On 21/12/2011, Tom Fine wrote: > Ugh, I hate listening to mono records this way. Unfortunately, some > people who do otherwise excellent transfers of old grooved-disk > recordings don't sum to mono. It's incredibly annoying to have > "stereo" surface noise with a small field of mono content in the > middle. The mono content should be dead centre whether you sum or not. I find it annoying to have the noise blended in with it rather than separate. > It actually makes the soundfield for the content (as opposed > to the extraneous noise) more narrow and less distinct. Summing to > mono: 1) removes some low-frequency disk-noise issues by cancelling > out-of-phase stuff, and 2) cancels or reduces the level vs the main > content for other random noises and the overall "whoosh" sound. When I > transfer a mono record, I always sum it, but the Restoration Preamp > has a mode where you can mix between left and right to see if you > reduce noise or distortion that way (sometimes this works, I find > mostly it doesn't matter). I think there is another method where you > can put one channel out of phase and mix it to a level that cancels > noise the most, but I haven't tried this and don't remember the > details. > > One man's opinions, but based on years of listening to and > transferring mono sources. > I think we all have decades of experience, and different preferences. It could depend on the shapes of our ears. Regards -- Don Cox [log in to unmask]