llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 9:35 am
Nate Dort wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 7:33 am
llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 7:18 am
I guess I have trouble distinguishing between dual mono (l + r) and stereo - am I overthinking this?
What's the context?
I read some reviews about some random Neve-style hardware compressor I can’t afford seeming to operate better at dual-mono than stereo.
I understand stereo linking would typically use one set of controls where as dual mono would use two (which can then be set identically for a stereo source)
Similarly, if I’m looking at hardware outs on my i/o:
I have the option to designate out 1 as stereo (which also uses out 2) or I can use out 1 and 2 as two separate mono outs and then pan them left and right - is there a difference there?
For the IO there is no real difference. Your Daw will see it as a "Stereo" out, but can also probably pick each side as a "Mono" out. In your IO making it "Stereo" probably just gangs the Gain setting.
In a lot of compressors the most important thing that changes from "Stereo" to "Dual Mono" mode is the way the side chain affects the compresion. In "Stereo" both sides are being compressed by a summed sidechain signal (and in old DBX I think maybe just uses Left Side as Reference), so the left and right will compress the same based on that input, in "Dual Mono" mode the Left and Right sides are compressing completely independent of each other, using each side as the sidechain input. This can sometimes be helpful for preserving stereo width as you get a more independent Left and Right processing. I always run Drum Overheads in Dual Mono, with identical settings.