Mono Button & Modern Mono Reissue LPs

[watchnerd]

My integrated amp has a Mono button.

For a modern mono issue LP, almost certainly made on a stereo lathe, played back using a stereo cartridge, is there any real benefit to engaging the Mono button?

After all the channels should already be identical.

Listening, it *might* sound slightly more transparent with Mono off and in Line Straight mode but this is sighted so biased.

 

[Chrispy]

My oldest stereo gear has mono options. Even some of my modern digital stuff. I don't use it as have no mono speaker setups and almost no mono source recordings to play back. With something as crude as vinyl, a stereo pickup summed to mono could have some differences I suppose, but who would care on that level of recording?

 

[DVDdoug]

Record noise is random and different in both channels. I really don't know if that makes it more or less distracting/annoying...

Other noise in the room coming from other directions doesn't annoy me like noise from the speakers so maybe noise coming from the sides with the music coming from the phantom center is better but I just don't know.

Another issue could be imbalance from the cartridge and the mono button would kill it. But I never found cartridge imbalance to be a big problem in the vinyl days. I also didn't have many mono records.

In an ideal world (or with a mono digital source) it won't make any difference.

 

[watchnerd]

Record noise is random and different in both channels. I really don't know if that makes it more or less distracting/annoying...

Other noise in the room coming from other directions doesn't annoy me like noise from the speakers so maybe noise coming from the sides with the music coming from the phantom center is better but I just don't know.

Another issue could be imbalance from the cartridge and the mono button would kill it. But I never found cartridge imbalance to be a big problem in the vinyl days. I also didn't have many mono records.

In an ideal world (or with a mono digital source) it won't make any difference.

I’ve got azimuth dialed in to about 0.5 dB difference so it should be negligible channel balance difference, certainly relative to the room

 

[Chrispy]

I’ve got azimuth dialed in to about 0.5 dB difference so it should be negligible channel balance difference, certainly relative to the room

Should be? No measurements?

 

[watchnerd]

Should be? No measurements?

Yes, I have azimuth measurements and room measurements.

 

[Chrispy]

Yes, I have azimuth measurements and room measurements.

uh huh

 

[watchnerd]

uh huh

Azimuth is easy to measure using the Puffin and test tracks.

Room is easy to measure with digital sources and REW. I adjusted my subs accordingly, where most of the issue is, and also have a house curve I use in Roon for digital sources. And a couple different curves for different headphones in Roon.

 

[Chrispy]

Azimuth is easy to measure using the Puffin and test tracks.

Room is easy to measure with digital sources and REW. I adjusted my subs accordingly, where most of the issue is, and also have a house curve I use in Roon for digital sources. And a couple different curves for different headphones in Roon.

Glad you like all that I suppose. Have little use for headphones or Roon either myself. YMMV.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

My integrated amp has a Mono button.

For a modern mono issue LP, almost certainly made on a stereo lathe, played back using a stereo cartridge, is there any real benefit to engaging the Mono button?

After all the channels should already be identical.

Listening, it *might* sound slightly more transparent with Mono off and in Line Straight mode but this is sighted so biased.

It may reduce how you experience the impact of record surface noise. The logic behind this is: the surface noise is incoherent, random and is distributed across from left to right. It can be perceived as a "bloom" or extra "space" in the recording acoustic. By mono-ing it, on a mono recording, you align the noise solely with the central source and there will be no left and right aspect. It may remove some artificial "space" from the apparent recording acoustic.