0ck2]

love the mono.
believe in the mono.

if you can't hit it in mono, i don't know what you're doing.

[rpmsongs]

I was kinda hoping for the physics lesson on why stereo guitars aren't as loud in mono.