The Joy of Stereo

adew

adew

Inspired
Just wanted to share a magical 10 minutes[SUP][1][/SUP] spent with my Axe2 and 2 x CLR wedges this Sunday. Up until now, I've been running in mono, but, now that my band has reorganised its rehearsal space, I couldn't resist switching to stereo, cranking up to gig volume and running through some of our riffs. Amazing! Yes, you have to be in the sweet spot to really get the benefit of stereo (so I'm not yet sure if I would use this configuration live) but, my goodness, a huge, all encompassing sonic assault of magnificent sound. Wow! I've played guitar in bands for a long, long time, but I think this short session brought more smiles to my face than I've had with a guitar for ages.

If you haven't tried it - do it. You'll enjoy it. :)

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[1] PS: Only 10 minutes, cos' one of my CLR's threw a wobbly and it no longer has a working tweeter. :cry (But don't let that put you off.)
 
Yehaw! I only recognized phase issues while moving in the stereo field. Don't know how to solve this and not standing there like a stone ...

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Man... I was attempting a traditional stereo rig (one for home and one for live). It was killing my wallet.

The Axe FX solved that problem. So, so, so, thankful.
 
Near enough every gig I've ever done I've had a stereo feed to the PA, either a cab mic'ed up, or direct FR as I do now. Wouldn't have it any other way.
 
This is interesting and timely. I plan to run my Fractal rig in stereo on stage, but in many of the venues where I perform, the house PA system is mono. I'll be sending a single direct feed which will feed to both sides of the PA. I also perform large venues / festivals with high-quality stereo systems, and for those shows I will definitely provide two sends to the board. So, in addition to all of the patches that will be "mono-friendly", I intend to create a number of patches that make use of the stereo field in larger rooms. It's going to be an interesting adventure developing those wider images.

In the past when I've had stereo rigs, my (2) Mesa 4x12 cabs were *each* wired for stereo, so each individual cabinet was producing a pretty big image. On larger stages I've always been happy to separate speaker cabinets to widen the sound field. With the Fractal rig, I'll be using more compact FRFR speaker cabinets, each delivering one channel of the output.
 
Sleestak said:
So, in addition to all of the patches that will be "mono-friendly", I intend to create a number of patches that make use of the stereo field in larger rooms. It's going to be an interesting adventure developing those wider images.
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I'm very tempted too to use stereo live, but I do wonder if the audience really get the benefit given that the majority of them are not in the ideal listening position. It would be interesting to hear from those that regularly use stereo live.
 
Hi Axeolized!!!
How do you run the Axe in stereo?
I mean... in a stereo channel of the board? Or 2 mono channels hard panned left & right? or what else?
I had some issues running stereo ... while in my room the sound is consistent and beefy with all the goodies of the stereo program (I mean... ya know... delay... reverb... chorus...in stereo) ... in a gig setup ... with the band... i had a big issue of "focusing" the sound!
The second guitar was using an HD500 in mono (left out) and... yes my guitar sound was way better... but the line6 sound was much more focused... direct... right in face... while mine was unfocused ... spreaded... and i needed to much volume to compensate and big problem to monitor what I was doing!
Where is the "bug"?
 
Sleestak said:
So, in addition to all of the patches that will be "mono-friendly", I intend to create a number of patches that make use of the stereo field in larger rooms. It's going to be an interesting adventure developing those wider images.
Click to expand...

Smart preset design lets you achieve both goals within one preset. Use I/O > Output Mode to switch between Stereo and Copy L>R (mono).
 
adew said:
I'm very tempted too to use stereo live, but I do wonder if the audience really get the benefit given that the majority of them are not in the ideal listening position. It would be interesting to hear from those that regularly use stereo live.
Click to expand...

I use Stereo in a live setting all the time. I send output 1 L/R to the desk / PA and use two channels panned hard left & right. Then I send output 2 to my Matrix & 4x12, also in stereo. I'm the only guitarist in the band so I need to make my sound as big & wide as I possibly can. Don't worry about the so called 'audience sweet-spot' because most of the 'stereo' stuff going on in most situations is panning delays and chorus type stuff, which constantly moves around the stereo field. The main 'dry' guitar signal without the effects is basically dual-mono anyway so nobody really misses out.
I think is you had presets where certain signals were panned permanently Left or right might cause the issues many worry about, but provided you steer clear of those, you won't have any problems. The whole stereo vs mono debate is always a divisive one, and each to their own, go with whatever works for you. In the end if you prefer the mono route, that's cool. Just experiment, try stuff out, there are no hard & fast rules, just personal preference.
 
craiguitar said:
I use Stereo in a live setting all the time. I send output 1 L/R to the desk / PA and use two channels panned hard left & right. Then I send output 2 to my Matrix & 4x12, also in stereo. I'm the only guitarist in the band so I need to make my sound as big & wide as I possibly can. Don't worry about the so called 'audience sweet-spot' because most of the 'stereo' stuff going on in most situations is panning delays and chorus type stuff, which constantly moves around the stereo field. The main 'dry' guitar signal without the effects is basically dual-mono anyway so nobody really misses out.
I think is you had presets where certain signals were panned permanently Left or right might cause the issues many worry about, but provided you steer clear of those, you won't have any problems. The whole stereo vs mono debate is always a divisive one, and each to their own, go with whatever works for you. In the end if you prefer the mono route, that's cool. Just experiment, try stuff out, there are no hard & fast rules, just personal preference.
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I did this since the mid 80's ...always worked well ! I used to test the setup using a Ping-Pong delay to make sure both sides were panned equally hard Left/Right etc .....really not that difficult !
 
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GuttaLaser said:
Hi Axeolized!!!
How do you run the Axe in stereo?
I mean... in a stereo channel of the board? Or 2 mono channels hard panned left & right? or what else?
I had some issues running stereo ... while in my room the sound is consistent and beefy with all the goodies of the stereo program (I mean... ya know... delay... reverb... chorus...in stereo) ... in a gig setup ... with the band... i had a big issue of "focusing" the sound!
The second guitar was using an HD500 in mono (left out) and... yes my guitar sound was way better... but the line6 sound was much more focused... direct... right in face... while mine was unfocused ... spreaded... and i needed to much volume to compensate and big problem to monitor what I was doing!
Where is the "bug"?
Click to expand...
Not sure if you're addressing me, but here goes:
The Axe's I/O > Output Mode is set to Stereo and I'm using 2 CLR active wedges, one for left and one for right.
In a two guitar setup I would have thought that you should both run stereo or both run mono, to avoid the focus issues you describe.
 
yek said:
Smart preset design lets you achieve both goals within one preset. Use I/O > Output Mode to switch between Stereo and Copy L>R (mono).
Click to expand...
Won't there by some phase cancellation for certain types of panned effects when in Copy L>R mode?
 
adew said:
Won't there by some phase cancellation for certain types of panned effects when in Copy L>R mode?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think phase cancellation, but it would screw up delays etc, because you'll just get the Left signal twice. Instead of say a ping-ping delay where it'll go Left,Right,Left,Right you'll only get Left,nothing,Left,nothing.
 
Love stereo and in your case with a 3 piece or 1 guitar anyhow, i think stereo is perfect. We have two guitarists and stereo just doesn't really fit. I do love stereo though!
 
craiguitar said:
I wouldn't think phase cancellation, but it would screw up delays etc, because you'll just get the Left signal twice. Instead of say a ping-ping delay where it'll go Left,Right,Left,Right you'll only get Left,nothing,Left,nothing.
Click to expand...
Ok, understood. Thanks.
 
I love running my rig in stereo to (1 CLR and one Seismic SAX-15) but even running it in Mono
is way better than one FRFR wedge. running 2 "brings the beef" :)
 
kmanick said:
I love running my rig in stereo to (1 CLR and one Seismic SAX-15) but even running it in Mono
is way better than one FRFR wedge. running 2 "brings the beef" :)
Click to expand...

I might say creates space. For example, in my studio room, I generally run stereo, but occasionally will pan hard in the output section and raise the volume to equal the stereo signal, and it sounds....not exactly more localised, but I guess less spacious around it. I've found certain tone schemes will make or break its apparent applicability.
 
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