Mono Or Stereo

[buskersball 0]

Amazed to see people in another thread stating they run in mono (see how big thread). I appreciate there are advantages when it comes to bass output but in these days of high power rigs surely the 'space' of stereo provides a much better sound?

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

Mono was fairly normal back in the 70's & 80's. I recall that my first powered consle, a 'Cloud' a think had a built-in 100 watt amp!

[TonyB 0]

I don't think anyone really notices if it is stereo or mono. I used a mono setup for ages (powered mixer) with a 300w total output. It is pretty loud too compared to my stereo 800w setup. I'm wondering if it is due to having the same sound from each speaker where stereo the sound is split so some parts come out one speaker and other bits through the other if you see what I mean.

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

I can spot the difference, but in a village hall or hotel room full of guests, probably not a lot of difference.

[buskersball 0]

I can spot the difference, but in a village hall or hotel room full of guests, probably not a lot of difference.

 

I can see the advantage re bass ie stereo bass is usually to one side, so mono would mean the same output from both, but clarity of things like cymbals is greatly improved by stereo. I've been in stereo for 20 years, and never even thought about going mono ...may try it this weekend!

 

 

 

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

stereo sounds better on the dance floor if you have the speakers setup right..

 

at the bar or round the corner it dont matter if its stereo or mono...

 

 

[Corabar Steve 0]

at the bar or round the corner it dont matter if its stereo or mono...

It does if you can only hear one speaker from where you are

[Andy Westcott 0]

I'm not sure that very much contemporary material would suffer greatly from being in mono, as the stereo tends to be more akin to true stereo, rather than 2-channel mono, and hence only slight differences between each side.

 

If you are playing music from the 60s though, often the 2 channels available were abused, for example recording guitar on one channel and vocals on the other - for this, if playing in stereo, the music could sound a bit odd if the listener was positioned on one side of the rig.

 

I use stereo now, but was operating in mono up to the mid-nineties with no noticable problems.

 

I do, however, agree entirely with the statement by buskerball and have found that cymbals will often muffle somewhat when the system is switched to mono. Not quite sure why this is...

[superstardeejay 0]

Maybe because cymbals are at the high frequency end, hence more directional than the lower frequencies. This means seperation can be appreciated more. I prefer stereo, most properly engineered music (not 'digitally remastered rubbish) sounds better in stereo either on the dancefloor or across the stage and is generally mixed with this in mind; delays, pans and spacial reverb only work properly in stereo and will be particularly muddy if forced to play in mono. I agree though with background music dotted around bars but this isnt really relevant to mobile DJs I guess.

 

 

[Award Entertainment 0]

Unless you are in the sweet spot, mono is often a better option. In 90% of venues the sweet spot is on the dance floor and when dancing, most people I know aren't concentrating on the quality of the music- they are concentrating on not looking 'overly Caucasian' and trying to look cool.

 

The seated guests aren't in an ideal position usually to get the benefit of stereo, so mono works extremely well to deliver a comprehensive reproduction of the music. I'm playing in mono about 70% of the time these days (just one Bose L1 system), but when I'm using both L1 systems in bigger events, I run them in stereo.

[EdBray 0]

I'm playing in mono about 70% of the time these days (just one Bose L1 system), but when I'm using both L1 systems in bigger events, I run them in stereo.

Which is pretty much why I said what I did on the thread that led to this thread being started.

 

Hard to run in stereo when you are only using one L1.

[brianmole 0]

Get another one then!

 

The sound is sooo much nicer in stereo regardless of where the sweetpot is for a conventional dancefloor.

[EdBray 0]

Get another one then!

Why would I want 3?

 

 

I already have a pair thank you tongue out icon

[brianmole 0]

Sorry I was half asleep! D'OH.