Is stereo important to you?

[Achilles]

but I don't really want movies to collapse to mono anytime soon, even if I'm sitting on the right isle.

A movie theater designed for stereo surround sound with speakers not only in the front, but in the cases of theaters built in the last 50 years, also the sides, and some even the back? And playing movies with soundtracks specifically recorded and mixed for those types of rooms?

Apples and oranges.

 

[la szum]

WDW is my favourite, not really just stereo but better IMO.

Yup. Fun! Unless you happen to be Edward Van Halen you are not getting away with
that live, though.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

A movie theater designed for stereo surround sound with speakers not only in the front, but in the cases of theaters built in the last 50 years, also the sides, and some even the back? And playing movies with soundtracks specifically recorded and mixed for those types of rooms?

Apples and oranges.

Apples and oranges = your image of near field monitoring vs. any monitoring in any music venue anywhere. Including Margarita Mikes.

Let's see, sounds engineers have figured out how to move beyond mono in a movie theatre, how to mix the sound so that it plays well beyond mono in a movie theatre. Might, possibly, sound engineers have figured out how to do same in some dedicated music halls? Maybe not Margarita Mikes, but certainly movie theaters aren't a one-off phenomenon?

But I don't think OP had much of anything to do with FOH since he's pondering a second cab to use in his jam room.

 

[Achilles]

But I don't think OP had much of anything to do with FOH since he's pondering a second cab to use in his jam room.

True. Enough of our tangential yacking.

your image of near field monitoring

BTW, it's not my image of near field monitoring. I didn't invent any of this shit!

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

True. Enough of our tangential yacking.



BTW, it's not my image of near field monitoring. I didn't invent any of this shit!

You were the one that pulled a near field monitoring image off the internet and shared it as if it were remotely applicable to live performance venues.

This is not Margarita Mikes, but a lot of places I caught a lot of live music (see Jive's venue from the other night -- Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC also comes immediately to mind) are the long shoebox shaped space mentioned at 2:22

 

[TSJMajesty]

A buddy of mine that I've been in bands with off and on since I was a teen is a freak when it comes to live sound. When I first met him, he had this cheap, POS drum set tuned so good, by putting bed sheets between the shells and the heads.

45 years later, he knows live sound. I used to be in his current band (80's covers), but since the time I left, he's gotten a killer PA (he actually headlines outdoor gigs in the summer, and runs the sound for the other bands), and his band sounds the best of any local bands around. From the opening notes, they sound fantastic! I mean, clear, tight, punchy, all the adjectives..., of course, amazing drum kit tones, with everything dialed in, mix-wise. He's gotten to that point where he's doing really well, playing the top places in Ocean City, MD in the summer.

I generally don't like to be the guy who goes, "Well I talked to this guy, and he says...", but in this case, I really trust his judgement.

I reached out to him about this shunning of stereo for live sound, and he told me, not only does he use it, I'm the one who sold him on the idea, because of how great my guitar rig sounded when I played with him. He gets to hear a lot of bands, and doesn't play on every song in his own band, so he can go out front and really hear how things sound. By way of comparison, he told me the bands that play mono sound flat and terrible. The best bands aren't the ones with the stellar musicians, but the ones who have the best sound. His words.

It's a fullness-type of thing. And I'm of course not saying to pan the guitar dry signal left, and the delays right. For sure, you wouldn't do that live. But as I said, I've used it live, with great results. If done properly, it's not like people in certain places in the audience are gonna get a bad listening experience. On the contrary- everything will sound better.

Yeah, it took him years to get it right, but with digital boards now having the ability to save presets, he says it's actually pretty easy to dial things in from room to room, especially in places they've played before.

And yeah, it does add an extra element of things to deal with, that depending on one's own criteria, may not be worth the effort for some. But I can't agree with the blanket sentiment of just dismissing it altogether.

 

[Achilles]

You were the one

In my experience mono's better for a loud rock band setting that's usually based around random venues with unpredictable layouts.
That's all.

Of course stereo can and does work. Never said, or even implied it can't.

And you must know there's a billion videos out there on the whole stereo vs mono live debate. We can ping pong all day.

 

[Nathan Explosion]

WDWD quadraphonic FTW




Kidding. But since going stereo on my home-only mancave rig, I can't see going back.

 

[Achilles]

since going stereo on my home-only mancave rig, I can't see going back.

Get these and it'll be game over!

 

[AFKAEjay]

I play stereo when I can…at home I use a “big speaker” and a “small” speaker on either side of me. Nice sidecatch is that the volume between them is sort of an EQ…more bass?…turn up the big speaker..and vice versa offcourse.

Reasons at home:
- It’s a nice hot shower of sound

Reasons at the gig:
- it’s a nice hot shower of sound
- it lessens the impact of speakerbeam a bit.
- cause I have 2 sources to point at something, it’s easier to manage stage volume (getting it right for everyone, including myself)

Practical:
I have 3 combos I use live, a 15w, a 25w and a 50w…when I play stereo I obviously take 2…but for supersmall occasions I take the 15w, when I need nuclear I take the 25 and the 50. #mixandmatchtillyougetwhatyouneed

 

[[Nathan]]

For plugins and mixing stereo is mandatory (one instance of a plugins processing stereo channels)

For jamming through a cab I’ve just never been bothered with stereo. I also play heavier punk/metal stuff so the need isn’t really there for me.
There are definitely some genres/tones like long ambient cleans which would sound huge through stereo.

If you can play through a stereo rig and see if the sound is worth the hassle that’s probably the best way to make a decision

 

[timbuck3]

Stereo effects loops for me

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Stereo effects poops for me

Fixed. Not that you'll ever buy anything to plug into a stereo effects poop

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Strictly in the context of playing guitar, mono for me. I've been trying to play through guitar cabs more lately, either the greeny 2x12 or Creambackatana at home.

 

[maguchi]

Naah, I don't think it matters much to people in the audience and from where I stand in relation to the speakers I wouln't hear the stereo effect.

 

[CakeEater]

Yes, I love stereo, and I find it has its utilities, even if I have to play mono. For example, when I play stereo, I use two identical amps, and I have full-width stereo effects both before and after the amps. I also use a stereo IR of a V30 412 and a Greenback 412 mixed into one.

However, if I need to use a mono signal, I use the original source IRs panned hard left and hard right, so that my left and right signal for my wet effects sound different, and then I sum them to one. I find that using the two different IRs greatly mitigates any phasing issues with the wet effects. And because some effects ping-pong a bit, you get to hear the left and the right via the IRs, even though it's all coming down the center.

Either of these approaches work great, the point being that stereo effects cascading to each other summed down to mono still has its benefits, and if you want to avoid some phasing issues, try using different IRs for left and right.

 

[Byrdman]

Simple guy = Simple rig. Less is more, so mono for me. If I recorded and/or used a lot of chorus and delays, it would probably be in stereo though.

 

[metropolis_4]

Yup. Even these days you give a FOH Engineer two XLRs for guitar and they be looking
at you like, "Oh, you one of them guys, eh?"

Obviously, if you are a national or international act and have some pull this is not an
issue. If you are anyone else, then Mono it is and will forever be.

I was just talking to a FOH engineer about this yesterday at sound check. It was a good size venue that gets well known national touring acts come through.

He told me the thing that annoys him most is when guitarists tell him they want stereo, but then they don’t do anything that actually uses stereo.

If you’re gonna make me set up stereo sends for you, you’d better use it

 

[Achilles]

I only played live once using stereo. Had my shiny new ART SGE and played a house party with it and a 1x12 on each side of our 'stage'.
Drummer told me if I ever use stereo again he would kill me. We played a lot of fast and really tight stuff and he said the stereo
spread was totally messing him up. Bass player didn't dig so much of my stuff coming out of his side of the stage either.

 

[la szum]

I was just talking to a FOH engineer about this yesterday at sound check. It was a good size venue that gets well known national touring acts come through.

He told me the thing that annoys him most is when guitarists tell him they want stereo, but then they don’t do anything that actually uses stereo.

If you’re gonna make me set up stereo sends for you, you’d better use it