
You simply stick a microphone in front of a vocalist and record their voice, which is a single signal. A vocal recording is an excellent example of a mono sound source. In a stereo recording, we capture a single sound source or multiple sound sources with two microphones. In a mono recording, we capture a single sound source with a single microphone. How To Mix With Reverb: How Much Reverb Is Too Much?Ģ1 Tips How To Build Your Home Studio From Scratch Should Drums Be in Mono or Stereo? (Kick, Snare, Clap, and Percussions) Stereo Recording: 17 Tips For Mixing & Recording 2022 However, in a busy mix, you may want to collapse a stereo instrument to mono to save space. A keyboard, which comprises many different sounds ranging from high to low, might be better to record in stereo, as you can capture the width of the instrument. A single vocal, for example, only needs to be in mono, as it is one voice. In this instance, mono is much better because it is difficult for people to have relative access to both the left and right speakers.Īs for signals in mixing, the argument of which one is better depends on the sound. In large live show venues, engineers arrange various speakers to reinforce the sound across the listening region.

However, there are times when mono is helpful. For consumer listening enjoyment, where a person is sitting in front of two speakers or wearing headphones, we often want stereo sounds to provide a sense of space and width. Stereo has almost wholly replaced mono in the modern world, as stereo recordings have a far superior audio quality. Source: Which is better, mono or stereo? As you can see, the waveform on top is a stereo waveform with two separate channels of audio linked together, while the bottom waveform is in mono, providing us with a single signal on one channel. Look at the waveform illustrations below for a better visual representation of Stereo and Mono. We can either spread or reduce the stereo image of stereo sounds.

Stereo sounds typically come out of both the left and right channels. We typically find mono sounds in the center of the sound field, though we can pan them to fit anywhere in the soundstage. What is the difference between mono and stereo?
