Need help setting up your listening space? Check out this free resource I've created for you... Speaker Placement Guide: audiouniversityonline.com/speaker-placement-guide/
Wrong. Incomplete and missing the KEY difference. Stereo is: 1) The unique capture of impact (direct) sounds AND capture of reverberant (indirect) sounds, 2) the unique playback and cohesion of BOTH the impact AND reverberant sounds. Stereo has two unique wave forms: "mid" and "side" channels. These are the key characteristics of "Stereo". Without them you have "dual-mono." Enhanced reverberation and enhanced direct is what makes stereo, stereo. So ONE speaker always reproduces these key elements (assuming they are encoded) of a stereo signal. Yes, you can listen to stereo with one speaker. (Although not ideally because you need L,R mid and side to cohere properly to achieve the audio illusion of spacial dimension.). Stereo is not "2 speakers". Stereo uses unique sound waves that mono does not. See Alan Blumlien's equations for detailed information.
I've found that I can draw attention to various tones by giving them motion around the stereo field. This makes use of our natural instinct for tracking sound. Conversely, I can pull attention away from some tones by scattering them, like frogs in a swamp. If you move an arpeggio evenly from one side to the other, it tends to draw attention. Whereas the same arpeggio that has its notes randomly placed will not.
The last point he mentions at 6:02 is very key when it comes to professional sound systems. Yet, I often see DJ's and nightclubs always making the same mistake and setting up a stereo system. When I had installed sound systems in the 90's, I always had club owners scratching their heads when they say, "Why not go with stereo?" My response was what this fellow said. It will be very rare that you would be in a position to enjoy a full stereo image. Further going with a mono system cuts down on the amount of amplifiers needed. So on a system with two speakers and two subwoofers, a DJ could use one two channel amplifier instead of two. With one channel handling the full range speakers and one handling the bass / subwoofers. Granted in these days, it isn't common to find new professional systems that do not have the amplifiers built into the speakers and given that most mixing consoles are set up to output in stereo, it is just easier to set up and take down the system. Further, you have built in redundancy as if a speaker, or the amplifier in the speaker goes bad, you still have another speaker to work with. Going with a mono system would come more into play if you have a situation in which you have quite a few speakers to play sound from such as a store in which one would use an distributed system such as a 70volt line. These systems are almost always mono.
Just because your not dead center you can still benefit from a stereo image. Stereo tracks played back on a PA system for performing sound dull and lifeless. More and more musicians that are using stereo backing tracks today play them back in stereo while performing. A band does not using a track certainly does not need a stereo PA system.
still confused..so for my purposes..i dont use real amps but record in Reaper using Neural DSP Plugins..do i need to use mono or stereo when recording electric guitar? Thanks ? Thanks
When you mic up a piano, you often do it in stereo. Bass and guitar cabinets are typically mono. Plus, keyboards also sometimes have atmospheric effects, which utilize stereo.
Kyle just wanna say you're a blessing to me. I'm new to audio production but your videos have been answering a whole lot of my questions. God bless you man. Keep doing what you're doing.
The argument I always put forward is,God gave us two ears no one. Listen to a live orchestra and how immersive it is. When a car passes you the sound travels past you, left to right or right to left. If it's in the centre . . . RUN!
Superb audio-visual presentation! Would love to see you tackle distortion & noise in cheap class D amps vs. more expensive class D amps. And how to work out if you need new speakers or a new amp to improve things. Good point on when to use mono - maybe worth expanding to a full video? I guess when I want music for background in kitchen then mono is the way to go - I'm not going to be standing in one place!
I have a dynamic DM h200 mic with xlr to mono male 1/4" plug, If a buy another cable which has stereo 3.5mm male jack to female xlr cable ,will I be able to record stereo audio on my mobile
Kyle just wanna say you're a blessing to me. I'm new to audio production but your videos have been answering a whole lot of my questions. God bless you man. Keep doing what you're doing.
Thanks for the video. I would like to get your thoughts on the difference between soundstage and I imaging, and whether you can get soundstage with an all mono system.
That’s an interesting question, Joel! I think it’s possible to achieve depth in a mono mix, but I’m not sure if it’s possible to achieve width. (I’m leaning toward “no”, but still open to being corrected!) Check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gk9bKVmAXSk.html
Question, This is for In-Ear monitoring system. If this specific monitor is a mono monitor(Xtuga RW2080) despite it not advertising it was only Mono, but does have a left and right AF. If I use both left and right using a splitter and proceeding to at least seem like it's stereo. When panning hard left or right, will it still project as mono or will it actually pan to either my left or right? Hopefully you'll know, cause I've never gotten any answer from other videos.
For a dj application When the room is big and empty I've a lot of reflections an reverb in the bottom part of the room, do you think it can sound better if I place the L/R speakers very close togheter in the middle of the room? My system is a column array 3 channel amplifier , tops can be mounted in a single array of 8x4" fullrange in mono but I can split them in 2 part using another wire, via dsp I can select the output, dual mono or stereo, so, what's the best solution for spread the sound without room reflection? Dual mono Placing the speakers at the ends of the room? Stereo same position? Stereo keeping close togheter in the middle?
I’d try to place the speakers so that they cover the room without needing to turn them up too loud. This probably means spreading them apart so that the speakers can be closer to the listeners (and therefore quieter than they would need to be if they were far away).
@@AudioUniversity If I may I would like to explain the situation better. The system is db technologies es1203, a column array system with a sub and a column composed by 2 part 8 , each have 4x4" fullrange drivers. If desired, you can split the tops in 2 part, and by adding a cable, you can play in stereo or in dual mono by setting the dsp. The room is a rectangle 20 meters long and 8 meters wide. The dj table is at the back, currently I place the speakers around the console, therefore 4 meters away from each other, with stereophonic sound. I ask you for advice: Could I have less reverb using the system in mono right in front of the dj by mounting both speakers in a single column?
My phone has stereo speakers and I heard the difference. Love Samsung. I've mastered the stereo set up and I'm now testing a 6.0 system for both music and movies.
If it's only voice not including music instrument much better to make it as mono right? so when we are using stereo speakers/headphone/headset/earphone it can produce much power like combine 2 wave from same signal? What happen if playing mono audio on surround speaker, should i convert file(mono) to stereo channel?
It's not better or worse... A voice can be panned from side to side in stereo, too. It can also be panned in a surround system. In order to have true stereo or true surround, each speaker should be capable of receiving a different signal.
Dear Sir, thanks for your view! I need to know that when we arrange an large orchestra we need to gain all instruments and mics to the zero level ( unity gain) as pre gaining stage? How about the head room level of the overall gain? Thanks!
It’s best to set the fader to unity gain. However, you should leave some headroom when adjusting the preamplifier gain. In most cases, you can set it so the signal averages at about -18 dBFS and doesn’t peak beyond -6 dBFS. In live sound, you may just want to adjust the preamp until you reach the appropriate sound pressure level in the room. I hope this helps! Thanks, Praneeth!
@@AudioUniversity thanks for your reply Sir. According to my way, First press PFL and I am getting the signal to unity gain by adjusting Trim( preamplifier gain). Ok? Thanks
You won’t be setting the signal to unity gain. You set the fader to unity gain and adjust the signal to the appropriate level (ideally -18 dBFS, but not always).
@@AudioUniversity Thanks for your reply. But when we setup Guitar, Keys and Microphone etc, normally don't we adjust the gain preamplifier to get the signal to 0 ( unity) dbu level of the mixer? I have some confusion thing around this. Please if you can send me some study stuffs to chop via online. Thanks
In the past, when using analog tape, it was important to record as loud as possible without excessive saturation to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. With digital recording, the noise floor is virtually not an issue so it's not necessary to record near the limits of the system. That's for recording... For a mixing console... When I say -18 dBFS, I'm referring to the suggested level on a digital meter. If you're using an analog console, you might aim to mix the inputs so that the master meter reads 0 dBu. That doesn't mean that each input should be set to read 0 dBu on the meter, though. The combined level would ideally be around 0 dBu, but the individual inputs should be gained to sound appropriate in the mix to accomplish that overall level.
Don't you need 2 microphones + audio interface for example to record stereo as usually a person speaking uses only 1 microphone, therefore it makes sense to record in mono so the signal is sent to both left and right without a second mic
This is exactly what I’ve been talking about with sound reinforcement systems. Studio tracks recorded in stereo and played back in mono will result in flat sounding audio.
Most songs are published in stereo, although each component (snare drum, bass, guitar) is captured in mono. You can get pretty cool results recording in stereo. Check out this video to learn about stereo recording: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4fPWFAFwIQQ.html
@@AudioUniversity according to your statement, then It would be impossible to listen to published songs via a bluetooth speaker, right? You meant to say they would suffer phase cancellations. I do understand the stereo image could be lost, but the overall sound in all cases has been present (at least in my jbl boombox2)
That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying instruments are often recorded in mono and those mono signals are mixed to create a stereo image with various degrees of panning.
@@AudioUniversity what about for multiple people in different locations via zoom? For example I have four people I am interviewing all at once online but they’re all using their computer’s microphones to speak… thank you for your help!
In this case, I’d recommend recording each microphone separately. This would be called “multitrack”. Each track is mono though. Stereo usually only refers to left and right.
Thanks, Leak Banga! I haven’t made a video for sidechain effects yet, but I did write this post that might help: audiouniversityonline.com/what-is-sidechaining/ Mid side is a good topic, too! Thanks!