Can we retire "check your mix in mono?"

[mn412]

my kids have these little bluetooth speakers for their mp3 players. they are MONO. one speaker.

or they blast their iPhone into distortion (but that's another issue). I believe it is mono too though, right?

yeah, I think the sound sucks, but apparently the kids don't care as long as it is loud. Then again they probably won't notice phase issues either.

Correct.

The iPhones are as far as I can tell from mine, "Stereo" only because they do have two speakers, however their placement effectively renders ANY Stereo imaging useless while playing back in those phones.

Cheers

Actually they only have 1 speaker... the "other" one is a mic

[digitaldrummer]

Actually they only have 1 speaker... the "other" one is a mic

that's what I thought I had read too... on full volume they sound like a pignose amp.

[davepinkham]

Single speaker mono vs. mono switch on mixer/daw/etc:
How much difference does everyone thinks it makes?

[vvv]

Is your question re the difference between mono in two speakers vs. mono in one?

Or are you asking re listening to just, say, the right side vs. the left of a stereo mix?

The latter would seem, if not useless, not optimal to the concept.

As to the former, I find that listening to one speaker mono vs. mono in 2 speakers gives a more coherent "view" of the mix in that there are, I theorize, less reflections and other room influence, and it's easier to concentrate on the single-point sound.

FWIW, half the battle is won, IMHO, thru using a single-driver, frequency-limited (mid-range heavy) speaker, such as an Auratone.

YMMV.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

FWIW, half the battle is won, IMHO, thru using a single-driver, frequency-limited (mid-range heavy) speaker, such as an Auratone.

YMMV.

Agreed. The other half of the battle is won by putting the speaker somewhere away from the mains - ie: behind you, across the room, etc, etc.

Remember that you're trying to trick yourself into hearing the mix the same way a casual listener would. You can be damn sure that the general public aren't sitting in the sweet spot between expensive monitors in a treated room.

[Gregg Juke]

>>>>Single speaker mono vs. mono switch on mixer/daw/etc:
How much difference does everyone thinks it makes?<<<<

If you can, why not do both?

That is what I do, although I have no "sound" theory behind it (pun intended), it just sounds different to me (probably the placement/reflections issues discussed above). Plus, we already had a mono speaker set-up for listening when the Central Station came in, so now I can throw any set connected to the CS into mono as well, so I do toggle between them (the mono Yorkville is off to the right side a bit), and the stereo and mono sets. Plus headphones. And every once in awhile, the cheesey Mp3/iPod speaker set. The more options you have, the more "real world" your choices, the better your mix and the better its translatability.

GJ

[JGriffin]

yeah, my mono speaker is an Auratone in the rack behind me, down by the floor.

[trodden]

yeah, my mono speaker is an Auratone in the rack behind me, down by the floor.

Mine is the HAL looking silver one on the front of my G4 sitting on the floor by my feet.

[Nick Sevilla]

Single speaker mono vs. mono switch on mixer/daw/etc:
How much difference does everyone thinks it makes?

I use the Monaural Buss on my console to feed an single Auratone 5c speaker.
My console has both a L-R buss assign as well as a Mono Buss assign button on each channel, so it has a dedicated mono mixbuss.

It keeps the Stereo Mixbuss separate, and that helps when determining levels... because you do not have an attenuated mono mix derived from the Stereo buss, your levels in Mono are more accurate, and they translate better into Stereo.

Cheers

[JGriffin]

yeah, my mono speaker is an Auratone in the rack behind me, down by the floor.

Mine is the HAL looking silver one on the front of my G4 sitting on the floor by my feet.

Nice! I should add that mine used to be the 3" speaker in my Sony broadcast monitor, but when I got HD screens in, that had to go. Sad really, I liked it a bunch.

[chris harris]

It's a useful tool even if you don't believe anyone will ever listen in mono.

Yep.

[Jeff White]

I agree with mixing in mono (not panned) at first. Trying to change my habits and take this approach for my next project.

I have a single powered Avantone MixCube that is fed by a mixer aux and lives off to the side for shit mono compatibility checks. It's a great tool.

Jeff

[ott0bot]

Occasionally I still put on the mixing hat and lately, I've been starting mixes in mono. I balance levels, EQ, compress, and adjust reverb entirely in mono. Then in the last hour or two of the session I pan things out. I'm often impressed how much more punchy and clear everything seems to be. Works for me anyway!

^^^^^^^ this.
It's because mixing in mono makes you think about putting the elements of the mix in their place by using eq and front to back placement instead of panning. When you've got elements of a mix that are masking each other panning can help give each element it's own space but it doesn't really solve the problem.

great words of mixing wisdom!

this is exactly why, regardless of final playback source, using mono to check you mix is so helpful.

[davepinkham]

Thanks for the good replies. Currently listening to a mix on the built in speaker on my Mac!

[drumsound]

My mono single speaker is in the meter bridge of the Studer.