FAQ

The difference between stereo and mono in-ear-monitor?

Update time : 2024-06-28 11:46:28

Stereo is divided into 3 categories:
①stereo recording
②Stereo signal transmission
③Stereo playback
The three are very closely connected

Stereo Pickup

If there are two microphones on the left and right of the stage,and according to the audience's vision.
Push the left microphone signal to the extreme left and send it only to the left speaker
The signal from the right microphone goes to the extreme right and is only sent to the right speaker.

At this time, someone is playing the flute, and the distance between him and the left and right microphones is different. He is closer to the left microphone.
So when he plays the flute, the left microphone picks up a louder flute sound, while the right microphone picks up a smaller flute sound.

Then after we play back the left and right microphone signals in the left and right speakers respectively,
if the audience squats in the middle of the speakers, he can clearly hear that the sound of the flute is on the left.
Because the flute sound from the left speaker is louder and the flute sound from the right speaker is smaller,
the audience will naturally think that the flute sound is from the left.

If someone is playing a trumpet on the right side of the stage, because the speaker is close to the microphone on the right,
the sound reproduced by the speaker will be louder on the right side,
and the person will feel that the sound of the trumpet is coming from the right.

If someone is playing harmonica in the middle of the stage and is exactly the same distance from the two microphones,
the sound reproduced by the speaker will sound like it is in the middle.

This is stereo sound pickup. Although the sound pickup source of the two microphones is the same, due to the different pickup positions,
the sound information picked up is also different.
After being repeated separately by the two speakers, the information is again It is played back,
and can be felt by the audience, and the position of the sound can be distinguished. This is the so-called stereo sound.

So the key to stereo is whether there is such stereo information and whether it can be played back correctly.

Of course, when we just discussed stereo pickup, we only discussed the volume difference,
but the timbre difference (frequency) and phase difference (time) are also elements that make up the stereo information,
and in addition to picking up through the microphone,
it can also "Stereo information" can also be generated through post-mixing processing, such as panning or echo, delay, etc.
As long as these produced stereo signals can be played back correctly, we can feel the stereo information inside.

Then go back to the two microphones on the stage. Using these two microphones, we can achieve stereo pickup,
and transmit the two microphone signals to the left and right speakers respectively and repeat them.
This is stereo transmission and stereo sound. For playback, if the two track signals are recorded separately, it will be a stereo recording.

Moreover, the stereo pickup mentioned above is something you can often see in recordings or performances.
For example, you may find two condenser microphones on the ceiling of a large theater, secretly recording the entire symphony orchestra.
Or in a recording studio, you may see two condenser microphones placed in front of the choir for recording.
Or at a rock concert, you may see two condenser microphones hanging above the drummer's head.
They all do stereo pickup, and the purpose is of course to make the performance recording better.
Not only does performance recording require stereo, but current music and film and television works are basically stereo,
that is, the two LR tracks are used to record the "stereo information" mentioned above.
The audience only needs to use stereo playback equipment to hear the stereo information inside, such as your headphones and monitoring speakers.

Of course, there are now stereo technology and more advanced multi-channel systems, such as Dolby 5.1, 7.1, etc.

Stereo does not refer to whether one or both sides of the earphone sound,
but whether the played back or picked up signal contains stereo information,
whether this information can be guaranteed not to be lost during transmission,
and whether the LR signal can be played back independently during playback. Only when the above conditions are met can it be stereo.
Then mono is easy to understand. If the above conditions cannot be met, it is not stereo, but downgraded to mono.
For example, only one microphone is used to pick up the sound (single direction) or only one side of the left and right channels of the audio is played back,
or the left and right channels are combined into one and played back. In this case, stereo will be downgraded to mono.

Are stereo in-ear-monitors better than mono at a performance?

Not necessarily. It depends on the performance venue. If you have enough experience behind the scenes,
you will find that the performances where you can see stereo headphone monitors are usually a celebrity singer's performance or a celebrity's personal concert.
The reason why celebrities use stereo in ear monitors for performances is that the cost of use is not high.
The cost here refers to the number of output channels occupied by the in-ear-monitors.
Generally, a performance with a variety of programs can be completed with a few host microphones and a computer to play music.
At most, two big-name celebrities can sing at the end, so the output channels of the mixer will not be used much.
If there are more than a dozen output channels that are not used, then it is definitely okay to occupy two channels for the singers to use as headphone monitors.

It is easier to understand why celebrities use stereo in-ear-monitors in their personal concerts,
as they are the center of the entire performance.
Is it too much to ask for two outputs to be used as stereo in-ear-monitors?
It is not too much to ask for a 64-channel mixer to be used as in-ear-monitors for celebrities, as long as you have the money.

As for other performances, such as large music festivals, mono in-ear-monitors are generally used.
Even if the band brings stereo in-ear-monitors, they only require mono. There are two reasons.
① There are many bands coming to large music festivals, and each musician brings a set of in-ear-monitors.
How many output channels does the mixer have to be enough for these in-ear-monitors?
So behind the monitor of the mixer, you may see a pile of in-ear-monitors lined up, and they can only be connected to the mixer when their owners are about to go on stage.
In this case, do you still want one person to occupy two channels for stereo in-ear-monitors?

② Stereo in-ear- monitoring system is not as important as you think.
Generally, a musician can hear the metronome, his own instrument, other people's instruments, PGM, and the volume ratio is what he wants.
That's enough. As for the left and right placement of the instrument in the headphones, it is definitely best if there is one, but it doesn't matter if there is none.
In the most extreme case, as long as the metronome can be heard clearly in the ear monitor, he thinks it is OK.
So for a wireless ear monitor used for small and medium-sized performances, mono is the most normal.
Otherwise, if you hold a stereo ear monitor and face an analog mixer with only one output channel, how can you get along with the mixer?

Of the two options, stereo monitoring is generally more expensive.
What kind of equipment is used for what kind of performance? Just buy it according to your own budget.


EM-300 Stereo IEM	PSM300 Stereo IEM	M2050 Mono IEM	EW300 Mono IEM

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