tracks: stereo vs. mono

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solaris0031

New member
alright so i was sitting and thinking, and heres what i thought

when i record into cubase sx, i record each mic onto a mono track, and call it dandy. but i was wondering, when you use things like reverbs on the track, does this make it so that the reverb is only in mono? if so, that seems like it would have a very negative effect (unless you want a mono reverb...). so heres my question:

if i want spacious stereo reverberations on something, do i need to record the mono source onto a stereo track, thus giving the left and right same source signals, but enabling stereo? or does cubase automatically play out the reverbs to the stereo output without the track itself needing to be stereo? \

also, are there any other advantages or disadvantages to recording a mono source as a stereo track or a mono track?
 
you can record many different things in a stereo pair depending if you like the sound or not. but you also need to be careful of phasing and other issues.

most plugins and/or time based effects processor units will say if they are mono in/stereo out....and most all of them are, because that's what you want. I know PTs plugins all say if they are mono or mono/stereo. Hardware units will have a stereo output pair, so you'll know from that.
 
thats not at all what im talking about. im saying when you are recording a mono source, for example a mic on a guitar amp, and you want spacious reverb, im thinking a stereo reverb is more desirable. and so im saying, even though you are recording the guitar amp (but this could be anything else too) with a single mic (mono source) is there a reason to record the mono source to a stereo track (and then the stereo track is the same left to right) because then when you use a stereo reverb plugin, (sorry if i sound dumb) it would actually be working on stereo.....or maybe im way off and when you set up the sends to run a reverb plugin it actually sends a stereo signal....
 
solaris0031 said:
thats not at all what im talking about. im saying when you are recording a mono source, for example a mic on a guitar amp, and you want spacious reverb, im thinking a stereo reverb is more desirable. and so im saying, even though you are recording the guitar amp (but this could be anything else too) with a single mic (mono source) is there a reason to record the mono source to a stereo track (and then the stereo track is the same left to right) because then when you use a stereo reverb plugin, (sorry if i sound dumb) it would actually be working on stereo.....or maybe im way off and when you set up the sends to run a reverb plugin it actually sends a stereo signal....
Click to expand...
There is no reason to do this. A stereo track with the same thing on both sides is the exact same thing as a mono track panned center. As long as you are running the reverb on a send (and not inserting it) the reverb will be in stereo because the reverb returns to the main (stereo) buss.
 
Fairview is correct, assuming that the reverb plug-in gives you a stereo return. And it probably does - most of the reverb fx I've seen are stereo.
 
and exactly what Mad and Farview said....is what I said (about the reverb)

and like Farview said....copying the mono signal into another separate track and panning those hard left and right will give you a mono sound...only 3dB louder.
 
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bennychico11 said:
and exactly what Mad and Farview said....is what I was what I said (about the reverb)

and like Farview said....copying the mono signal into another separate track and panning those hard left and right will give you a mono sound...only 3dB louder.
Click to expand...
It never hurts to reinforce the positive! ;)
 
ahhh thanks guys, exactly the answers i was looking for. i guess the root of my question was whether running a reverb on send would return to the mono track or return to the stereo bus.

thanks for the help. this board is a huge source of learning for me.
 
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