Tony, my comment wasn't in response of anything you said.. It was to illustrate a way to hear what is missing in mono.. The democrat comment was sarcasm.

Makes me glad I don't have a live gig and have to drag all that gear around. I also believe stereo sound (in the right environment or equipment) works for the listener better.

Fran's comment about Panning Left gave me a mile-wide grin. Speaking of panning, when recording, one of the first things I do is turn the knobs toward the center... like where the band director would be standing. I seldom take the individual instruments provided with the style being used... unless there is a reason for keeping them. The volume's for each instrument also get a good "working over." All of this would probably go right out the window if I were performing in front of an audience like you guys.

Thanks, Tony for giving us something to express our opinions... and humor!

EXACTLY !!!!

Graham is absolutely right on the money. And, as stated above by our elder and very learned members Bernie and John, the audience likely does not perceive a difference.

While stereo will surely sound great to the entertainer, the guy behind the keyboard, this is mainly because he or she is living in a surround sound environment - the audience is not. That said, heavily stereo sampled voices will, obviously, sound better. They will sound full and rich, while those that are mono sampled tend to sound thin and somewhat weak, but that can easily be corrected with some EQs and tuning.

When I went from stereo to mono, not a single audience or audience member noticed. They likely didn't notice any difference at all. And, I was loading less on the Rock And Roller cart, my back noticed that difference, and I sold the second Bose L1 Compact for a couple hundred bucks less than I paid for it. The primary Bose L1 still sits in my office, hoping my aging body miraculously reverses the aging and disease progression and I go back to playing once again - NOT!

This dead horse has really taken a beating and the same folks seem to continue to bring it up and provide the same comments every year - AMAZING!

All the best,

Gary

ALL (not SOME, but ALL) major concerts, whether stadium or outdoor, are done in MONO. In small venues, stereo vs mono is going to be influenced by the size and shape of the audio environment. My references here are all about the audience, not the performers. With House systems, usually the 'house' will get individual mono signals from each performer, 'blend' them into a MONO signal out. Monitor signals are a different story and are usually custom configured for each performer on stage.

chas

I'm at the point where I don't know if I don't write clearly, or people just don't read and comprehend clearly ...
In my original post I said:
I think the stereo aspect is more for the player, than the audience ... and I repeat: I KNOW MY RIG SOUNDS BETTER WHEN I AM USING TWO SPEAKERS, FED THROUGH BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT OUTS OF MY KB ! but as for the audience hearing left/right stereo, I don't think so ...
JMHO ...
I respect everyone's opinion, but I have to ask those of you who said "my audience would know the difference", unless you have played for the same audience in both mono and stereo, how could they possibly tell the difference?
And yes, stereo sounds better because you are using the sounds of the KB to their fullest, but even when you are using stereo, do you REALLY think that someone in the audience is listening and thinking "Oh I heard that 'voice' from the LEFT speaker and I heard this other 'voice' from the RIGHT speaker" ... THAT'S my point, and as I said earlier, I think not ...

Actually they are not, just because each person on stage has their own signal (Exactly the same happens in the recording studio) they are mixed by the engineers on-site to create a stereo sound field for both recording purposes and realism, (Recordings played at home would not sound live if everything was mixed down to mono) the reason each has their own input is so that the mixing engineers can mix each one to give the best sound balance and spread for the audience, if they didn’t, then while the crowd would see the band spread out across the stage, their ears would tell them that all the sound was coming from the centre of the stage, which is very unnatural sounding and would make the overall performance sound meh.

Bill

Bill, I wasn't talking about recordings. Recordings are normally listened to in small spaces where stereo would be effective. I meant large venues like stadiums, large college auditoriums, or outdoor areas the size of 3 football fields. There, the sound needs to be uniform regardless of where you are positioned in the audience.

chas

Tony Mads is right. Stereo is for the benefit of the performer. And if I were still performing, I would certainly use it. When I last performed, I was using backing tracks mixed in stereo and I wanted to hear the sound the way I had created it. Same would be true using a keyboard, I would want to hear stereo. The audience doesn't know the difference. Now, there could be a few people here and there who are audiophiles and have trained their ear to a certain degree. But the average person in the audience can't tell much IMO. And some of the people I have seen playing music over the years and getting paid for it proves that to my satisfaction anyway.

Chas is right about the concerts - they are ALL in mono - not stereo. I used to help set up the band stands for many of them at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Often dozen or more speakers, all huge, all out of the huge mono mixer board.

Gary