Left vs Right vs Mono Button When Out of Single Speaker?

[d3adrock]

Hi, new Nord owner here. I finally picked up an Electro after many many years of pining over one. The one question that I've looked for but been unable to find an answer to, is since I have only a single speaker to run my Nord out of (poor keyboardist), but the Nord is a stereo instrument is it better to use the right or the left speaker as opposed to the mono button?

The reason I ask is because everytime i've tried the mono button it makes it sound worse somehow than just having it come out of either Left or Right Channels which is something that I've heard others complain about here as well. Am I missing something? Is there some hidden setting that can make the signal just a normal mono out of either the Left or Right Channels without changing the sound for the worse? If I purchased some type of Y splitter cable could I combine both signals into a single speaker? I am coming from an electric guitar background so the idea of a stereo instrument doesn't really make sense to me. Thanks for any help!

[afroskully]

Hey there, and welcome to the fold!

I also toyed with the mono function on the board when I'm not able to run in stereo for whatever reason, and I too never liked the way it sounded. I think the general consensus here is that just going out of the Right channel sounds best as you're getting the output that's more higher register dominant which will make your bass player happy anyway.

[d3adrock]

A follow up question, is there any way to run both R & L outputs to a single amp input?

[DJKeys]

A follow up question, is there any way to run both R & L outputs to a single amp input?

This should work fine, that way you always get the entire signal from the instrument-

-dj

[chatfd]

It would seem to me, & actually - I may be forced at times to at least TRY this, that one could use the STEREO (headphone) jack. Of course with a TRS 1/4" cable to a (???-tbd). Why? (for me), a band I may play with wants each keyboard in a separate SINGLE channel in their mix. I've a Radical Key Largo which is great ... but that way I need a total of FOUR channels. Heck. If the headphone out jack works, why not - once in a while. Maybe in time I can get them to see the (Nord) light & give me four channels. They have that capacity now~ (I think!).

Any thoughts on trying/using the single stereo headphone out??

[Hlaalu]

Not sure what you mean, but you can use the effects loop IN of the Largo as a 4th input if you need.

[analogika]

A follow up question, is there any way to run both R & L outputs to a single amp input?

This is literally what the "mono" button on the machine does, except it does so within the machine itself.

One thing I really hate about the mono function is that it SUMS the left and right organ signals, which is NOT how a mono Leslie works — a mono-mic'ed Leslie will have one mic on the horn, while summing two stereo mics will result in a really ugly double-warble on the Leslie that annoys the hell out of me.

For this reason alone I use just one of the outputs when I have to run a mono system, rather than summing to mono.

[d3adrock]

Which output do you prefer? L or R? If the mono button simply sums the 2 channels inside the electro, then why does it sound so different from either of the individual channels? It sounds like it looses a bunch of harmonics and richness compared to even just a single channel. I'm confused.

[analogika]

Which output do you prefer? L or R? If the mono button simply sums the 2 channels inside the electro, then why does it sound so different from either of the individual channels? It sounds like it looses a bunch of harmonics and richness compared to even just a single channel. I'm confused.

It should sound the same as when you sum the two outputs in an external box, which is the point.

Pianos sound weird because the samples are optimised for stereo, and when you just sum the two sides, there is going to be some overlap, phasing and cancellation between the microphone signals that make up the sample.

Honestly, I've never really decided which output is "nicer" - when I'm forced to use a mono signal, my main concern is making the Leslie simulation not sound like s***, and so I don't worry about whether I want the bright end or the dark end of the piano. Thankfully, it happens rarely.

I just make sure to plug in both plugs and just use one for the output, so that I don't accidentally send a mono signal. I'm not very scientific about it.

[chatfd]

Not sure what you mean, but you can use the effects loop IN of the Largo as a 4th input if you need.

I was trying to ask, as the MONO/Stereo thing came up, is I tend to ONLY use mono in a group practice. However, a band I'm in conversation with said they one a SINGLE output from EACH of my two Nord boards into their PA so the sound person can mix them separately. (We all know the Nord patches have different volume levels!) So, via the mono/stereo post I wondered if the (stereo) HEADPHONE out jack, (which I use at home practicing with headphones to keep PIECE in the house) could be used "instead" of the Key Largo (this band I believe would provide the Direct Box - or I have a passive Radical box that would do the same thing). So, a TRS out from the Headphone Jack into (whatever) would work.

I hope that explains what I was asking. Thanks!