stereo vs mono

If any of the systems you regularly play through are mono, you are better off sending a mono signal.

What is your monitor out set to? Have you tried master mono instead of master left?

Mono will probably sound wetter while left might not sound very wet at all.

I like stereo effects and would use monitor mono and have it sound a bit wetter than the stereo feed. But if thr foh is mixing it down to mono, then id run to foh mono as paul said

FOH and stereo can lead to problems for the audience. E.g. think of ping pong delays. Only people in the center between the speakers will hear the sound as it is meant to be.

My take on this is that guitar is a mono instrument yes you can add stereo effects to that which work well when recording, but I personally wouldn't go stereo live through FOH due to the reasons above if someone is standing one side of the PA then they only here that side. I had a classic case of this once when the drummer in my band wanted to hear his kit so I jumped on and played it while he went out front. First thing he said was turn the rack Tom up which was panned to the other side which he was standing. I then told him to stand in the middle as I play a roll round the kit and his face just said it all. "Yes the rack Tom is fine "

You have to buy another CLR and everything will be perfect!

Quote from Kempermaniac

FOH and stereo can lead to problems for the audience. E.g. think of ping pong delays. Only people in the center between the speakers will hear the sound as it is meant to be.

Most audio-engineers will only use a very limited stereo image in live productions to separate instruments slightly (max 15-20% to either side). In a room with decent acoustic properties this has about the same effect as pulling a rug covering the speakers . However, one has to be careful. Less is more wrt stereo in a live environment. Sources that are hard panned L/R such as the KPA and stereo synthesizers may cause problems, but phase-issues are usually no problem for the audience. What is much worse is that many digital mixing consoles IMHO are broken wrt the handling of stereo signals. They offer channel-linking (pairing) for stereo-sources which is fine when the mix is sent to stereo-speakers, but will send this as a blended signal to a mono-destination such as a stage monitor. I had a few gigs where either the mixing-console or the soundman (or both) failed to understand how work with a stereo signal, and have since switched my KPA to mono for everything except studio recording.

Quote from heldal

I had a few gigs where either the mixing-console or the soundman (or both) failed to understand how work with a stereo signal, and have since switched my KPA to mono for everything except studio recording.

Tested this situation yesterday while doing final tweaks to a PA system install in a music venue. From an audience point of view, live band situation, mono rules. With widely spaced FOH PA it can sound like there's a hole in the middle. It is possible to dial out on the desk or by adding a mono center speaker (monitor pointing out) and mixing in to remove the hole but essentially keep stereo for the studio. Most small venue soundmen haven't the experience or time to set it up properly. I use slight panning to load each input, but to be honest the great majority of an audience wouldn't notice as long as it sounds good where they are stood/sat.

I've also seen the other extreme at a music festival where the sound guys were trying to be clever with a fancy Bose stereo setup, sounded great directly in front of stage in mixing desk area and terrible 30 yards either side. They switched everything to mono after first act following loads of complaints, no complaints after. Guitars are mono instruments anyway

Short answer: stereo is a waste of time in a live setting.

+1 for mono in a live situation.

Hi,

agree with mono. Live it seems to be better (more pressure everywhere)

Reality check:
on (smaller) festivals and many (smaller or underground) venues the foh has very limited channels. So very often they say: no I haven´t enough, can you give me a mono. So I decided to prepare live rig always in mono.

With EDM-Bands or anything electronic with a playback track behind you, they might be an interesting problem: Tracks are often produce in full stereo, often the FOH plays this. And now you´re mono guitar sounds "better" than the stereotrack (with all the stereoproblems live). So maybe someday I decide to send a stereosignal to the foh, just to fit better in the sound (inkl. stereo reverb and delay). But for now, I send mono. I just don´t want the discussion with the FOH. Often they are very well trained for monoguitar, but tremble with stereoguitarFX.

Quote from Kempermaniac

FOH and stereo can lead to problems for the audience. E.g. think of ping pong delays. Only people in the center between the speakers will hear the sound as it is meant to be.

Short answer: stereo is a waste of time in a live setting.

I wouldn't be so drastic! people like Lukather are using stereo set up in live..........wouldn't tell him he's wasting his time or that the stereo tap delay is a problem

Quote from michaelmellner

Short answer: stereo is a waste of time in a live setting.

I wouldn't be so drastic! people like Lukather are using stereo set up in live..........wouldn't tell him he's wasting his time or that the stereo tap delay is a problem

I agree. If you're in a classic 4 components band with one guitar, having choruses, delays and reverbs in stereo it's not a big deal IMO. I think the guitarists who play more amplifiers at same time do some panning as well

Great discussion. As a newbie, which output do you use for a mono send? And is there setting that has to be set? Will my Kemper stomp boxes and effects still go through?

Mono is the way for live gigs. Stereo makes fun in smaller locations ( a flanger for example)

played in all sort of joints, from very large clubs to 5x5 meters rooms: my stereo sound never made fun as everything was doing its stereo job, from delay to modulation fx.

given this, I'm not saying mono is not the good way. good way is what is....good and does its job.

but it is not wise to exclude a stereo sound....given many famous guitarist are using it......

100% mono here for all my shows, using stereo live never works as well as it should, too many variables. The sound is still great

I would have to disagree with a lot of posts in this forum. Running a guitar in Stereo is awesome.

I run both of my guitarists in stereo with the option to run in mono for both. Some big solo moments the guitar will be in full stereo and fill the whole room with some goodness, sometimes they will be mono. Sometimes I use the rhythm guitar as more of a layer and run them 30% panning on both sides, with a slight ms delay on one channel of the FOH Console to prevent phase issues, to beef up the mix, sometimes if I have enough support I run rhythm in mono because I don't need the beef. It is all subjective. Don't limit your tools! Keep the box open and let the FOH or trusted producer make the call.

Be open, be creative. I do agree. Set up both rigs. Be ready to be mono or stereo, but leave that option open.

On another note, since I have switched my guitarists to two mic's on the Monitor console, the whole band loves it. An option to have guitars equal in both ears, or slightly higher in one. Again, not everyone uses it but leave the tools open.