Stereo is great for recording, but mono is best live. It’s nice to run a stereo signal and have some width if you’re using IEM’s, but it’s really best to run mono in a live setting to FOH.
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I understand what you mean. But what about reverb, for example? Reverb is sonic space, depth. I find any reverb in mono ugly and unnatural. In the case of a stereo FOH, should I use the entire preset in mono and only the reverb at the end of the chain in stereo? Some equipment doesn’t even have a mono reverb option (which makes perfect sense to me), unless I put the stereo reverb between the preamp and the IR/cabinet, then it will be mono. Thanks.
If you’re going to run reverb, without a QC, it would be in mono either into the front of the amp or the effects loop - unless you run two amps and then you could do stereo, but most of us can’t run two amps on stage and sound guys in most clubs won’t want to deal with it either. I approach it from a live standpoint like I would a real amp. I never took two amps and played stereo then, and don’t do it now. Recording and studio work is a lot different, and I always record stereo as well as double tracking - but that’s a whole different topic
Reverb can sound nice in stereo, and I do prefer that for recording, but in a live setting it’s kind of unnecessary. Just place your reverb after the amp, and before the cab, and it will still sound good (like an effects loop), or you can put it after the cab like you would in post production. If the reverb is stereo and the last thing in your signal chain, it will produce a wider sound when it’s on, but when it’s off it will feel like something is missing because that stereo width just went back to mono, unless you’re running a stereo cab/IR.
In my opinion, stereo really gets lost in a live setting at any venue level. The audience won’t hear or feel the difference, and if you’re on wedges vs IEM’s it will be a different experience. Just keep it simple, run mono live, and don’t overthink it too much.
For years mono spring reverb served everybody really well.
So really no worries.
For big stages only a fraction of people will get stereo images.
PA Right and Left will be too far to get the stereo image.
For closed space small clubs stereo would work but then again, even the stage setup and where you put your amp will effect on the sound.
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I’m curious if you could you educate me on what “comb filtering” is, in at least simpler terms than prescribed by the 20 minutes of reading that the unlicensed Dr. Google gave me. It makes sense to a degree, but I start getting a tad lost on terms like “feedforward” …
I enjoy the doubler on the QC. So, does it work as well as it does because the amount of filtration is kept to a minimum (I like it at around 12ms for my taste, capture dependent of course)? I’m open to learning a bit more on it, even if you know of a good resource to point to me in the direction of. Cheers
Take a mono signal like that from an amp block in the QC, and run it into a stereo doubler. The doubler is basically a delay with a really short time parameter. (Others in this forum have stated that it also randomizes parameters like the delay time, feedback, etc. a bit so it sounds more “natural”; I can’t confirm this.) When you listen back with headphones or on your studio monitors at home, you can hear the doubler working in stereo.
If you take that stereo doubler signal and force it into a bridged mono, you will most likely hear a phasing effect as the left and right sides of the doubler’s delay line–two copies of the exact same guitar part–are out of phase with each other. This is the “comb filtering” sound that @ScreamOfAnger mentioned.
In my opinion, Doubler is a bad choice for playing live because…
A) If your sound person bridges your stereo signal to mono (most likely without your knowledge), you can have phasing issues that can’t be corrected at the sound board
B) If you successfully get your sound person to run stereo for your guitar rig, the Doubler stereo effect is really wasted on a live audience, who won’t notice the difference in a FOH mix anyway
If I’m recording at home and want Cool Stereo Guitar parts, I just fully double-track those parts and split them 100% left and right. I avoid the Doubler altogether so there’s no phasing issue when I do listen back to a mix in mono.
I definitely think the Doubler is the most overrated effect in the plug-ins and QC.
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Everyone, thank you all so much for the tips and information.
In my case, 99% of the shows I play, I don’t use an amplifier. I use stage monitors for all of them. And I’ve been more concerned with the FOH sound than my own monitoring lately. Since I play in a band with just me as guitarist, bassist, and drummer, I sometimes find that stereo sound (when possible) can make the band sound “bigger.” I also don’t play on big stages; I usually play in bars/pubs, where the speakers aren’t too far apart.
So my presets are basically: gate > compressor > drive 1 > drive 2 (if available) > amp > IR > chorus (stereo), delay (stereo), and reverb (stereo). It’s a very simple chain, and I was wondering if there would be any problem keeping it that way, or if I switch all the effects to mono when playing live (it’ll take some work to get them set up correctly again), or if I leave it like that and when playing on a mono sound system, I send only the Left output of my pedalboard. Or if it would be a huge improvement to put the effects in their mono versions. But would I have to put the reverb between the amp and the IR to make it sound mono, like it was in an effects loop? Thanks again.
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Comb filtering is the phase cancellation that happens at certain frequencies when two summed signals are partially out of phase (as opposed to complete phase cancellation that happens when you sum two identical signals that are 180° out of phase, aka polarity flipped).
Which is incidentally how you create the phaser effect (use a LFO to deviate phase and generate a varying comb filtering effect…hence the name).
As @DiffractionCircuit explained, duplicating a signal, delaying one side slightly then summing both sides back, which is what the Doubler does, is a way to generate comb filtering. Which is why summing to mono an FX chain that includes the Doubler is a bad idea.
With that said, I myself use the Doubler live, but again (and being alternatively a soundguy that moonlights as a working musician and the other way around, I make sure what gets sent to the PA works) my bands have their dedicated FoH engineer, mixing desk and we make sure the PA is properly stereo.
BUT because of the aforementioned reasons I’d rather use an Eventide-style micropitch effect and really hope we’ll get one in the not too distant future. The Doubler is a default choice for me that sorta works but isn’t ideal.
I appreciate your knowledge on the topic immensely, thanks DC! I also double track, so the “need” for a doubler is rendered moot in my case. I only use it when I’m learning songs and using one of the neural plugins, as it makes playing along with a tune sound a tad more ‘full’. But understanding the how behind the why in this case is immensely helpful, so thanks for educating me!
+1 on the eventide micropitch. But thanks for taking the time to respond, along with @DiffractionCircuit … you’ve helped demystify the confusing portions with the in-depth explanation, so I’m thankful for your insight Scream. Cheers! 
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