Not the studio monitor question that you think

E

Eman7422

Inspired
Always have wondered this:

not talking about mixing where you need 2 monitors in order to “place” instruments in the stereo field, but for tracking or jamming at home….when running out of FM3 to left and right monitors aren’t you just doubling the signal, seemingly making it unnatural and perhaps muddy……?

sure for deliberate stereo effects such as a stereo chorus or a ping pong delay, it is necessary, but it feels like you lose clarity for a more mono signal with the sound being in two physical locations.

it feels like you get a more traditional guitar playing experience from listening/tracking through just one studio monitor, dare I say more “amp in the room”.

how do you guys address this at home? I hope I am making sense. Hoping you will share some thoughts if I’ve explained myself well.
 
You should hear a mono signal in the “phantom center” if your monitors and room are right. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that will help you understand how to set things up properly.

Aside from that, if you like the sound of one speaker better, just use one.
 
Sending the same, or parts of the same audio signal to separate speakers will introduce artifacts determined by the placements of both the speakers and the listener. In my opinion, these artifacts are not effecting the listening or playing experience to a degree where “good tone” becomes bad. In fact, they can sometimes enhance it.

When tracking I pan the guitars to where it’s meant to be in the mix. When just jamming I lean towards leaving it center panned and sometimes use panning for fun/experimenting. I find leaving it center panned beneficial when standing up, as it leaves a bit more area to move around and still have at least one tweeter projecting the sound in my general direction.
 
Thanks, well aware of the “center” and use it frequently when mixing and tracking on my Adam A7x monitors….just wondered thoughts on single monitor use, plus to be “in the zone” you do have to carefully sit in that spot and frankly in my opinion keep the volume more moderate.
 
I've learned to understand and accept a modeler's tone as a recorded sound, so using two monitors is as much of a pleasure to play through as a traditional amp and cab setup. This was a big hurdle for me to get over when going from amps and pedalboards to modeling.

I haven't experienced any lack of clarity compared to using a physical amp and cab. While I definitely agree it is fun to play at higher volumes (80 dB+), I thoroughly enjoy playing through studio monitors (Focal Alpha 65) at lower volumes.

I will add that playing through one studio monitor is not any 'better' (have done this when creating stereo presets) nor will it replace an amp and cab on the floor. I don't know many players that have a guitar cab at ear level while they're playing which is likely part of the equation. ;)
 
If you are only listening to the guitar through stereo monitors, yes, it sounds different. It should(tm) sound like you solo'd the mono guitar track in a mixing session.

If you want a speaker just for the guitar, either to play by yourself or for something more like an amp-in-the-room sound with backing tracks or the rest of the mix playing on your mains...IMHO, a single studio monitor placed behind/beside you on the floor does that job a bit better. Assuming, of course, that your guitar tone is mono. In that case, the difference between an FRFR and a studio monitor is mostly about marketing and how loud they're made to play.
 
There are all sorts of considerations, though many analog mono setups use multiple cabinets to add depth and volume to the system. Some also used multiple cabs from dry signal mixed with wet (effected) signals. So, yes, you could simulate a single source guitar amp (sort of) set up with one monitor, and it would sound just fine. Having more wouldn’t take away from that, but can add a lot. Personally, I’ve grown to love the sound of the signal coming through two speakers. I’m ok with one, but prefer two.
 
Rick said:
There are all sorts of considerations, though many analog mono setups use multiple cabinets to add depth and volume to the system. Some also used multiple cabs from dry signal mixed with wet (effected) signals. So, yes, you could simulate a single source guitar amp (sort of) set up with one monitor, and it would sound just fine. Having more wouldn’t take away from that, but can add a lot. Personally, I’ve grown to love the sound of the signal coming through two speakers. I’m ok with one, but prefer two.
Click to expand...

I go back and forth.
 
Stereo sound is an attempt to reproduce natural sound by spreading out the apparent sound sources, much like they would be spread out in the real world. But in the process, stereo sound creates some unnatural artifacts. For sample, when a sound source is panned to the middle, you have both stereo speakers producing the same identical sound. This phenomenon — identical sound coming from multiple different places — does not occur in nature. It can lend an artificiality to the sound. And it can create phase-related issues.

Having said that, I generally prefer the sound of electric guitar 🎸 through multiple speakers. It just sounds “bigger” to me.
 
I use two studio monitors. I never had sound muddy or somehow unnatural, sound is just fine.
I also use one guitar cab behind me with 2 x 12" loudspeaker stereo (also can use as mono)
When using guitar cab chain is guitar - Axe - Power amp - Guitar cab 212 (stereo).

What ever way I use them sounds good. Earlier that guitar cab was only mono and played that
and sounds also good. But playing guitar through multiple speakers some effects like delay ping pong, some chorus,
flanger, reverb etc. sounds even better when they come through stereo (ex. ping pong can travel from loudspeaker to other if
mono cab or mono monitor it simply sound no natural and how it supposed to sound.

And awesome extra nice feeling comes when I use both way and have that "real amp / cab feeling" also. (picture below)

Soittopiste.jpg
 
What
Pappasfin said:
I use two studio monitors. I never had sound muddy or somehow unnatural, sound is just fine.
I also use one guitar cab behind me with 2 x 12" loudspeaker stereo (also can use as mono)
When using guitar cab chain is guitar - Axe - Power amp - Guitar cab 212 (stereo).

What ever way I use them sounds good. Earlier that guitar cab was only mono and played that
and sounds also good. But playing guitar through multiple speakers some effects like delay ping pong, some chorus,
flanger, reverb etc. sounds even better when they come through stereo (ex. ping pong can travel from loudspeaker to other if
mono cab or mono monitor it simply sound no natural and how it supposed to sound.

And awesome extra nice feeling comes when I use both way and have that "real amp / cab feeling" also. (picture below)

View attachment 119648
Click to expand...

Pappasfin said:
I use two studio monitors. I never had sound muddy or somehow unnatural, sound is just fine.
I also use one guitar cab behind me with 2 x 12" loudspeaker stereo (also can use as mono)
When using guitar cab chain is guitar - Axe - Power amp - Guitar cab 212 (stereo).

What ever way I use them sounds good. Earlier that guitar cab was only mono and played that
and sounds also good. But playing guitar through multiple speakers some effects like delay ping pong, some chorus,
flanger, reverb etc. sounds even better when they come through stereo (ex. ping pong can travel from loudspeaker to other if
mono cab or mono monitor it simply sound no natural and how it supposed to sound.

And awesome extra nice feeling comes when I use both way and have that "real amp / cab feeling" also. (picture below)

View attachment 119648
Click to expand...
What power amp do you use?
 
It's been about 10 years since I've played through a traditional cab setup on a regular basis. I've gotten to where I greatly prefer studio monitors, as long as I can run some type of studio effect (delay, reverb, pitch, enhancer, doubler, etc.). I can't hardly stand a dry tone in mono anymore.
 
Mono guitars through to speakers, yes but recorded via one output vs. 2 and therein lies my question about the double signal unless using a stereo effect.
 
As far as recording goes much has to do with what you want to express sound wise. Traditionally electric guitars would be tracked mono with a mic in front of a speaker. For quite some time double tracking (or more) has been used and then usually panning, FX and EQ to create the stereo field and it’s place in it. Of course different parts of a song might call for different approaches. With the FM3 if your music calls for a more traditional approach then recording in mono would probably be best and think about FX and the stereo field later. The FM3 has such great FX and sound shaping possibilities it’s hard to not use them to some degree recording. At the very least using two IR’s and experimenting with panning. I suppose recording dry and re-amping with a final sound in mind is the latest way to approach recoding.

Of course you would always monitor in stereo except when you want to use mono as a tool to fine tune and find any problem areas.

For jamming at home with the FM3 playing in stereo with the awesome FX is just too much fun not to do it.
 
Answer:

for mono tones, run only from left output into a board then into 2 monitors….panned center, heaven.

stereo, use both outputs into 2 channels panned left and right, also nirvana
 
Eman7422 said:
Mono guitars through to speakers, yes but recorded via one output vs. 2 and therein lies my question about the double signal unless using a stereo effect.
Click to expand...
I suppose you could call it a "double" signal, but if you have anything else playing (e.g., a backing track), it is getting the same "doubling" as well, so it's even.

Theoretically, you will have phase cancellation/reinforcement with two speakers versus one, but again, you get that when you listen to your favorite music on those same speakers. And, you actually do get similar effects with a single speaker because of the sound bouncing around the room and interacting with itself. Try muting one speaker and then back to stereo. Can you hear a difference other than the soundstage?

I think this is more theoretical than an actual issue. And, if you ever add reverb to your guitar, you've just created a stereo signal (usually).
 
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