Is Mono the new advancement in sound? - from Cookie's Corner

[krabapple]

Keep in mind that Toole/Olive use a single loudspeaker in their preference tests, because a single speaker is more revealing of flaws than >1.

 

[Tim Link]

Where I grew up, we did a lot of AM listening when I was a little kid, until FM came along... when was it... mid to late 70s? I was barely a teen, but I remember how good "What a fool believes" sounded through my Dad's stereo with a shiny FM receiver sounded. It was like "Forget the AM stations".

Stereo was magic to me as a kid. FM at night was so amazing. I didn't realize until later that they were compressing the signal earlier in the day for car listening. At night the music would come alive and the stereo effect was mesmerizing. Maybe I'm just jaded to it, but I suspect that with my old ears losing their ability it's harder for me to hear the stereo effect in its fullness. As a kid it seemed like any stereo boom box could produce mind blowing effects for me. Now I need a good room and the speakers placed widely apart. I get a great sense of left to right location still, but not that ethereal something that I used to get that practically made me dizzy.

 

[Tim Link]

Keep in mind that Toole/Olive use a single loudspeaker in their preference tests, because a single speaker is more revealing of flaws than >1.

Stereo hides flaws perceptually.
Sort of related, there's a lot of interest these days in playing old video game consoles on CRT displays. If you don't have a CRT, then you can use a dedicated scaler box that will simulate scan lines and do blank spot insertions and even rolling effects to simulate a CRT. The CRTs tend to hide the pixels and make a lot of that old stuff look better. The black lines let our brain fill in imaginary details.

 

[krabapple]

Stereo hides flaws perceptually.

And multichannel >2, even more so.

 

[levimax]

Seems to me that between soundbars and smart speakers and cell phones mono is by far the most common way music is listened to and that mono is growing in popularity.

I find that for some "real" mono recordings, the ones that were originally recorded in and mixed for mono, especially for simple "girl and guitar" type music, that one speaker mono playback can create a compelling listening experience. For more complicated and enveloping music not so much.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Stereo hides flaws perceptually.

Is that good or bad?

 

[Tim Link]

Is that good or bad?

For double blind listening tests it might be bad. For listening enjoyment it's good! That's my understanding.

 

[LevityProject]

For double blind listening tests it might be bad. For listening enjoyment it's good! That's my understanding.

There is a cost even for enjoyment listening. Your brain averages out the sounds hitting your ears. Even If there are major design flaws in your speakers, you'll start to think "this isn't so bad after all". It happens in stereo, and it can happen more in surround. If you care about high fideliy, this is a big deal.

Here is the jist. Spatial smearing - it is the loss of precise localization of sounds, because the same sound will arrive from multiple directions at slightly different times and spectra due to inherent design flaws in certain speakers. Not just frequency response, but dispersion and the speakers ability to reproduce sound faithfully in any room.

Your brain won't be able to lock the sound to a single point anymore, so it spreads it out.

Not wider.
Not bigger.
Less precise.

 

[olds1959special]

I pulled out my Yamaha NS-C225 center speaker, Fosi BT20A and stereo-mono converter box and set it up with my center subwoofer, with the subwoofer set at 110Hz to blend with the speaker. Also I boosted the treble, and to a lesser extent, the bass using the knobs on the amp. This setup sounds nice on its own, but I will probably also have my L/R speakers/subs on at the same time. There is definitely some phasing going on this way but it's still fun to listen to.

 

[krabapple]

Is that good or bad?

Indeed. If we can't hear the mono-revealed flaws when listening in stereo (or higher), how much do they matter?

With this in mind I think it would be good for reviews to note which data points are likely to be heard outside of mono testing...and which aren't.

The intent being to alleviate some of the audio nervosa that pervades the hobby (anxiety/obsession over stuff that's likely inaudible, instead of focusing on the likely audible).


Amusingly, this is the inverse of the usual complaint against mono testing: that it 'hides' important data points that only stereo (or higher) playback reveals

 

[Chrispy]

LOL Cookie's Corner....she also thinks cabling makes a huge difference in her studio. I do have some of her studio's recordings, and they're nice enough, but the fantasy is a bit much.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

I think about this topic once in a while. How good could modern recordings sound if they were truly optimized for playback on high performance mono systems?
Occasionally I'll put on some mono recordings of old and compare listening with just 1 speaker or 2. I think they sometimes really shine with just 1 speaker.

If you have room for multiple systems it's not a bad idea having one of them as a mono set up in my opinion.

 

[pablolie]

For double blind listening tests it might be bad. For listening enjoyment it's good! That's my understanding.

There are many albums I'd prefer to not listen to as mono. But they'll sound great no matter what. That's the magic of great music.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

There are many albums I'd prefer to not listen to as mono. But they'll sound great no matter what. That's the magic of great music.

Depending on the era, the mono mixes are often better.

 

[Tim Link]

Depending on the era, the mono mixes are often better.

Some would argue that even mono mixes are better over two speakers. It probably depends on the specific mono recording, and perhaps what the listener is paying attention to.

 

[egellings]

I think about this topic once in a while. How good could modern recordings sound if they were truly optimized for playback on high performance mono systems?
Occasionally I'll put on some mono recordings of old and compare listening with just 1 speaker or 2. I think they sometimes really shine with just 1 speaker. Would hifi have ever
become a passion if it had stayed mono?

I think so! My father told me he had a co-worker that was in to hifi way back in the late 50s ( I think ) and that guy was highly resistant to stereo.

Cookie's Corner - #203 - Is mono the new advancement in sound?

From Cookie Marenco - Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

cookiescorner.substack.com

And then Quadriphonic came out. Glad that faded quickly.

 

[levimax]

While I seldom do it, once in awhile I will pull out an old "Girl and Guitar" mono LP, disconnect one of my speakers, and enjoy the experience. To me it feels like I am using some "brain power" to listen to mono (or stereo for that matter) on two speakers to create the center image. It is kind of like looking through old 3-D viewers where you do see depth in the image but it strains your eyes (and brain). With one centered speaker with a simple mix my brain and I can relax and enjoy the music, for me it can sometimes be the closests to hearing "the person singing in my room".

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Some would argue that even mono mixes are better over two speakers. It probably depends on the specific mono recording, and perhaps what the listener is paying attention to.

I'd say it oftens sounds better with one speaker. Even stereo mixes often sound better with one speaker.