mdfan Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 I have a sony mz-n505. Recording in sp will give me 80 min. Mono will give 160 min. For a live show in a club, does it really matter? I use card mics, if that matters. Im recording tonight! Lazzez bon temps rouller! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 It depends on whether you want the recording to be more immersive or not.For many applications, including live recordings, mono can actually give a better.. less distracting result.Stereo is great for that "being there" kind of feeling, but doesn't offer any higher accuracy than mono when it comes down to it. What it amounts to is somewhere between personal preference and whether it's appropriate for the task at hand; dialogue and sound effects recording, for instance, are better done in mono since they're usually to be mixed with something else. People tend to prefer music recordings tend to be in stereo, even though concert PAs are usually mono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 When I had a Sharp DR7, I almost always recorded Live Music in mono. It gave me 160 minutes to work with and I could not tell much difference using cardioid minis or my AT822 (which has 2 cardioid minis in the head in a X/Y pattern). If you have a MD that is not Hi-MD, then give mono a try, you will probably be surprised. The "quality" of the recording will be the same but the sound will be a little "warmer and fuller" at times with stereo but the trade off for the amount of time to record is worth the slight difference in sound. Once I made that decision to switch to mono, I was able to relax a whole lot more and actually enjoy the show instead of hovering over the MD watching the time. I never looked back at stereo until I got my Hi-MD and now I watch the time if I am in PCM, otherwise, it's dancin' time in Hi-SP. Try and see, unless your mics are spread far apart, it won't be very noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Hope you got a great recording of that show. Were you using a preamp or battery box for the line-in of the 505? I have to disagree with my esteemed colleagues though. Even if the stage mix is essentially mono, a stereo recording makes it fuller and more realistic. I do a lot of my listening through headphones, and the mono effect of having the band flattened right in the middle of my head grows annoying. The spatial cues of a stereo recording, especially if you can separate the mics a few inches, make for a much improved playback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmvn Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 So is mono an option with Hi-MD? I didn't see one on my MZ-NH1...Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hope you got a great recording of that show. Were you using a preamp or battery box for the line-in of the 505? I have to disagree with my esteemed colleagues though. Even if the stage mix is essentially mono, a stereo recording makes it fuller and more realistic. I do a lot of my listening through headphones, and the mono effect of having the band flattened right in the middle of my head grows annoying. The spatial cues of a stereo recording, especially if you can separate the mics a few inches, make for a much improved playback.←I find that there are situations [mostly dueto specific acoustic conditions] where mono works better in the end. In any case, I always record in stereo when possible, and try a mono mix after for comparison's sake. I almost never end up doing folddowns, but I am open to the option. Also, if equipment limitations force it on me, I run with what's available [such as mono off a sound board that I'm not running myself]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Like I said before, now that I have the Hi-MD, I don't have to compromise mono vs stereo. I do agree that stereo sounds better, especially with mics with some distance between them. But, I was using an AT822 and the elements are really tight in that head. Not much difference. Now, when I used my Giant Squid audio mini cardioids, there was a noticeable difference in mono and stereo. I plan to get some Auris stereo mics in a few weeks and I am looking forward to that wider field of capture for some indoor shows but the AT822 is hard to beat in the outdoor setting for my purposes.But, it stands worth repeating, if I only had a NetMD or a Sharp DR7x standard MD, I would always use mono if I was recording any live performance that might go over 80 minutes. It was worth the small sacrifice in spatial fullness and mix to avoid putting in another MD right in the middle of a tune... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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