El Lobo Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I never used the MONO button on my Nord 5D. I just searched the manual and found this: MONO In MONO mode all stereo sampled pianos will be played back in mono. The mono versions of our piano sounds are specially designed to provide the player with optimal sound and playing experience, even in mono. Quote These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
area51recording Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 I've tried the mono button on my Electro 3, toggling it on and off while in mono. It DOES sound different, in a very subtle way. Is it better? I'm not sold yet...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 I've tried the mono button on my Electro 3, toggling it on and off while in mono. It DOES sound different, in a very subtle way. Is it better? I'm not sold yet...... I think the Mono button may work better for some samples than others. It"s been a while since I gigged my Nord Stage (classic), but I recall it being an improvement when using it with the Bright Grand. Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotiDave Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 the mono button sounds as blasphemous as the transpose button. The only gig i do with a lot of AP is a Bowie set, and i always run stereo to FOH. Most of my synth stuff has some slight enhancement in stereo, due to effects vs actual sounds, but its subtle and probably doesn"t even come thru in the wash of a loud ass rock band. I"ll send either per the FOH engineer preference. I"ve noticed most of them expect the kbd to want to run stereo - i assume thats because of you guys Quote The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowMan Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 I can"t begin to count the number of times a sound guy said he only had one drop for me at a show - when all my patches are in stereo. And our stage plot specifies stereo for the keys, too. Anyone know how good the Radial StageBug sounds when used to sum L/R? Seems like it would be a good tool to have in the bag of tricks - for just these instances⦠Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agitato Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 I use a Radial Key Largo in mono, to one Yamaha DXR10 (on stage keys monitor) from the left monitor out, the left main out to the FOH, sounds great. Sound people love the clean signal they get from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthizen2 Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Strangely enough, all of the big shows (i.e. fairs, festivals) that I do with the country band, they just want a mono signal from me (the way our PA system and main mixer is set up, there is no stereo separation). And that's with a fairly substantial sound system with EQs, compressors, the works. For larger festivals where sound is provided, it's usually the same deal. I usually send the R jack of both keyboards to FOH, and send the L jack of both keyboards to my spot-monitor. All stage instruments (including whole drum kit) are miked (or direct) and sent to the PA. With the classic rock band, it's all small shows with a fairly stripped down sound system, and very simple mixer. Only vocals, keys, and kick-drum are sent to the PA. Yet, with this simple setup, I am able to send stereo to the simple PA mixer, as it handles stereo. In this case, I send the headphone jacks out to my spot-monitor, as both R and L jacks are used up. Quote Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Different strokes, experiences, etc. I've only had two instances of mono FOH systems in my last 8 years trudging around this planet. We don't play super-high-end places, just a mix of small theatres, casinos, rock & jazz clubs, a few outdoor sheds or pavillions, and some street fairs. I've only encountered mono FOH at the Catalina jazz club in LA, and a small rock club we must have booked as a stopover gig, somewhere in the Carolinas iirc. Again - whatever make you happy! It just seems strange to be debating the merits of all this amazing (and sometimes expensive) gear we shlep, talking about the great sounds and features, etc. then get to a gig and be happy listening to a compromised version of them. I don't get it â but I guess I can just add this to the long list of things I don't get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadroj Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Helpful wee thread, thanks folks. HIjacking to ask a couple of questions: 1) Say I take a left out for FOH and the right out for an amp on stage for monitoring purposes. Will the keyboard think I'm running stereo and therefore give the FOH only the left side of whatever stereo sound I'm running? 2) I know running an output from your headphone jack isn't a good idea. Unfortunately, my Electro 4 only lets audio coming into it play out of the headphone jack. It would sometimes be helpful if I could have a way of getting that to FOH. Would a stereo Y-splitter cable help here? Regardless of how slim the chance is, I wouldn't want to damage any venue's equipment, or the Nord itself. 3) On the back of the last question, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being "that's cool", 10 being "explosive instrument death", how bad is taking a mono jack lead from the headphone out and sticking it into a monitor or amp? I know guys who do this regularly Quote Hammond SKX Mainstage 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 nadroj... 1. yes 2. that will work fine, just make sure you keep all your levels low to start since headphone output can easily overload things. and the "y-splitter" has to be the type that breaks the stereo out into a pair of left/right (mono) cables (as opposed to the kind of y-splitter that takes a stereo signal and splits it to two stereo destinations) 3. it won't damage anything... if it sounds okay, I wouldn't worry about it... but they're probably only getting one side of the stereo signal Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Just remember to verify which one is mono-summed. On some keyboards, it's the right channel when soloed. Usually it's labeled on the keyboard, but if not, read the manual. Every keyboard I've ever had has the Left output as the mono-summed except my Nord Electro 2, which summed out the Right. Those wacky Swedes! Just found something else that sums Mono on the right channel -- the Neo Vent (II)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elif Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 If a piano sound doesn't sum well to mono (e.g. possible phasing issues), then half a stereo signal can sound better than a summed mono signal.I'd include Leslie simulations in that statement. Also, the labeling of one of the stereo outputs as capable of mono does not necessarily imply that the two outputs are summed to create the mono signal (though they may be). In the case of the Nord 4D, as I recall (can't check - it's in storage), piano in stereo makes the left channel louder when playing the lower register, right ch when playing the upper. Aside from phasing issues, playing in mono should eliminate this level variation with register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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