Should I record in stereo or mono?

Joe Gilder | June 2, 2011

I see this question a lot, and today I’d like to set the record straight. If you’re like me, and you’ve been recording for a long time, you hear “mono” and “stereo” and you understand the differences and when to use each.

However, if you’re just starting out, all these audio terms are being thrown at you — EQ, mixing, compression, reverb, effects, tracks, cardioid, dither, condenser, plug-in, bus — and it can get very confusing VERY quickly.

The good news? You don’t have to memorize Sweetwater’s glossary to be able to make great-sounding recordings. You’ll learn the terminology as you go.

One of the first things you should get a handle on is the concept of mono and stereo.

A Simple Definition

It’s really quite simple.

Mono = one audio source
Stereo = two audio sources

If an element in your song has a Left and a Right, then it should probably be on a stereo track. That’s all stereo means: left and right. When working on a mix, you’re mixing all the tracks down to a single, stereo (left and right) file.

I regularly get questions like this:

“Should my kick drum be mono or stereo?”
“Should my lead vocal be mono or stereo?”

General rule of thumb? If it’s one microphone or one cable, use mono. Stereo HAS to have two inputs…that’s what makes it stereo.

If you’re recording drum overheads (two mics), stereo acoustic guitar (two mics), or the line output from a keyboard (two cables), you’ll record to a stereo track. Most virtual instruments are like keyboards. They’ll be in stereo, too.

Common Mistakes

Stereo Effects - If you want your lead vocal to have a stereo reverb or delay on it…you don’t have to make it into a stereo track. You can route it to any number of stereo effects using sends and auxes. (See my reverb video here.)

Doubling a Mono Track Makes it Stereo? Just because you duplicate a vocal track and pan one left and one right DOESN’T mean it’s now stereo. Just listen to it. It will sound mono. Why? Because it’s the exact same audio. If you want a doubled, stereo sound, record the same part TWICE, then pan left and right. NOW you’ve got a stereo sound…since the left and right signals are no longer identical.

Doubling a Mono Track Sounds Better – I’ve heard of some people double a mono track and claim that it sounds better, or bigger, or fuller. Unfortunately, that’s not true. All you’re doing is increasing the volume by around 3dB. Two of the same exact signal will just make it a bit louder, it won’t change the sound at all.

That’s it!

This is certainly not an exhaustive guide, but hopefully it shakes loose a few preconceived notions about stereo and helps you move forward with a little less confusion.

Questions? Comments? Ask them below…

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Rich

Joe, I want to experiment with recording several different synth’s live using Ableton Live. Several of them have a left and right output and my interface only has four inputs. Is it common practice to only use one output on keys that have two outputs? Thanks.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Software synths don’t require an analog input. They are controlled by a MIDI controller, not audio.

Peter S

Hi, I am recording speech for training courses and when using a cheap headset and usb sound card I get the mono sound in both left and right channel. So far so good, but when I switch to my fancier Tascam or Yamaha external sound card and a Beyerdynamic DT-109 I only get sound in one channel. I would like to get the sound to both left and right, but without having to do an extra step of copying Left channel to right saving them again. Is there any way? And how come the cheap setup does it but not the more expensive?!

Thanks for any advice,

Peter

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Hey Peter, not being in front of your system I really don’t know what the solution is. But I would imagine you’re recording to a stereo track. There’s no need. If your system lets you, record to a mono track. A mono track will then play equally out of both your left and right outputs.

muki

what about if you are using synths and sampled instruments like kontakt sesion drummer when you exporting to a wave file witch instruments scholud be mono and witch stereo

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

I’d say use your ears. If it’s truly a stereo sample, and you think you NEED it to be stereo, then go for it.

robert

hey joe i have been trying to record using studio one, for some reason i can only hear out one side. do you know where im going wrong

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Hmm…Not sure. Would need more info. Maybe your IO settings aren’t right?

JOn

hi, to record singing and instruments from a camera, what is better: a mono mic or wave mic?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Sorry, I don’t know what a wave mic is.

Squeak

Hey, im try to record on adobe audition 3 but when i play the beat it plays then skip like its in a cd player and you hit a bump on the road then it plays back clear but keep doing that, im in audio hardware setup and i noticed my default input is mono and my default output is stereo. I tried to change my output to mono but it only let me do stereo. How can i get them both to mono? PS. I already got the Asio4all. My sample rate was 44100 but i changed it to 48000, and its running on fast track.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Sorry. I don’t know.
GREEN_CZAR

your having a latency issue,its either incorrect hardware/routing setting,or your computer isnt keeping up causing an audio dropout or processor dump,you cant change your output to mono because your playing back to speaker wich come in pairs,making all output stereo,your still recording in mono,just playing back in both speakers,id check all your settings and check into how fast your computer is running,mines a crappy dell so i have dropout after like 6 channels running compressed,id also go back to a lower sample rate if the computer turns out to be the issue…

jdave182

haaa…i like your post and explanation here. It help me a lot Thanks mate! Now i understand much, what instruments should be recorded stereo or mono Atlez now my quest is answered thanks a lot.
tm

Hi Joe, getting ready to record an audio book using Audition and still have a question on stereo/mono. If I am using only one mike will it make a difference recording in mono vs stereo. If Im only using one mike it seems saving in stereo is just more space and its duplicating what I’m doing no differently the if I record mono and later same it in stereo which is duplicating the file as well. What am I missing here.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Yeah, if you’re using one mic, then go mono. There’s no benefit to stereo.

dreamy129

Hi Joe thanks for the explanation, I have a question though. I am using Adobe Audition but why can I choose to insert a mono track or stereo track, when you said, a stereo track should have 2 mic inputs? (I can only choose one input for one track).

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Maybe you can’t RECORD in stereo, but you could still import stereo files into your system, so you still need to have stereo tracks.

6thsyllable

Does anybody know why my vocal tracks wont playback on mobile phone even though the instrumentals sound clear as day.. The voice sounds smashed

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

That’s part of what mixing is…learning how to get things to sound good on more systems that just your studio.
http://www.belowgroundmovement.bandcamp.com/ GREEN_CZAR

could be too much reverb,try to keep alot of old speakers,computer speakers and headphones around to reference to,listen in any car you can,its usually safe to say the end consumer probably isnt using very good headphones,or speakers so i like to use old ipod headphones as one of my references,if it still sounds good after 2 or 3 references,youve got a good mix…

mark

the instrument input on my interface is bad so ive been using an xlr cable with a xlr to 1/4″ adapter to track but its a stereo adapter would that make a difference with how it records or should i find a mono adapter?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Your best bet is to try it and see if it sounds good.

Setro MuziQ

I realy need help.My Scarlet 2i2 is only playing the left side even on the earphones port.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

I’d call tech support.

http://www.facebook.com/djsoulsessions Andy DjSoul Jones

Hey just stumbled across your page and am pleased I have! Lots of useful info here

I’m new to producing / recording and have made my first track in Logic, you can hear it here:

http://soundcloud.com/soulsessions-1/djsoul-on-my-own-bounced-eq

Would love some feedback on it if possible, I wrote, produced, arranged and sang on it so its an original. My question relates to vocal recording, I recorded my vocals in ‘Stereo’ on an AT 2020 Condenser mic, now after reading that you need 2 mics for true stereo does this mean that my vocals aren’t really stereo?

If thats the case should I split these into mono and then re pan / bounce?

I’m trying to make them sound warmer however don’t know much yet about EQing, Plug Ins etc (however You Tube has helped!)

Thanks and I hope that you give some feedback on my track, after living with it for 2 weeks I really could use a fresh perspective!

Many Thanks,

Soul

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Hey Andy,

Thanks for the comment. I don’t have time to listen to everyone’s recordings that they submit to me, but if you’re interested in becoming a VIP member, there are a bunch of guys in the forum who comment on each others mixes.
http://www.homestudiocorner.com/vip
http://www.belowgroundmovement.bandcamp.com/ GREEN_CZAR

run you vox mic on mono,it will pan when played back by your stereo speakers,and in your final mix,vocals are allways recorded in mono…

http://www.facebook.com/izzat.zeddii Izzat Zedd II

Hello. I’m Zedd. I recorded my guitar (with Focusrite 2i2 scarlett interface) TWICE and pan those left and right. Supposedly I should be hearing STEREO sound via the interface. But, it sounded like MONO.

When I unplugged my interface and listened through headphone (to laptop), it sounded STEREO.

I know my question is a bit off topic but, any idea how do I get the STEREO sound when listening via the interface?

thanks.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Hey Zedd! I responded to you on Facebook this morning. hope that helps!

Addinae

I use my synthesizer for my bass tracks. Should they be in mono or stereo?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

You should probably read the article again. Just do whichever sounds better to you.

jabesh

bless my name is jabesh from jamaica sxm and my question here is if am using adobe audition cs5.5 should record vocals in mono or stereo please do give a positive respons cause people say recording vocals in stereo am loosing quality on the vocals so really joe gilder anwser my questions bless jabesh from speakthetruth prod aka S.T.T

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Like the article says. If you’re using one microphone (and you probably are), the signal IS mono. It can’t be stereo. So to answer your question: mono.

Sean Bond

I am using the focusrite 2i2 and I was wondering when I record on Cool edit pro I can only hear sound on left side when I record… Im new to this recording stuff

JS

well you have to check the settings on your audio interface and your daw.
http://www.belowgroundmovement.bandcamp.com/ GREEN_CZAR

your trying to record mono on a stereo track,most mics are mono…

Dave

Joe, in your explanation you state,
“Doubling a Mono Track Makes it Stereo? Just because you duplicate a vocal track and pan one left and one right DOESN’T mean it’s now stereo. Just listen to it. It will sound mono. Why? Because it’s the exact same audio. If you want a doubled, stereo sound, record the same part TWICE, then pan left and right. NOW you’ve got a stereo sound…since the left and right signals are no longer identical”.

When you say to “record the same part twice” do you mean with two different mics and placements, running at the same time or what? Could you be very specific of you set-up and technique here?

John Sap

That means exactly as it sounds: you record the same riff or vocals or anything else you want twice in two DIFFERENT mono tracks and then you pan them as you like. I always write my riffs twice and in some occasions 4 times, and hard pan them L&R. That adds mass to your recordings and the perception of a natural sound and not “plastic”, if you get my drift. You still can copy/paste the same recording in a different mono track and displace it for a few milliseconds front or backwards, but i do not recommend it as you will never achieve the naturality of sound you get from a double recorded track.

Kasey

Hi I’m a newbie to home recording and I was hoping maybe you could help me out. I have been using a focusrite scarlett 2i2 with a condenser mic in one input, an acoustic in the other input and I am currently using Mixcraft 5 for my DAW because it’s so user friendly. I usually record the 2 inputs in mono simultaneously on separate tracks (left and right channel of recording interface) then mix them down to mp3 or whatever. For some reason if I add reverb through plug-ins it makes unwanted noises (like a hiss when the guitar strums or vocals start) after I mix it down to mp3 but I can’t hear the noise just replaying it in my DAW…..it sounds great until I convert it to mp3. If I use stereo it doesn’t make the noise when I convert it but then I only hear vocals on one side. Do you know what is causing the noise in mono?
Analogue Addict

Little bit of advice required.. not exactly a stereo question but still related

I have just got a linndrum drum machine to play with and the kink drum sounds fantastic if i pan it hard left or hard right. Very full and punchy kick. It is running from the stereo out of the machine into 2 chan of the mixer. As soon as i pan the 2 chans left and right it loses its quality… low frequency drops and i end up with a tighter sort of kick. I know this is down to a phasing issue but would you say that is normal? Would like to try and find if this is normal before i start pulling the speakers apart to make sure the phasing is all correct on the drivers… maybe down to room acoustics? Wave lengths?
Eddy

I remember awhile back, I had read somewhere, (I tried it once, and it worked great…for background vocals).

1. Record it in mono(whichever bg vocal ur working on.)

2. Duplicate that track. EQ them both differently…doesn’t matter how you do it. Do that til ya hear a lil distinction between the 2.)

3. Delay by just Mili-seconds, just enough to hear a separation, the 2nd part.

4. Pan them left and right accordingly.

Worked real well on a song I did when I was just learning. And by doing that, I didn’t need a whole lot of reverb, because I panned them hard left n hard right, and that seemed to create space.

Anywhoo, wish I could remember where I read that(this was like 5-6 years ago).

Thanks again Joe, for all you do…u rock! and sometimes u acoustic too! lol
Scott

Why do people double (or triple or quadruple) vocals on verses/choruses? Is that for timing rather than to make it sound fuller?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

It’s just all about getting a different sound. Sometimes a single vocal sounds weak, doubling it can make it sound fuller.

Jaimech

I have a couple of questions here. I record from my Korg M3 using my Presonus Firebox interface. I use both left and Right outputs from my keyboard so I think that is a stereo signal. Now what if I use the Eraphones output with a stereo cable? would that be a stereo signal as well? If it is that would go into only ONE input on the inerface would that still be Stereo or MONO? yeah it is VERY CONFUSING when you are starting off….

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Your inputs on your interface are mono. The only time ONE cable is stereo is
with headphones. If you were to take the headphone signal and run it to a
single input, it wouldn’t sound good. You’d have to split it to two cables,
each to its own input.

As I wrote, stereo is always two sources — two cables — no way around
that.

Jim Troy

The sense I’m getting is that stereo captures nothing extra of the original source, only the resonance of the room. So I suppose you want to record in stereo when you have a nice space to capture, in momo if you wantt o close-mic and keep the basement out of the picture. Do you agree? That also leads me to ask if you hear a difference in the on-axis frequency response of an omni mic versus a cardiod; if not, I guess you would choose to record in momo with a tight cardiod mic if you were stuck in a bad room.

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

No…I think you’re missing the point. Stereo is a FANTASTIC way to record. The problem is people think that recording something with one mic, then doubling it and panning left and right is “stereo.” It’s not. Check out these articles:

http://www.homestudiocorner.com/2009/05/22/3-reasons-to-stereo-mic-acoustic-guitar/
http://www.homestudiocorner.com/2009/06/02/3-reasons-not-to-stereo-mic-acoustic-guitar/

Astewart

I used to always clone my mono bass guitar track and pan them hard left and right. I think I read somewhere that this opens up the middle for the kick , so they are not fighting for the spot. I have since been told, not to do that, by different people that know a ton more than me. Ok, that was conservative, 2 tons more than me. I have stopped doing that, but am wondering if doing the panning hard left and right does help. What are your thoughts on this Joe?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Panning identical tracks hard left and right doesn’t technically do anything. It’s still mono. Since the tracks are identical, you’re not doing anything differently. If it was one track panned center, you’d have the same sound coming out of both speakers. With two identical tracks panned hard left and right…guess what? You still have the same sound coming out of both speakers. You’ve not changed anything.

Eddy

OH, I see what you’re saying…I did miss the initial point…my bad, sorry!

I think that’s why that particular person gave that advice…in case you COULDN’T record in stereo…ie, if you’d only been sent 1 singular mono source. To give the “impression of stereo”…eq each track separately(to create illusion that singer wasn’t exactly the same distance from the mic both times, then “delay them in just milliseconds..almost so minimal it’s inaudible”…at least that’s what I THINK that person’s advice was for, as I said, it’s been a long time.

But now, I DO see what you’re saying bout the diff. between mono and stereo…thanks for clearing that up!

http://twitter.com/audioissues Audio Issues

Thank you for the two mono tracks doubled sounds better myth. It’s amazing how many people are fooled by the louder is better argument.
http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Sorry, I don’t understand the question. What are you asking?
Hutchinson9736

Besides the obvious of using one less plug-in per pair of stereo tracks, are there any inherent pros and cons to recording in stereo vs. dual mono? This is what I thought of..

Plug-ins – What if I wanted to treat (i.e. EQ, dynamics, phase) one microphone differently than the other? Recording in stereo would make this difficult, if not impossible. I am aware that you can (after tracking) split the stereo into two mono tracks.

The only reason I see to record in stereo is:
1 – easier to keep track of (1 vs 2 tracks.. woo hoo haha)
2 – you know that you aren’t going to treat the individual mic’s of the stereo pair differently

Please correct my ignorances and add to the list.. believe me, if I had more reasons to record in stereo, I would… so I’m still looking =P

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

You pretty much nailed it. If you’re actually STEREO-miking something, then you DON’T want to treat the L and R separately. The idea is to keep them exactly the same and let the differences in the recorded signal give you the stereo image. If you start EQ-ing one differently from the other, you’ll get weird phase issues.

Not to say I haven’t done this, but I try to leave stereo-miked signals in stereo.

Raphael Cassis

But if I duplicate a bass track recorded in mono, pan one L and the other R and put a full wet delay of 3ms in the bus of the right one, for example… It will sound fuller than mono for me… But when I turn it to mono I hear some phase problems, as I would expect… OK, and than? hehehe And some times I like to hear all in mono to mix the lower frequencies in the section… And using this artifact I cannot… What do you suggest to me?

Thanks for the clean explanation… And for the live section of editing on Saturday…

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Why would you duplicate it, pan it, and delay one? Bass needs to be dead center in your mix, not stereo.

Raphael Cassis

I don’t know, I just did it and liked the results… Is there a rule? Bass dead center?

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

There’s no rule, but having heavy bass frequencies panned out that wide will sound odd.

Also, like I said, panning the same track hard left and right doesn’t really make it stereo anyway.

Raphael Cassis

The same thing for me sounded fuller and for you odd… Considering my experience, I need to listen more carefully … Thanks for all … Greatings from Brazil

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1815397659 Ryusei Kawano

Thanks, I’ve had this question for a while and glad you cleared it up.
http://twitter.com/dbagchee Dipendra Bagchee

What I’ve always been confused with is how panning works with a stereo track. If I understand correctly (in Pro Tools anyway) the pan knob essentially becomes a volume control for the left and right mix? Maybe this is for another blog post

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

No, you have a separate panner, one for the left channel, and one for the right channel.

Alex Huff

Thank you for mentioning that doubling a mono track does not make the track sound better or fuller. I have toyed with this concept for some time and thought that somehow it did – It does sound louder, but not necessarily “fuller” or “better”. I have done this with both vocals and guitar tracks, with little success.

Thanks for clearing that up!

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Now you can double a track and do DIFFERENT processing to it if you want. For example, double a bass track and add a bunch of distortion to the second one, then blend that back in with the first. But no, simply doubling it doesn’t help anything.

Craig Fraser

I quite often record in stereo, but rarely do I record to a stereo track in my DAW. I prefer the flexibility of two mono tracks, one for each “side” of the stereo signal.

If you’re just starting out, definitely use stereo tracks to record an instrument. It will certainly keep things simpler.

Once you get a bit more in-depth, you may prefer to record your stereo source to two mono tracks, so that you can pan in wacky ways and/or apply effects to one “side” or the other of the stereo source.

Everyone’s different of course, but I like to err on the side of having more options than fewer when it comes time to mix.

Good post Joe!

http://www.homestudiocorner.com Joe Gilder

Thanks Craig. Some DAWs handle stereo tracks differently. Pro Tools, for example, gives you a separate panner for both the L and R channels. Studio One, on the other hand, has one panner for a stereo bus.