What is the diffference between mono and stereo?

[crevin]

Do stereo and mono have to do with recording or with playing? What exactly are they and where do I set that? I have a mzh700 Hi-MD

thanks!

[greenmachine]

mono = one channel

stereo = two channels

If both channels contain the same information, it is still considered mono. There is no mono mode when recording in Hi-MD mode. For headphone listening, mono is not recommended at all - it will appear as if the sound was trapped inside your head instead of around you, room information is lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaural

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo

[A440]

The NH700 is made for stereo recording and playback: two channels with different information, going into two ears (your headphones) or two speakers. The mic and line jacks are stereo jacks; they expect a plug with two circles around it (like your stereo headphone plug) supplying two channels of information. The difference between the left and right channels is what gives you the three-dimensional illusion of stereo.

Mono is one channel. Some mics, like voice or instrument mics, are mono mics: they only deliver one channel. If you have a computer mic, it might be a mono mic--just one band around the plug. Your computer's mic jack may be either a mono jack or a stereo jack. Back in the days when minidiscs held less, there was a setting on some units to record in mono, which used half as much disc space. Now Sony has decided that with greater disc space, mono is unncessary.

You can still feed the same signal through both channels and get a mono recording. When you play it back through stereo headphones, it will sound like the recording is right in the middle of your head instead of spread across a stereo panorama. But there's no longer a setting in the NH700 for mono recording or playback.