I played the SACD of Nat King Cole's 'After Midnight' to a friend the other day to show off my hi-fi. He was amazed when half way through I casually mentioned it was all in mono. It lacked nothing and was perfectly recorded just as it was.
I recently discovered my older son had become a fan of Miles Davis so when I ordered a 10 album set of recordings from the 1950s I ordered a set for him too. My son was equally surprised by the existence of really first class recording before the era of multi-channel recordings.
I’ve been buying as many mono jazz albums as I can. Some of them just blow me away! I grew up as a teenager in the 60s, so I do remember mono. Then , like most were swept away with stereo. Now in my mid 70s, I just love listening to mono.
Absolutely great presentation and topic. I'm on a mono journey.. with a high efficiency single (2-way) speaker, corner loading, no baffle-step problem, no phase cancellation of stereo setups and indeed room filling music.. it takes 2-3 weeks to get used to it but it's immensely satisfying and I feel it puts the focus on the music itself.
I rather listen to a mono recording than a not very good mixed stereo recording (which many are), that was the main reason that there was a mono switch on the amps in the 70's, thanks for the video.
Hi Harley. We may actually be kindred spirits, or share some hi-fi oriented DNA. My late father was one of those enthusiasts who poured over specialist magazines on hi-fi amplifier and loudspeaker design. In my basement is a sand-damped homemade speaker cabinet encasing a single large Wharfdale speaker. He had assembled a one stereo and one mono power amplifier (valves), and I believe his stereo preamp was a kit from Lafayette Radio. My own speaker-building bug occurred in my teens. There was a British trained (by the BBC) CBC Montreal technician who had built a pair of speaker cabinets using plans that had originated with the BBC. Ultimately when I was nearing the completion of my MBA I acquired a pair of Harbeth loadspeakers to go with my Quad transistorized components: FM3 tuuner, 33 Control Unit, and 405 Current Dumping amplifier. The icing on the cake was an early 1980 Oracle Turntable -- and was a perfect deck for all the vinyl I would acquire in the 70s up until the disappearance of new LPs from the high street. I am leading to my point -- Like you, I played strings, guitar and violin, and later in my life I sang in choirs, and even in an underground staging of HMS in Riyadh. If there is a point to this, I believe I have excellent pitch and excellent hearing. Here is my point -- mono is for the most part easier on the ears. There is strain on one's brain when you record the same players with two or more mics, and using one mic with pan pots, isn't really stereo. It is simply one mic aimed at two speakers. Writing you from Canada...Terry
Mono is important because of two things: our brain expect every sound coming from a single source/object (to locate it, with our two ears); and instruments sound in mono, barring some asymetry negligible at some distance. Many stereo mixing engineers try to put us in the center of the band/orchestra as if we where in first row or in the middle of them playing. But the experience of a concert mostly is we hearing from some distance from a single mono source (the stage) plus the interaction with the ambient, be it a room or a open place (even there we hear reflections). A good stereo mix is good for headphoneson your head or 'headphones on the distance' (stereo speakers), hence its individual listener. Bad stereo mixes just plays around like toys with the image, as you described. Finally a stereo mix like in the old days with the voices on one chane and the musics on the other chanel may have been a better understanding of its purpose: lets put the voice chanel in front and the band chanel at the back and the experience would be the band playing in your room.
Until stereo became the standard, there were indeed discrete mono and stereo mixes made for many recordings. I agree that well mixed mono recordings can actually produce a depth to the music that is sometimes missing in stereo mixes where width of soundstage was the priority. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Thanks for the nice reminder!
Very good presentation on mono vs. stereo. I agree that a quality 1957 home audio system would likely have sounded very well. By the time of the late 50s, the mono records were the evolution of recording techniques. That is one of the reasons they sound better than the early stereo vinyl records. Michael Fremer is a recognized authority on audio and records, and he promotes the album “ Masterpieces by Ellington” as a great example of mono music, that blows away audiences. Thank you- for your knowledge and presentation style!
When I was young in the 1960s I had little money. As a classical music fan, all I could afford was LPs at bargain prices, which were nearly all in mono. But there were some wonderful performances by conductors such as Bruno Walter and Sir Thomas Beecham. We can miss some real treasure if we assume that newest (in stereo) is always best.
You’re absolutely right. My dad bought me a wind up gramophone when I was three and loads of old 78’s - they were almost for free in those days. That was my classical education! Old recordings give us a reference point and can connect us to the composer, just as well as any. Thanks for sharing your story.
When I have heard good mono, it always sounds like it has more body to the music. With the rising cost of power/electricity these days, we may see more acoustic playing in small settings, it really does sound magical. It hit me one day walking through a shopping mall and a small string quartet was playing acoustically, sounded amazing and I'm not into classical.
My old Denon PMA-757 in my second system has a mono option. I'm going to try some new music (electronic) in mono. Thanks for another great video---good history lesson.
I recently listened to A master recording of the Rolling Stones in MONO …….. it sounded like I was in the middle of the recording Studio with the band… Some MONO recordings are absolutely brilliant!
Excellent video. When listening to orchestras in mono I hear the bass and cellos on the right and violins on the left, as in the concert hall. Psychological or not it sounds very good. Your point about stereo having a narrow sweet spot is very true. Mono fills rooms more evenly. The problem is playing mono on stereo systems. True mono cartridges are expensive. Some sound engineers are clueless about Classical music and make awful stereo. The wandering minstrel effect drives me mad.
I really appreciate your take on this theme as I think exactly like that. Stereo had became to boring and unenjoyable (at least to me) . My late stereo system (Primare electronics/ Sonus Faber) was so "analytical and revealing" that got me stressed . I couldn t relax as my brain was always processing left/right signal and trying to pinpoint everything. Imagine my stress listening the last wonderfull album by Trevor Pinnock and stressed trying to pinpoint its performance playing Bach "The Well Tempered Clavier". A one instrument performance that stereo gimmick persist making it fly L/R ! After a while the fatigue was such that had to end my listening session. Thats Stereo ! As a result I sold every stereo gear and ,now, get much more music from mono/1 speaker system. Naim Mu-So is one good example or what about the B&O "Shape" wall music with no sweet spots ? If I want to heard stereo material I have a good headphone system and engage myself in "a private session". Otherwise I play my music as ambient/background and listening all day with no stress where s the "sweet spot". I was born in 1966 so didnt have any "mono music ecperience. After experience Stereo almost all my life I am a die hard mono defensor . THANK YOU for your testimony.
Dear Vasco, thank you for you kind appreciation. You make some very interesting and useful points here. I totally get where you are coming from. Two channel stereo for classical music is absolutely wonderful when the recording, mixing and mastering are all perfectly aligned, but when they are not, great performances can be totally ruined, especially if one IS sitting in the sweet spot. You have inspired me to consider this topic even further. Thank you.
This is the first I have heard someone connected to the audio industry speak about mono sound in this way. Great video even though it’s too short. We were also close to making Quadraphonic sound systems routinely available. I recall that early Pink Floyd Live shows often used Quadraphonic sound that panned the auditorium.
John Lennon said that the Beatles Mono records sounded much better than their Stereo records. I just found this channel and enjoy your commentary. It is enlightening and entertaining. For many decades, I believed that stereo records were superior to mono records because that's what advertisers told us. That changed about a year ago and I now seek out mono records.
This was a great video and recently, the topic of mono vs. stereo has been popping up online especially how mono is making a come back. You made a great point on how having two speakers is a disadvantage for a group of people during a party where only one or two are able to sit at the sweet spot. Having one speaker made sense as you mentioned. And the point that I want to make is that lots of Bluetooth speaker systems only have one speaker. And it was only a few years back when cellphones started playing stereo sound while most are still mono sound on speakerphone because I know lots of people don’t even listen to music on earphones and just directly on speakerphone mode (which again, mostly is mono). And for me, I’ve discovered only using one earbud when listening to podcasts or non-music material.
@@PearlAcoustics And I failed to mention that awhile ago, I’ve had complaints about my videos where my viewers say they can’t hear the audio very well especially dialogue. Of course, I try my best to properly mix the audio the best I can using my earphones. Turns out the dialogue can be hard to hear along side with background music on a cellphone’s external speakers. So lately, I’ve ditched editing the audio with my earphones and adjust the sound mix according to how it comes out as mono on a cellphone’s external speakers. The sound is horrible but I’ve discovered that most of my users watch my videos like this.
@@vangmx indeed, way too many people mix speech and audio on headphones. You really need to do this on monitor loudspeakers so your ears hear both channels at once. In this case, it’s not a question of stereo or mono but balance. + mobile ones process sound very differently than HiFi systems.
I've been an audio fan ever since I was a kid. My dad was into it in a big way. I started playing piano by ear at four years old, and in my late teens was a synth player in an eighties rock band and did sound for that band as well, and convinced that band to run in stereo. I also did a two year college degree in recording engineering around that time. These days I sing, and we go out and do a lot of karaoke. The sound at these karaoke joints is almost always horrid, and mono. On the rare occasion, probably more by accident than by design, you get a guy running in stereo with an appropriate sub, and boom! It's truly a beautiful thing. In my experience in small clubs, the difference between folks running in mono vs stereo is stark and obvious. The stereo examples not only sound significantly better, you will notice that even in a loud environment, you can still talk to your people in a speaking voice (not shouting) and you can actually make out what the host is saying when he speaks through the system. I don't buy the notion that the impact of stereo disappears in a club or live environment. I have witnessed its beauty in live environments (my band included) and it really does make a significant difference. I have found it significantly better no matter where you sit, so long as you're somewhere out in front of the pair. Anyway, that's my experience with stereo vs mono. I am a huge advocate of stereo whenever your listeners can get in front of the pair, and the distance to those pairs is somewhat reasonable.
Great video, summing up most of my personal experience! I've been on the high-end Mono-trail for 20+ years now and Stereo generally turns me off wherever I hear it. And yes, you can get home-level Hifi in clubs, but only in Mono. And yes, the psychoacoustics are creating a wide, deep, detailed soundstage (no matter where you are positioned), but your mind is doing the work, tidying up the production subconsciously and without effort. Try a really good mono system and learn, that 95% of all Music does not need stereo. Stereo is for solitary listening alone, Mono is the brilliant way to share music as well as enjoying it on your own. My personal choice, with a perfectly analogue, tube amped system, sometimes even playing with a rotary mixer for best personal experience: making the system go away altogether.
Fantastic video and excellent insight. If you go to see an orchestra play, they’re not mic’d up, so up close it’s going to sound like stereo, but the further back you go, the more the orchestra will start to sound like the music is then mono. Janos from the channel Real World Audio has been doing a bunch of videos lately about mono recordings, and it’s definitely worth checking out. Thanks for the vid. 🎹🎶🔊😊
Listening to my stereo speakers 8ft apart from the sweet spot 8ft away, I have the sensation that the whole music is emanating from the middle (turntable?) rather that from left or right speakers. End of the day, the ‘listening’ per se sounds virtualy mono from the sweet spot. Nice review sir.
You are absolutely correct. In fact there are instances where mono recordings sound far more balanced than the stereo versions. As cited, the early Beatles stuff being a classic example.
Love this. Stereo is totally artificial but we love magic tricks. Stereo is analogous to liner perspective drawing in the graphic arts. Illusionary space is captivating but it only works by anchoring oneself to a single spot, not moving one's head, and ideally having only one eye. Great video.
Yes i've found as i've upgraded my system & listen to older recordings from 50's & 60's in mono, you hear more musical details the attack & decay of the instruments, and this is with a stereo cartridge playing mono tracks.
Some of the best sounding albums in my collection are mono It's also really interesting to hear certain records you are accustomed to hearing in stereo getting mono versions and hearing the sometimes extreme differences between the two
Thanks for another very thoughtful video, Harley. I built my own first stereo amplifier in the early months of 1969, when I was a college freshman in the city of Chicago, from a Heathkit. The Heath Company was from Benton Harbor, Michigan, right across the lake from where I was, in a campus on the Lake Michigan shore, at the northern edge of the city. You could actually see Benton Harbor, on a clear day, from the tenth floor dorm room I was in just a year later. And one more thing: thanks for the McPherson album recommendation! Very sweet! All the best!
This was very interesting! When mixes get in the way of the music - I have a habit of lying down on the floor in front of one speaker! Mono records played with a mono cartridge can have a very solid sound with power and drive often absent from stereo mixes. Using the proper stylus shape is very important. Joe Collins has a good video on stylus types for contemporary stereo records, older mono, 78 rpm and styrene records. The right stylus and cartridge will sound better and not cause damage to your records.
This was lovely, refreshing and thought provoking. Thanks! Never given mono much thought, and have not noticed some of the gimmicky L/R mixing where pieces of instruments get pulled apart. Have to listen for that.
GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU HARLEY 🤗 AND HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL 🤗 You make some good points and I wonder if you went back you would be disappointed 🤔 Being a little older I remember those days😁 I think IMHHO …that binaural microphones are AMAZING and recording engineers are the cause of your and many others complaints 🤔😞 but this problem is solved by there being so many recordings out there already to satisfy most everyone …PLEASE …tell me where I am missing something 🤷♂️💚💚💚
Hi - thanks for your kind words. I am doing fine thanks. Indeed there should be no valid reason for ‘the wandering minstrel’ in modern recordings. And indeed, there are hundreds of versions of Bach’s cello suites to choose from. That’s not the issue. The issue is that I really loved the performance of the soloist in the version I was referring to. And that you can’t replace. But if I can ever get my hands on the master, I will happily re-master it and all will be well 😀. Indeed, the old systems were probably not as good as I remember but the QUAD 1957 electrostatic was pretty good. Enjoy the music.
Thank you for this. I was recently relaxing and enjoying listening to some jazz club tracks on my stereo system until a set of bongo drums, which imaged at being eight feet wide, ruined the nice image I had going. I could only think about microphones and proper mixing for the rest of the evening.
Since becoming deaf in my left ear (overnight) several years ago I’ve had no choice but to listen in mono. Most frustrated that there’s no stereo/mono switch on today’s amplifiers. And combining channels full-time does ruin playback of some recordings as you point out. I’m still battling on and spending as much time listening to music as possible. Nice to hear your thoughts once more. Like you I grew up with mono before being converted, often reluctantly, to stereo. I still prefer the mono mix of _Disraeli Gears_ to the stereo mix.
@@PearlAcoustics It remains one of my favourite albums from that era though of course my tastes in music have diversified considerably since. Also another annoyance in some early stereo recordings was the ping-pong effect that quite ruined some unless the mono switch was activated.
Thank you for such a terrific discussion on an often overlooked & misinterpret subject. I not only agree with everything you had to say but I went to extremes in support of your views. I actually have a separate dedicated mono system along with a completely separate stereo system. As I came to realize I had close to 3k mono records in a 10k record collection, I new it was time to take mono more seriously. Once you heard a true mono cartridge on a true mono system, there is no going back.
@@PearlAcoustics Hi Harley, nice for you to take the time to reply. My journey started back in 1978 & it sure has been interesting. In honesty I've been lucky enough to experience a lot of great equipment, although their is still plenty to explore. My main reference stereo speakers are the Tannoy Churchill Widebands driven by the Air Tight 211 SET amps, along with an Art Audio PX25 driving the super tweeters. This has been my main stay for more then 20 years now. My mono system is a bit custom that consists essentially of an Altec Lancing 19 with the addition of the TAD ET 703 super tweeters ( a gamer changer tweeter }, custom active crossover, Air Tight ATM 4's on the mids & tweeters & currently a Pass XA 25 on the base. Of coarse I am a dedicated record guy & a true mono cartridge makes all the difference in the world I realize I layed out quite a bit & don't wan't to get too long winded here but would be happy to answer any questions you may have. I always enjoy your videos & great insight, not only your knowledge but your terrific style as well. I really look forward to hearing your speakers at some point. All the best!
@@512bb Dear Scott, with a pedigree, such as you have it would be an honour for us to have you listen to our loudspeakers. If you write to us via the website, you never know, we might be able to arrange something. What a fabulous pair of systems you have! Enjoy
@@PearlAcoustics Thank you Harley for your most kind words, I don't know about pedigree, just a lot of listening, good connections & some luck. I bet you'll really like this though with your back ground... My uncle was Frank Zappa's manager & for some reason we really hit it off, keep in mind I was only a 17 year old kid at the time but Frank & I That & 3.00would talk about geo global affairs & the guys would kinda of laugh at us. None the less Frank bought me my first set of home speaker back in 1978, JBL 4311b's which were in most of the studios at the time & all the guys had at home, still have them, how's that for pedigree! That & 3.00 will get me a cup of good coffee I guess.
Your historical look was convincing and insightful, indeed. Thank you, I like the way you talk. One of my favourite records in mono is "DRUM SUITE" by Art Blakey's Percussion Ensemble. Initially released in 1957, the first side demonstrates impressively how good mono can sound.
I've been playing with mono through an Armstrong Stereo 55 (in mono) and a Decca Corner Horn. It has the Wharfdale Super 8 in currently but I have a Lowther PM6 to put in once it's re-coned. I plan to make a few different baffle boards and have fun with some different drivers.
Really informative and interesting and as always delivered in your classic style. I have original Leak Stereo 30 Plus and Stereo 70 amps which I switch in my Hi-Fi system together with a Dual 1019 and Leak sandwich mini speakers (the amps and speakers with new capacitors and the speakers with new crossovers as I have a friend who specialises in amps and speakers from the era) and they both have the buttons to go into MONO mode…..I will have a listen to the Mono albums I have and take note of what I think……born in 1966 I have records dating back from when I was a kid buying records so I have the chance to test what you are saying as I never gave it much thought as something ‘not normal’
"But it's a fiddle, isn't it?" YES! Many thanks for this -- especially for your observations about bizarro imaging and acoustic instruments being amplified by glorified "P.A. systems." It's bonkers. I was also born in 1957 and I remember shopping for records with my parents in the early 1960s when, for example, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass albums (vying with the Beatles for top of the charts!) were available in both stereo and mono -- and I think there was a slight premium (maybe $1 US?) for the stereo versions in the early days, pre-1966 or so. The "hard panning" of some early stereo recordings was intended to exaggerate and thereby show off the two-channel technology (in the Audio Fidelity Hi-Fi Stereo Demonstration and Sound Effects sense). But it was also a way to maximize the "stereo illusion" if, like my parents, you had a stereo "console" at home, a piece of furniture with a speaker built into each end. I still have their Sears console stereo (in maple, "Early American" style, no longer with turntable or speakers in it), which I use in a back bedroom as a handy storage cabinet for towels and linens! It's ugly, but has a sentimental value, I guess. My home system now is an array of vintage consumer hi-fi gear, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s -- tube and solid state. I even stream (well, I play CDs burned to FLAC or ALAC files through Roon) through a DAC and into this old equipment of the kind I remember from the so-called Golden Age of Home Stereo (The Fisher, McIntosh, Sansui, Pioneer, Sony, Harman-Kardon...). I once set up my speakers on top of tall bookshelves near the ceiling, facing each other catty corner across my living room. It certainly wasn't according to spec for proper stereo imaging, but it sure did "fill the room" with music, whether the recordings were in mono or stereo. In recent years (since adopting a more conventional/symmetrical arrangement) I've heard late '50s/early '60s mono recordings of acoustic jazz (on Blue Note or Riverside, for example) that do precisely what you describe, creating an astonishingly deep and wide soundstage that extends beyond, behind, and in front of the speakers themselves. And, of course, if you're listening to, say, a piano trio (whether Bill Evans or Haydn), the musicians are pretty much clustered in one place anyway -- especially if you're sitting in the audience some distance away! Fancy, multi-miked "stereo" sometimes puts you right in the middle of them (see "quadrophonic") -- or even inside the piano or the drum set -- which can be a cheap thrill, but it's not realistically the way anyone but the musicians themselves (or the rat in the tom-tom) actually experiences the music. Besides, many modern studio recordings have no desire to "recreate a live sound," since the musicians are recorded on multiple tracks and edited, mixed and layered over weeks or months without all of them ever being present and performing in the same space at the same time. Sorry if I got carried away, but I'm very glad you brought up these concerns!
I have a single mono horn-speaker sound system that I listen to. It is deeply immersive in a way that is almost impossible with the distractions of stereo, although I do like listening to stereo recordings on headphones.
I like to try that out. I guess you have listen to a good hifi system with 2 speakers. Don't you miss the stereo effect ? I think your statement is very intereseting.
@@donpaps723 Thank you for the interest. The hornspeaker is something that I built myself out of bookbinders grey-board and laminated paper. It has a mouth 4ft across and behind its throat is a 6in alnico guitar speaker inside a small compression chamber. It runs on a battery powered class d chip amp on about 2 watts through a guitar eq pedal. I sit around 6-8ft away from it and listen to just about anything in my collection. It projects the music like it were a holographic ball of emotion, and i find myself so engaged with my own feelings as if the music is generated from within me, that I don’t miss the stereo effects of a dual speaker system at all. It seems somehow to be a more authentic experience for my friends who sit and listen to bespoke playlists that I put together for them. The whole structure is made of various forms of recycled paper and is light enough in weight to pick up with one hand, and can be built with the simplest of hand tools. I have plans to make a much bigger version, again in mono.
My favorite vinyl album for sound quality used to be the Brahms Double Concerto with Heifetz and Piatigorsky in mono. It had a wonderful coherence. If you go to an orchestral concert and aren’t in the middle of the first few rows, the sound is generally of the orchestra as a whole and more like mono than stereo. This is true of smaller groups too, such as piano trios, and for solo instruments stereo is pointless. Moreover, stereo,, as you pointed out, can be especially annoying on headphones. Some things may indeed sound better in stereo, with a wider soundstage, but a lot could be improved by going back to mono. I enjoyed your discussion.
I love mono recordings play through my Quad amps. The Beatles and even Doris Day sound fantastic. Very interesting point you make Harley, regarding live music /instruments being mic’d up. I realised this at a concert recently and it really put me off from enjoying the “live” sound
Growing up in the 60's, there was a big push to leave mono and to go stereo like going from a black and white TV to color. Mono just wasn't as good any more, so by the early 70's most all systems were stereo, and mono was considered old hat and in a lot of ways it was. Now lets zoom forward 50 years later, a new appreciation for mono grows, and part of that has to do with the newer systems and how much more they can produce from that sound. Did music recording reach it's peak in that period? I wonder.
Thanks for your interesting comment Mary. I think that recording techniques did continue to develop but the foundations developed in the late 50’s are still in use today. It’s just the equipment is so much better and more affordable today
This is great information! Some mono recordings are so good that I often don't realize or notice that they actually are mono. You also spoke about how some stereo recordings can be somewhat annoying. The Beatle's Help album is a great example of stereo done very well, and yet the Beatle's Rubber Soul album, which came out many months later, was disappointing sonically to me because the voices came out of the right speaker and instruments were coming from the left speaker. Each of these Beatles albums must have used different recording engineers. I often wish they would remix the Rubber Soul album.
Yes and finishing a high quality MONO stylus for my secondary turntable is a quest that seems to keep going on for all the audio file channels that I would follow and ask the question no one seems to be able to give a definitive answer I do use a clear audio stylus as my stereo pick up but every time I query someone about a mono stylus to suit the turntable for all those mono pressings and you are correct there were some phenomenal recordings everyone just disappears just thought I’d put it out there in case you may be able to shed some light on it since like me there were some applications where mono is the place to be
Thanks for your comment. There are loads of mono cartridges out there. I suggest you look up vinylengine.com, there’s a whole mine of information to be found there, or just choose a make you are familiar with and buy a mono cartridge from them.
Perhaps this is part of the allure of vinyl. With cartridges delivering only 25db or so of L/R separation across the audio band, we are hearing a more "mono" sound than digital media provides. Same true of fm radio with high blend to reduce noise. I wonder if anyone has rendered a mix for CD reducing L/R separation to make it sound more analogue.........
Nice subject Thanks sir, I am audio DIY person Technically If I want to add Mono /Stereo switch to my preamplifier then where's the position is right at Input of preamplifier or Output of Preamplifier??
Hi, thanks for your appreciation. I can’t really answer your question. Any switching at the front could be noisy, I suggest you contact the manufacturer. Also, realise that mono running through a Stereo pair is not ideal - and you could consider linking the inputs and running on one channel? This is a fun topic and you need to experiment, I am afraid.
One of the, for lack of a better word, funniest examples of überstereo is the recording of a grand piano, offering you the left hand / bass keys to your right ear and the treble keys to your left. Two instruments for the price of one.
Really interesting discussion, it's almost like it's never been allowed, good sound=stereo full stop! For context I have a modern turntable, amp and speakers worth around £2k total. I played a used LP, Samba So by Walter Wanderley. Sounded so spatial and room filling. Looked at the label, "also available in stereo"! Also you mentioned Sonos, I have their little Sonos One and sounds lovely, and then I think of rubbish like my "Fidelity" stereo record player I had as a teenager - really would have been far better to have had one half decent speaker than 2 awful ones! Maybe we should get the option of a mono system as well as a stereo system.
Pearl Acoustic I only hope that one day you will have the privilege to hear the unique Axial Triphonic from Lys audio, that uses a single signal and destroys the myth that stereo alone gives width and depth. Now in bonus you can also enjoy height. This axel is naturally cancelled with two stereo signals. This system allows all the scene presence without the cognitive effort of the brain that has to work to recreate this sound scene. A working brain has little energy left to embark and capture the emotion rendered by the performing artist. You do a good job.
We’ll I certainly have heard of a system, possibly demonstrated by your good self? But never seen it commercially. Not any of my colleagues. Indeed it would be very interesting to listen to and report on.
I've always thought about recording and mixing all tracks in mono, then play it back on a system that separates the frequencies(crossover) into 5 bands(sub, bass, lower mids, mids, high) with 5 speakers that corresponds to the frequency. You could then arrange the speakers to your liking and also have volume control over each one. Just a thought.
not sure that would work ;-) But why not give it a try and see what happens! I always record each track in mono and then pan them, accordingly in post production. Enjoy the music.
@@PearlAcoustics Thanks so much for your input. I have always been a bit of a dreamer, problem is I don't have the funds to take on such a project, but it would be nice to try. Now I'm curious to hear why you think it would not work? :)
@@crtgamer2355 I think essentially you're talking about a 5--way speaker but with each driver having its own enclosure. My two cents is that this type of system would have terrible time alignment and peaks and valleys at the crossover points.
@@baktashzameer4193 Thank you for that explanation, the time alignment will be an issue but because it's mono, I do not think this will be detrimental to the sound, the peaks and valleys on the other hand could be an issue, but I think someone who is more knowledgeable than I am, could iron out the kinks and make something that works.
Another fantastic , informative video Harvey, I know that stereo works but I also find it hard to believe that the smallest thing of a stylus attached to a single rod can separate the two channels from a record groove.
Good point. The sound quality has to be compromised to some extent when the stylus is moving in much more complex patterns for stereo from a vinyl record. A mono groove is always going to be easier to track.
"Please Please Me." If you read Geoff Emerick's "Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles" you will find a very sensible explanation of the mono/stereo phenomenon on the first Beatles albums. They always did a mono mix first, knowing that the records were almost always heard on radio. And radio at that time was often medium wave (AM) and therefore MONO! The stereo mix was then made later, sometimes quite unangaged. And in the (now old) ears of lovers, the mono records sound better, more coherent, more closed.
When you said we already listen to mono and brought up car I WS rooting for you to say earlier t v ,as a child my parents 5foot long wood box console sterio had a push button mono option but as you spoke of sterio beatles albums I was 3-4year old use to be fun to camp out on either side to hsve no singing or no drum s just fun option that way
Actually the original "stereo" system was a Western Electric radio system that used 3 speakers with an added center speaker much like the surround sound of today... Having a center channel makes a sound stage for everyone in the room... The original stereo mixes for the Beatles were an after thought and the overwhelming amount of time was spent on the mono mix so they should sound better...
I went to a concert recently in Antwerp (Koningin Elisabethzaal) and they had put microphones on the violins. I got so annoyed by this, that I almost quit the concert. It was awful, but nobody seemed to care. Being an audiophile isn't always a blessing. De Bijloke in Gent is being sold as an acoustic marvel since its renovation. It sounds terrible and everybody praises it. Almost all the time, I think of my stereo being so much better than live events. I don't get it when people talk about recreating live sound in their living room. Live sound being better than my living room, is very rare. Many people don't realize that listening to a live classical concert a few rows back gives you a quasi mono sound.
This is baffling. This venue (the Koningin Elisabethzaal in Antwerp) doesn't need mics, it is splendid by itself. I attended a concert shortly after it was reopened and was amazed by how well I could hear the violin player cough, even if I was seated at the top of the hall. Every little touch on the strings, I could hear it as if the player was sitting in front of me. It's a shame your experience was ruined by unnecessary usage of mics.
@@yvesthomas2237 Yes, I was baffled as well. Although not exactly classical music, Wim Mertens tends more to classical than anything else. The venue as you say has a very good sound. I witnessed the same amplification horror a few years ago with pianist Jef Neve and a Bose amplification. we were up close while he played. Honestly it sounded better in the toilets downstairs. That was remarkable. I don’t know what gets in their mind to amplify when it’s clearly not needed. Not the same concert but here you see the same use of microphones. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sXQd4q0nqvk.html
That’s incredible. I also would be very annoyed. People need to learn to sit in silence and listen to music, not themselves talking. If they can do that - there is no need for microphones at all
It's interesting how mono came back in a big way through bluetooth speakers and people blasting music out of their tiny phone. I can't listen to certain music on headphones. The Ramones have Johnny and Dee Dee hard panned left and right on guitar and bass. You're asking my brain to do some work in order for this to sound nice. If you wanted to mimic where they stand on stage, fine, pan each a little, but I want all of the instruments in both speakers.
Interesting indeed. Maybe something for the future? ;-)
2 года назад
@@PearlAcoustics Not. It is not correct to make this analogy. Photography is monofocal. Painting, (what kind of painting are we talking about?) may not be monofocal. Practically since the beginning of photography, "stereophotography" was invented, but to see this photograph you need a device that is not very practical. But (monofocal) photography to be "effective" does not need to be "stereo". I could even say that on the contrary. Photography on a flat sheet of paper has left and right, up and down, near and far. It may even have depth of field, which the sound doesn't seem to have. So photography is somehow mono and stereo at the same time. Mono because it is monofocal and stereo because it shows what is recorded in a solid way. Photography is very similar to audio. Think from the moment of capture to playback, many moments are similar.
You're so correct about mono.unfortunate ly some of the 60s recording had accentuated L/R I think more to sell records but ultimately become bloody annoying.Nothing wrong with a well recorded mono
I too was born in 1957 and recall the type of mono “immersion” (my term) systems of my youth. This video took me back there and reminded me of the “music is everywhere” effect. Being more exposed since to stereo as the norm, I had become a bit brazen towards mono and this helped me snap back to a better perspective. I will be pulling out some 45a in honor of this video. Do you find a mono cartridge does a better job creating proper mono that simply a switch on an amp? Thanks again. P.S. I too have a channel about music here in RU-vid!
Sourcing iriginal mono. which were later turned into stereo(how I don't know) is difficult and expensive. For example Duke Elligto and Johhny Hodges SIDE BY SIDE. WILL TRY AND GET ONE TO SEE. I HAVE QUITE A FEW MONO RECORDINGS. YES U R RIGHT.
Your example was recorded at Nola Studios in New York which was a two track studio at the time. Side By Side was released as a stereo recording first in 1959 and as a mono mix down in 1960.
I don't just agree with you about the omission of the microphones. I go further: real music should be performed without electricity. Of course, this is only possible in small rooms. Arena tours must then be dispensed with. A positive side effect is the security of really hearing real music again and not AI.
I think you might be surprised. An opera singer can sing over a full orchestra into a massive auditorium with over 2000 in and they can be heard - no problem
I've always thought Stereo was a bit of a lost cause for 99% of homes. I'd far rather have a mono hifi to be perfectly honest. Just one speaker to have to find the perfect position for. I've even wondered what would happen if I merely wired one speaker to both outputs (but I've never actually tried). I've given up on best location of speakers in favour of somewhere they don't get knocked over. When you're in an 1800's terraced former farm workers' cottage, living rooms tend to be thoroughfares, so the conventional idea of finding a place where you can have a few seats somewhere near the sweet spot but also have the speakers safe from clumsy visitors and the hearth and not too near the corners of the room is a bit pie in the sky. My (Creek 4040) amp does have a MONO button, but it also filters out high frequencies, and is a bit of low-cost workaround to improve listening enjoyment when listening to 78s.
Hi, unfortunately, you cannot link a speaker to both outputs. Buy one thing you can do is to experiment with a high quality radio, or Portable loudspeaker. Try moving it not convenient locations in your complex interior. See if it works for you. Depending on what source material you are listening to, it may be sufficient. If not, reach out to a loudspeaker company that can supply just one and some adjustments to your amplifier set up will be needed but it is fairly easily done. Feel free to reach out via enquiries at pearl acoustics, if you need more help. Good luck!
I am Caribbean and am used to sound systems that played mainly mono that could never be equalled by stereo systems be they high fidelity or ultra expensive rigs!
The things you are talking about with the cymbals and the cello, those are things I can really hung up on when listening to music. For me the two main prevalent problems are drums and piano. Hard panning sometimes makes it sound like the cymbals are the size if a observatory dish and that you could walk across the piano, also like the toms are located several metres from each other. Listening to Chucho Valdéz the other day, I couldn't shake the image of his head being bigger than my entire body... The same goes for overdubbed effects that are hard panned and where the engineer seem to have missed putting them on the room bus, making it so that everything else is projected in to the "stereo image" behind, between and outside of the speakers with these outliers desperately clinging to the speakers themselves. If I'm in that kinda mood it can really annoy me.
I remember that in the beginning 7inch records were mono and sounded more than acceptable, maybe engineers should mix records to work and sound mono as live music is basically mono and depended on where one sits in a room full of artists playing and or singing music,..
When I was looking for a small tube amp a while ago, since I had sold everything when I became a father, I came across a little pearl for little money. It's a converted Linear Diatonic. The circuit largely corresponds to the Leak TL/12. So I hooked up a single speaker and connected the stereo channels together with resistors. What can I say? When I listened to singer-songwriter music, I arrived in the world of mono. But the deletions you mentioned could certainly become a problem. Is there something intelligent from the field of DSPs to remedy this? Greetings from Switzerland and many thanks for your stimulating contribution.
Dear Felix, in the ideal world, Mono is mono, ie one channel from front to back. I will be doing more experiments on how to get the best results in a stereo / mono system. But for now, please make sure you have adapted your amplifier correctly. I am not sure what it is you have done. But get good advice. Try and find some Leak forums,
Great thought experiment here! As a broadcast audio enthusiast I prefer or often require a mono switch to reduce noise on an FM tuner. Maybe my next system will be mono. Can I buy a single Sibelius?
I just use a stereo stylus but for serious mono listening, one is advised to have a mono cartridge. So two pickup arms are needed, or two turntables, or a pickup arm with interchangeable head shells
The audio manufacturer's claim "it sounds like live music" drives me crazy. Have you heard "live" music lately? Just about any competent home stereo sounds better than most of the amplified live music I hear at clubs and in concerts. I agree with you on the early stereo Beatles' recordings. They sound ok through the speakers, but give me a headache listening on headphones. I would appreciate a list of mono records that I should look out for.
Hi Paul, I think we are completely aligned. All that nearly everyone hears is the PA system! Let’s see if we can compile a list of great (available) mono recordings
@@PearlAcoustics I have been binge watching your youtube channel. I don't know if this is a new notion or some past fancy, but you mentioned maybe getting into the vintage audio gear market. I have a killer system downstair, but wanted something different in my bedroom and home office. I went vintage and I am happy I did. I bought a Marantz 1060 Integrated amp and a pair of Dynaco A25 speakers. My cost was under $1000. I couldn't be happier. I am now putting my office system together. I have a Yamaha CA 1010 Integrated amp, a pair of KEF 101 speaker and a KEF Kube. Again, under a thousand dollars. Well worth your time.
I can understand artists that wanted their personal instruments also to be highlighted would prefer MONO over stereo. I have a great system that does offer a mono option (Pioneer SPEC I from 1980) and I use it all the time. I can tell a difference on how post 1968 stereo music is processed and I have limited hearing range too, but distortion is very evident. On pre 1967 music or MONO recorded it's not as flanged or distorted when processing. I didn't see if you had analog or digital preference video out? If not, can I recommend your opinion. Thank You :D
Hi Patrick, I grew up with analogue, it was always hassle, cutting and splicing magnetic tape. Ecologically it was also way more expensive. Studio time was expensive. Analogue, at its very best can be mind blowing, but… it’s noise floor was always a problem, especially when we started having to split everything to two channels. And working from copies of master tapes etc.
Interesting. I have an old Tannoy speaker. Maybe I should build a mono-horn system out of it. Many young people listen to mono via their bluetooth speakers and they don't care. I never thought about it, but is one loudspeaker enought......
@@PearlAcoustics Now i have designed and builded a back loaded horn loudspeaker based on an old 8” Tannoy speaker with an internal tweeter. The horn frequency is 85 Hz and there is a transmission line effect at 70 Hz. So bas below 70 Hz is dropping fast. But that said it is super fast and I was surprised. Well i builded a 2 Watt poweramp with a internal stereo to mono converter. Listening to my music collection in mono with this loudspeaker placed in front of me was interesting. Not bad at all. It resets bad stereo recordings but also destroys the good ones. For backgrond listening I think mono is perfect..
I follow the audiophile channels but as my circumstances do not allow the ideal setup, I am not too bothered about the stereo effect. However the music itself, that's a much more serious matter. In a similar way I am not too fussed about live amplified performances as I have tinnitus already and have to protect my hearing with earplugs. If I do go to a live performance, I try to be close to the mixing desk so as to avoid some experiences I have had.
