Is stereo important to you?

[Jarick]

Been going back and forth on this. I mostly play stereo through monitors or headphones at this point as I’m just playing at home.

Sometimes I like to run into an actual cab and I’m trying to figure out if I need a second for stereo cabs in the place. Or is it just a distraction?

So curious for the rest of the group, all around playing is stereo critical to you, a nice to have, or do you actually prefer mono? And what’s your reasoning?

Bonus points if you want to throw in your gear/chain!

 

[metropolis_4]

For playing at home I love stereo! The best is placing either two cabs or two amps on opposite sides facing you to get a nice wide spread

But for live work I’ve never found it to be worth the hassle and extra gear. I don’t even go stereo out of my modeler live

 

[laxu]

For live use, absolutely not. Just more complication.

With real amps and guitar cabs...again more complication than I'd like. I tried to do this with two different tube amps in the past and it was a nightmare trying to balance them without one amp overpowering the other. It sounded glorious when it was just right, but any change meant it all went to hell. I would have had to run two separate pedalboard setups into these to make it work well, and then control/switching would have been very complicated.

For home use, nice to have. Modelers and digital pedals generally make this pretty easy to do and manage.

 

[GTR37]

I Am with metropolis as far as in the studio and in a mix sure it’s great but live never ,you would need to have 2 cabinets on either side of the stage to hear it , a stereo signal bouncing around in a 412 is going to be useless as there is not enough distance between speakers to hear it
The FOH guy is probably going to send the whole mix out stereo anyway if you are in a bigger club

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Been going back and forth on this. I mostly play stereo through monitors or headphones at this point as I’m just playing at home.

Sometimes I like to run into an actual cab and I’m trying to figure out if I need a second for stereo cabs in the place. Or is it just a distraction?

So curious for the rest of the group, all around playing is stereo critical to you, a nice to have, or do you actually prefer mono? And what’s your reasoning?

Bonus points if you want to throw in your gear/chain!

Are your patches genuinely stereo? I play through a pair of studio monitors but all my patches are mono. Aside from the initial “whoa!! That’s huge!!!” I don’t really like playing stereo sounds.

 

[sleewell]

Nope

Dudes beating the shit out of each other aren't really going to be like hey didya hear that wicked ping pong delay

I have been running 2 amps and 2 cabs when I can though just to get more spread on each side of the drums. That little quilter I use as a backup comes in handy.

 

[PLX]

I have 2 ears, and they're in different locations on my haed, so stereo imaging of sound seems more "natural" sounding to me.

 

[Lele]

With my Helix I love stereo sounds at home and specially with headphones. On the contrary in the band context I never used stereo patches and didn't consider them necessary at all.
Anyway, at home I build the stereo effect with a faux reverb (using a delay block) and in case another delay block; I don't like heavy reverb effects.

 

[Achilles]

Mono always.

 

[Stone]

Since i Only play at home it's Stereo for me, 2 Power cabs Placed in the correct Sweet spots for where i sit, and it's glorious
Simple chain Axe into FM9, 2 XLR to my Powercabs, and also 1 x 1/4 inch to Motu Interface and out to 2 Monitors (used for when recording and or mixing )

 

[burningyen]

I use my Helix for more than just guitar, so I need stereo (dual mono) at a minimum.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I have 2 ears, and they're in different locations on my haed, so stereo imaging of sound seems more "natural" sounding to me.

My perspective, and why I prefer mono, is that the guitar is - a single sound source. And so amping/effecting it in mono provides the most “natural” experience when playing. I realize that's nonsense given how different the sound coming out even the driest clean amp is compared to the acoustic sound of the electric guitar.

 

[texhex]

Since i Only play at home it's Stereo for me, 2 Power cabs Placed in the correct Sweet spots for where i sit, and it's glorious
Simple chain Axe into FM9, 2 XLR to my Powercabs, and also 1 x 1/4 inch to Motu Interface and out to 2 Monitors (used for when recording and or mixing )

View attachment 22229

Sick setup, but those desk legs are tripping me out a bit.

 

[Achilles]

GREAT looking setup @Stone love the cereal nod on the cab!

I jam along to stereo but I'm all mono.

 

[ragingplatypi]

For playing at home I love stereo! The best is placing either two cabs or two amps on opposite sides facing you to get a nice wide spread

But for live work I’ve never found it to be worth the hassle and extra gear. I don’t even go stereo out of my modeler live

This, definitely. Except…

I’m about head out to play a vineyard in an hour and I’m going to run stereo. It’s relatively quiet with no drums. I’m finding a few benefits in this scenario. First I get to enjoy my stereo patches and not have to adjust them for mono. When I say that I get to enjoy them, I mean just that. Whatever stereo thing I’m doing is a wash once it’s bounced over the din of day drinkers from our corner of the room. The other benefit for everyone is that having more headroom from two amps allows me to have more control over volume and blending in.

 

[Stone]

Are your patches genuinely stereo? I play through a pair of studio monitors but all my patches are mono. Aside from the initial “whoa!! That’s huge!!!” I don’t really like playing stereo sounds.

Yes, anything before Amp is Mono, after amp is stereo including time based effects

And again as in all things no right or wrong just preference, although I do get and understand in a Live gig on stage context Mono is best

 

[Stone]

GREAT looking setup @Stone love the cereal nod on the cab!

Thank you , and yeah Haha Yes the Cheerios logo thats a Tribute to @DrewJD82 and Metallica's Crunch Berries Boogie

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Yes, anything before Amp is Mono, after amp is stereo including time based effects

View attachment 22234


And again as in all things no right or wrong just preference, although I do get and understand in a Live gig on stage context Mono is best

Don't try to trick me into agreeing that stereo is acceptable. Mono or die.

 

[Frodebro]

Stereo only works if it’s mixed in Doubly.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

I love stereo at home but since I usually use a modeler or amp into speaker sim it has made me buy two of a lot of things I otherwise don’t need a duplicate. Speaker, speaker cab, Kemper Cab and Kemper cone speaker, power amp, stereo power amp, cablesx2, etc etc.
When I force myself to go mono I usually realize a delay pedal is great at giving some ‘width’ even though I only have it coming out of one speaker.
It’s an indulgence that became a habit much more than an actual necessity.

Synthesizer on the other hand is stereo or die.