I recently purchased a PSR9000 and would like to run it with larger speakers, but the band I am presently playing with is running mono. They are trying to tell me that by running two channels (right and left) from my keyboard to the Mixer board and panning one right and the other left that this is "true Stereo". I have two KC 500 Roland Amps that I have tried at home, and they are hooked up for stereo and the sound is considerably better then running through their mixer board. There explanation is that playing in a larger facility that this "thins" the sound out. I disagree, but am I being unrealistic? I would greatly appreciate any feed back that is given. Ed

PS I have just joined this forum and I think it's great. If this question is out of order please let me know. Thanks again, in advance.

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Ed

Ed,
You will have to use two seperate powered speakers if you want true stereo! You feed your 9000 into a mixer board on two seperate chanels that what it does. "Mix"!
Best regards,
Nobby

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Ed, I never run my 9000 (or any stereo keyboard) any way except stereo. The voices and effects are designed to be optimized this way.
Having said this, in a band situation where you are playing through a p.a. and everyone else is in mono, you will probably not be using the arranger, and mostly playing right-hand voices. I would think that the difference in sound playing in mono would not be as noticeable, and for the sake of "harmony" in the band, you'll probably want to do it their way. In fact, in a very large venue, such as a concert or big dance, if there are two main speakers and they are widely separated, only a few people who were positioned perfectly would get the stereo effect. Those seated or standing near one speaker or the other, would in fact not hear everything they should be hearing.
Just be certain you use the l/r output only when plugging into the p.a.
If you are not running through the p.a. and want to take two amplifiers for your 9000, I would run stereo if I thought it sounded better. You're the one carrying the amps!
Most of the sounds on the 9000 are not panned completely left or right in the factory setup, so even though, say, a drum sound is positioned toward the left, you will still hear it, although not as loud, from the right speaker also.
The 9000 should sound great in mono, and even better in stereo.
Hope this helps a little. Welcome to our group!
DonM

Actually, I'm presently playing with both a 2 pc and 3 pc band. I use most of the resources on the psr9000 and since we play in relatively small rooms(50 - 200) I believe that the stereo would work better. I guess I just don't understand what stereo is??
Why would Roland manufacturer a keyboard amp with stereo connections(input and output stereo on both amps, if all you really need is any two amps(one for right and one for left)? I know I've tried hooking them both up separtely and there is definitely a big difference when not connecting the two in stereo.

I appreciate all the info everyone is giving me but I guess I'm just stuck on the what is true stereo????

Thanks again for your input. Any additional comments will be appreciated.


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Ed

Hi Ed,

If I were you I would definitely play in STEREO everywhere. All (pro)keyboards are designed to play in stereo and believe me you absolutely should !
I now play the X1 and played many other keyboards on stage and with the right speakers connected the quality of the sound-image improves with at least 100% when stereo. (mono-reverbs ? nah !)
All modern built-in effects are stereo based nowadays e.g. Leslie, chorus, panning, reverb etc.
It is easy to understand the difference between mono and stereo.

MONO : Listen to music while 'closing' one of your ears with an ear-plug or hand.... it is difficult to discriminate the different instruments.

STEREO : listen again with both ears open at the same music.

You should know the difference now.
I do hope you band-members change their minds and are willing to switch very soon.

kind regards,

Roel

I Agree Stereo is a "must".

Stereo uses 2 channels that each have a different signal. Most small band PA's use a single channel amp and 2 speakers. This is mono since the signal to both speakers is identical.

To play in stereo your band will need a stereo pa with 2 seperate amplified channels.
On the mixer, you pan the left input of your keyboard all the way to the left and the right input to the right. If you don't do this the mixer will divide both signals over both channels and the stereo effect is gone.

Your Roland Amps have stereo inputs.
Reason for this is to connect a stereo keyboard to 1 amp without losing any signal.
The effect is a combined mono sound of both your inputs.
If you use 2 amps, then you connect your left signal to one amp and your right to the other. Now you have stereo again.

Good luck

Arno Thijssen

Thanks for everyone's help. I'm now convinced that running stereo is the best way to go. This has been my gut feeling right along; I guess I just needed to hear it from others!

Again, Thanks for all your help.