mono -> stereo?

[jhchang]

Is it possible to duplicate a mono signal to become a stereo one? like directing the same source to the left/right channel. I'm looking for hardware approach rather than software solution.

[Bob Womack]

You do it with a little mixer and use the pan pot on a mono channel to center the mono signal.

Bob

[jhchang]

Thanks for your info Bob!! This is new to me 'cause I'm not quite familiar w/ mixers. Can any mixer do this? Or could you recommend a model to me? A value model w/ 4 tracks would be good enough.

[Bob Womack]

Behringer makes a little guy for $49.99.


Bob

[min7b5]

I've found that my little Nanoverb does a great job of this.
My mono guitar line goes in for reverb and then goes out left and right to two powered PA speakers. I think it's slightly wetter on one side, so it really has nice three dimensional thing happening.

[AReed67]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Behringer makes a little guy for $49.99.


Bob

I have this mixer as well (needed an XLR input for my Shure mic); it would be a great solution. Behringer's lower priced mixers are the same exact parts and quality, just literally smaller!

[jackweasel]

You didn't explain how you were using this signal exactly. Is this for recording purposes or live sound re-enforcement? When you mentioned hardware vs. software solutions, it made me wonder.
For recording I use a Boss BR-532 which allows me to record one track, mixing guitar and vocals through a Behringer board and feeding it to one track on the recorder [for writing purposes or a main track to build on], and then "bounce" that track to stereo "virtual track" if I want.
I used it that way for the first today and it worked pretty well. The bounce feature lets me add more instrument or vocal tracks, while keeping things stereo.

[jhchang]

yes this is for recording purpose.

[marklyn]

For recording just double the channel. Copy and paste what you record in mono into a new channel. Now pan one right and one left. Add effects to taste. (Stereo reverb, or light stereo delay) Or even add a very slight delay to only 1 of the 2. This will probably be more sonically pure than anything that would double a mono signal into 2 signals.

[jhchang]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Behringer makes a little guy for $49.99.

Bob

This looks great; but I'm still not quite clear how it works.
Since there is only 1 mono signal, it'd be just input to 1 track. Even I can pan this track to the left or right, how do I get the 2nd input for another track? Do I need a Y-cable or the like to split the signal? Please bear with my entry-level question.

[Bob Womack]

To input two channels of the same stuff to the mixer, you pan it to the center in the mixer and take the two outputs of the mixer into your computers first two inputs to record.

However, your recording/mixing software should have this capability onboard to pan the OUTPUT of a mono source to the center of it's stereo signal as well. Take a look at your software's mixing capabilities.

Bob

[jhchang]

No I'm not recording to my computer. That's why I mentioned I'm not looking for software solution. My recording device is my digital MP3 recorder w/ a linein input. I don't use a mixer/recording software in this case so I can't copy and paste one track to another.

[marklyn]

I'm not clear on why you want stereo in. A clean mono track is a very nice thing.

[jhchang]

Originally Posted by marklyn

I'm not clear on why you want stereo in. A clean mono track is a very nice thing.

because when you listen to the recording thru the headphone, you only hear it in one side of the ear, which is a bit disappointing to me.

[jackweasel]

Try the "Y" cable. It should give you two outputs of your mono signal to plug in left/right to your recorder. I use one to take the stereo output from my cd player to a mono signal for my Bose PAS. That way it only uses one of the four inputs it has.