Chel van Gennip wrote:
On Sun, 07 May 2006 14:31:50 +0200, Ty Ford wrote:

And radio. There are still a grillion mono table radios - nearly
everyone has one it their bedroom or their kitchen.

And most FM radios fold stereo down to mono at that point when reception
craps out and they can no longer receive the stereo pilot signal.

Should we compromise on sound quality for these situations?

Depends on the intended audience. If you're making a recording for,
say, Voice of America you know that 99% of the audience is listening
in mono and mono compatibility is the name of the game. If you are
doing field recording for NPR, at least 30% sf the audience is
listening in mono. In this case you need to at least be aware of mono
compatibility issues and make sure it sounds OK in mono. If you are
making a recording that may ever be played on the radio anywhere check
mono compatibility.

It only takes a second to hit the mono sum button and check the mix.
If there are really serious mono compatibility issues it will hit you
in the face. And if it does, it usually implies that there is
something wrong with you stereo recording. Not always, but usually.

As far as whether or when to compromise, and how much, well that's
your call as a recording engineer. Just be aware that the Executive
Producer who's funding your project may happen to listen to your work
in mono and make his decisions accordingly. Want to keep your gig?

I think you
can't even hear the specific problems on a bedroom/kitchen radio or on a
FM radio with unsufficient signal.

If it's bad enough, you will definitely hear it. Or more precisely,
you *won't hear* it because phase cancellation has canceled the main
program material. I've "heard" recordings that nearly disappear
when played in mono.

That said, most of the time mono dries up the mix and places the
centered sounds more prominently - which is actually what you want
for table radios: more intelligibility, less "space".

// Walt