Re: <STEREO>

[matthias@bahianet.com.br (Matthias Grob)]

>Matthias Grob wrote:
>> mono? I thought that only existed down here in 3. World?
>>
>> As soon as you use audible reverb, I think stereo is a must.
>> For bands with many members its the only way to make all audible.
>>
>> Matthias
>
Mark:
>Got to disagree with you there Matthias.  As a professional sound
>engineer, I will tell you that stereo is definitely NOT what you want in
>live sound.  The reason is that when you do a mix in stereo, you create
>a "sweet spot" where the sound is correctly balanced between left and
>right.  Everywhere else the mix is wrong.  Because the sweet spot is so
>small (compared to most clubs/auditoriums) only a small number of
>people, near the sound person, will here what is intended.  Most PA
>cabinets come with horns that disperse the high frequency information
>(any wave length that's greater than the distance between your ears
>{bass} is not perceived as stereo) so that everyone can hear a proper
>balance.

Thats about what people tell me here, too (to justify the economy of a
second crossover :-)
I do quite a lot of stage work, too, and don't find the sweet spot that
small. Of course I never mix radical, putting an instrument all to one side
(even in recordings, I do not like one tom left, the other right or two
mics of a piano totaly open paned), but a little paning helps the listener
because through the sense of orientation he can listen to the instrument he
is interested in.
In case of several voices it especially helps to percieve the full harmony.

Also, somewhat out of the center axis, you get phase canceling due to the
different distances to the two cabinets. If the signal is not exactly the
same, because you do some minor paning, this filter effect even adds to the
"liveness" of the sound. If the system is mono, the canceling can be very
annoying, especially if the person is dancing and the cancelled frequencies
change with the movements.
Once the equipment is mono, I prefer to have all cabinets on one side.

I was especially speaking of reverb: Mono reverb comes to me as a confusing
wash, while it creates space in stereo even for the listener that is pretty
much outside of the stereo listening range because it works through the
whole pattern of reflexions that circulate in the room.

Well, thats how I hear it, and people like "my sound" :-)
Matthias