Stereo out into a mono amp?

[Osteology]

Hi

I've just bought a Nord Stage 2 which I'm using with a QSC K10. At the moment I'm only sending Output 1 to a single channel in my K10. Will sending Output 2 to the other channel on the K10 improve the sound or have no impact whatsoever as the sound will only be coming out of one speaker?

[Osteology]

You won't break anything, but it might sound worse with stereo samples and effects because of phase cancellation in the stereo signal.
There have been several posts here about the great stereo sound and not so great mono sound (via the Mono Output button).
When I play mono I send only 1 output to the amp. You can try that and then press Mono Output to see any differences that it makes.

[Osteology]

The Mono Output button makes quite a marked difference. Thanks for your help

[damasp]

I've found plugging in L and right channels in to the one powered speaker definitely sounds odd. Maybe it is phasing. Playing with just the mono button pressed and just a left channel into one of the inputs of the speaker is more clear in sound.
Ideally two powered speakers for the stereo effect is best, but for most of our gigs it may not be an option, unless I would stack them on top on each other and that may defeat the purpose of the separation.

[hijlko]

I had some comparable issues with stereo into mono. Some sounds will almost completely disappear (if I remember well this is the case with some Rhodes) and sound very in the distance and thin. If you really need to play mono you should only connect the mono output. I don't recall a mono button but if there is one it would certainly have it's purpose.

I don't know why you want/need to play mono but it makes no sense to me to play such an expensive board over a mono amp. Nowadays I use mostly in-ear but before I took always two small powered monitors to have a great and inspiring stereo sound on stage. If you like the sound of the QSC-K10 than you're next buy should be a second one I guess.

[Mr_-G-]

I don't know why you want/need to play mono but it makes no sense to me to play such an expensive board over a mono amp.

Erm... because the OP has only a mono amp?
And sometimes PAs are run in mono and not stereo so you might be forced to end up in mono.

Yes there is a mono button in the NS2.

When playing via 1 channel only, due to the stereo positioning of the notes, it might also be useful to try one or the other channel to check if a part of the keyboard becomes more prominent.

[zarquon]

On this topic, I contacted Clavia and got this reply.

"Our Nord Piano samples all have its own "mono mode" that "weights" its left and right samples in a way to sort out phase cancellation.
However, especially in the mid part of a piano this is difficult to do and some pianos are better than others.
But to answer your question: no, we does not simply combine the two sides without adjustments."

So while stereo is the best option when you have only mono output options available you should trigger the mono output option and use one channel rather than combining the left and right of the stereo signal.

[Mr_-G-]

The piano might sound better in "Mono" than in "sum mode" (will do some test on this) but if there is still some cancellation in the middle range with the Mono button as Clavia points out, using only one channel avoids that cancellation at the expense of a slightly less prominent upper or lower end, depending on which one you choose as output. So maybe it is possible to get a better sound with only 1 channel enabled and a bit of equalisation to compensate.

[maurus]

So maybe it is possible to get a better sound with only 1 channel enabled and a bit of equalisation to compensate.

Definitely my experience. For acoustic pianos it's usually the right channel (with prominent treble) that works best for me.

[wcmusician]

Yeah,

just got my NS2 and been playing with it using headphones for a couple of weeks, designing sounds and the like. Sounds epic. Due to a technical problem at my gigs this weekend I had to output in mono….the sound of the board was pretty crap to be honest. I output a single cable from output 1 into the desk and put the board into 'mono' mode. Still, the bosendorfer piano in particular sounded thin and horrible. It was almost like a CP80! A good few other sounds were pretty weak and thin sounding as well.

Using a mackie mixer and HK Actor PA