Obviously, I know little about sound. I'm always anxious about more important gigs when bandmates are playing with me instead of me being solo.

Saturday, I get to the bar and they have a sound man hired since three acts are playing that night! So, I'm thinking, hurrah, finally someone who can take over and do it right through a nice system.

EDIT: I forgot to add that it was me with KB, guitar, another guy on guitar and another guy playing either steel guitar or fiddle.

He is running everything through direct boxes. He said One for your guitar... do you want one or two for your keyboard? I said two. After all was set up, he only had one box left. He said No problem, just go through the L/R out. I told him I don't know what I'm talking about but wouldn't the keyboard be far better going out stereo? Especially since my keyboard would be the bulk of the sound, with us playing over my styles and midis.

Bottom line is there was no more box to be found. He was doing sound next door for their other club as well. I don't know what the guy got paid but he had a shipload of equipment. So, I did it going out to one box. It was okay. People said it sounded good. But... there were times we struggled to hear the drums, especially, on some songs.

Makes me wonder how much better it would have been with two direct boxes. I have seen it where it was DRAMATIC when players went out through stereo outs instead of mono. Is this always so superior or what's up with this?

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

[This message has been edited by SemiLiveMusic (edited 11-19-2006).]

Although many BOSE PAS affectionados will disagree......
IMO there is a Hugh difference.

This is one of the few instances that DNJ and I disagree. The sound guy knew what he was talking about, and I don't want to get into this dumb discussion again. There are loads of threads pertaining to this issue, which I now consider dead as a doornail!

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

I know that there are threads about stereo issues when playing solo. But to me, this seems different. For one, what is the direct box doing? Is it boosting the signal?

I have a friend whose p.a. sytem with his psr into it... it sounded like crap. He was running it out mono. I told him to run it out stereo and it was DRAMATIC. In no uncertain terms, there was no comparison. Daylight to dark difference. However, that was just him, solo. My situation was going into a direct box and all kinds of gear the soundman had. Pre-amps and various boxes and gizmos before it got to his mixing board. If that makes a difference.

I guess I am just asking... do you think in my setup last Saturday, would it have made a big difference if I had been able to go out through two direct boxes instead of the one L/R out.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Excactly Gary.......Im tired of discussing it also.....mono/stereo?
I know what I like on stage it works for me ....

everyone please enjoy your choice

The PSR2000 L/R output (which sums the two sides) definitely loses something. I don't think it would be dramatic though. I extensively tested the Tyros 2, switching between the Bose L1, with both outputs running into it, and two Barbettas. There WAS a dramatic difference--the Bose sounded much better. I also used HankB's PSR3000 into the Bose and I definitely heard phase cancellation on some voices, such as the Grand Piano.
They changed something on the T2.
This is getting away from your situation just a little, but the principle is the same.
Mono in itself sounds great. Stereo pans some sounds left and others right. Sounds great if you are sitting where you can hear both sides. I believe the problem is in the way the keyboard mixes the sounds into mono. Some do it better than others.
DonM

The direct box converts your signal from unbalanced to balanced. This is to minimize signal noise, and to make a hoter signal.

As far as stereo vs. mono in live settings it differs from place to place, sound system to sound system. I think this is a kind of comparing apples to oranges, since they have differen't applications. Theoretically it should sound nicer on a stereo system since the keyboard styles are mixed for stereo. But the styles are not mixed for live play. They are mixed to sound good on the small built in speakers, or the small addon speakers in the case of a Tyros. This sound is quite differen't from a PA sound. Also in a big room, you want as much of your sound to get out to the whole room. If you use stereo, people on the left side of the room will not hear a lot of the sound comming from the right speaker, so if you do stereo, they will get a different sound image than the people in front center. A live band without amplification for instance will be heard throughout the room, and may sound more "mono". So if you play big gigs, with people everywhere around you, I think mono is the way to go, to get the sound out there. If you play smaller venues, or places where everyone is in front of you, such as a concert with a stage, I think stereo is the way to go. Stereo will sound more full and balanced than mono, but it will sound quite bad if people aren't placed correctly.

Doc-Z

Bill:

The simple and correct answer is for you to buy your own stereo direct box and keep it with you as part of your gear. Make sure it has a ground-lift feature to eliminate noise if needed. One stereo direct box is easier to keep up with than two mono boxes.