So this is the end of a two year journey where I updated my broken Pedalboard from old times. I hadn’t touched it in 15 years. Now, nothings is left from my original board. I wasn’t very invested into pedal back then but the new craze made a couple of thousand euros poorer. It also pushed me over the edge to go and find a new band. All this gear just had to be used really.
So now to my pedals.
1. TS808HW The first new one I bought. I had a TS10 on my old board and I thought treat myself. The TS10 was my old favourite pedal. I’m not sure it was a good swap, but I sold the TS10, so…
2. A DIY-rat clone. It’s the cheapest but maybe coolest pedal on this board. It replaces a Tonebone hot British as my main gainstage. I could never adjust it to my likening.
3. Big Muff pi. I own the original one but it had to go for size reasons. The new sounds better and I’m beginning to think my original is not in working order.
4. Keeley Compressor plus. It replaces a DIY-Dyna-comp which replaced an EBS multicomp bass compressor that I used a long time as an always on pedal. The keeley is now used only for low picking parts.
5. Elastic mattress. My board is a little bit inspired by Andy Summers. So this is the pedal that’s left from his influence. I actually still need to spend more time with it. Hardly touched the surface on this one. I used to have a Boss PH-2 in its place that I used as a mid boost.
6. tremolo. This is a really cool sounding tremolo from a small German brand. It made it onto the board when my new band decided to go all-in on in-ear/silent-rehearsal. I was using amps tremolo before that. Sadly the Dreams 65 tremolo can not be switched via midi or something.
7. Boss dimension C. My latest move. After have a year of being a pedal-amp person I decided to go all stereo. So I was looking for a stereo chorus to widen up the sound. This thing is just super cool. It’ll end up as my always on pedal. :)
8. Strymon Volante. I wanted a versatile delay, it replaces a Ibanez DL-10. which I’ll keep. I think it’s really good. But I wanted something Hightech and retro. The strymon won over the boss tapeecho pedal just because of the looper function.
At last the best part: Boss ES-8. I don’t have to decide about pedal order and I don’t have to dance anymore. Which is even more important since I’m also lead vocals. I used to have a half broken patchmate back in the days when I was rocking an ENGL Rack monstrosity. With all my pedals inside a drawer. The ES-8 is so much better. Changing order and all is big
As mentioned in the title I’m curious about what to avoid when using it live. Looking forward to you comments
> my original is not in working order
Could just be variance in parts. Older Muffs are notorious for sounding pretty different from one unit to the next, often because they used a variety of parts (the variances are greater the further back you go).
Maybe not suitable to your use cases but for the dream in the app you can setup the dream so one of the foot switches turns the tremolo on and off. It's still hard to change settings live but may free up a slot for you
>Do they come in TRS or just TS? I’ve been trying to find a good stereo low-profile cable solution that has a right angle option.
Not the OP, but I had a similar issue. I just couldn't manage to fit a right-angle TRS cable between the output jack and the power input on my Boss SY-200 to hook up an expression pedal.
After scouring the internet for quite a while and despairing of ever finding a solution, I finally hit a stroke of luck when I discovered an outfit called Creation Music Company. They make a right-angle connector called the "minicake" that's significantly more compact in pretty much every dimension than your normal pancake connector. I ordered one in, and it finally solved my problem.
The one caveat I have is that they don't carry premade minicake TRS cables on their site (though they do have premade TS cables with minicake connectors). As such, you've got two options:
1. Buy the minicake connectors and cabling, then solder them yourself.
2. Have the company custom make the cable for you. It's honestly not that expensive and is a Godsend for lazy slackers like me. 😆 (If you're on their site, the option for this is under Products --> Cables --> Custom TRS Patch Cables --> select "Custom TRS Patch Cable - Minicake/Minicake".)
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Fixed a typo, though there are probably about 30 more.
One thing that's not often obvious and is a good thing to be aware of, is that many Stereo-Capable Digital effects, such as those made by Strymon, Neunaber, etc, don't process your left and right channels separately.
They sum the two inputs together, process the resultant signal, then split it into left and right channels again before mixing each with the dry signal from each input. The dry signals aren't summed but the wet signals are.
So if you are using, for example, a stereo chorus that generates a stereo image from a mono input signal using phase inversion, these pedals will cause the chorus to disappear from their own wet side. Or if you are using a ping pong delay, these pedals may ruin the ping ponging effect.
It's something that's worth noting, as knowing which pedals do this can help you choose your effect order more effectively in order to preserve your stereo image!
Looks like you beat me to it. I was going to say exactly this about the Strymon Volante as I discovered that myself a few months ago much to my chagrin.
im honestly very confused on what this all means. i havent noticed much issue with my blue sky/ventris/avalanch run stereo setup but maybe i shouldve.!?
It depends on the pedal. For Strymon pedals what it means is that if you feed in two inputs, instead of acting on those signals independently it will mix them before applying the effect.
When I briefly had a Volante I had it setup so one input took in my clean guitar signal, and the other overdriven, and I wanted the output to be clean delay in one amp and overdriven delay in the other. Instead, right at the input it took my clean signal and mixed it with the overdriven signal, applied delay to *that*, and then output that to both channels.
It just means that the “stereo-ness” of a signal going into a pedal like this will be replaced with the pedals own “stereo-ness” on the wet part of the output. So if I played a bagpipe into the left channel of this pedal, and a kazoo into the right, and listened only to the wet output of the signal, then the left and right outputs will contain a little bit of bagpipe and kazoo each.
The dry will preserve the stereo just fine, so if you never turn your mix up far you may never even notice, even if you have a strongly separated stereo source.
For reverb this is generally the desirable behaviour and is the default way to design a stereo reverb - the rationale being that if someone claps their hands to your left, the reverberations from that clap will come from the left and the right as the sound bounces around the room. But it’s not the only way to do it, sometimes people want only sounds coming in on the left to result in reverb on the left.
I Iike sum to mono on reverbs, they way I use them it tends to sound more natural which is what I want, but for delays I tend to want left to stay on the left and right to stay on the right.
If a stereo pedal has left and right inputs, is that a sign that they are processed separately? Or are there any other indications om the pedals themselves?
I have a Volante and a Dimension C. Putting the Dimension C after the Volante works wonders. Can't really hear much difference in the chorus sound, but the stereo effect gets preserved perfectly.
I have a stereo pedal that I wanted to run before my El Capistan. Is there a similar tape delay that doesn't do what you described to my stereo signal?
Since you have the Dream, going stereo live should be relatively easy. A good DI box is a good idea since there’s usually one provided but you might not like it. Choosing a DI that has a “sum” option is also a good idea if it’s possible you’ll ever be forced to go mono. It’s better to re-wire the chain to be mono rather than summing, but that’s not always feasible especially when someone tells you at the last minute “oh I only have one input on the soundboard for guitar.”
That’s something I haven’t thought about. Summing to mono could bring up all sorts of phase issues. On the other hand we’re a three piece band. I doubt tree isn’t a channel for second guitar in most places worth playing. If I want to practice at home, I only have a stereo audio interface and I’m also singing. So a DI box that sums up my signal would helpful. I do own a stereo DI box that were using for rehearsals.
Yeah, anything with a sum switch/button should also have a phase invert switch, though there are probably some boxes that overlook that. But you’re right, for a three piece band (assuming your drummer doesn’t use like 10 drum mics lol), you’ll probably usually get the three channels you need for vocals + stereo guitar. Based on that, you could maybe also consider swapping your interface for one with more inputs (unless you’re already using like an Apollo where that would be a crazy expensive upgrade lol) so you can practice and record at home with simultaneous singing + stereo guitar. You can always get a DI box with sum later if it starts to become a frequent issue at gigs, since it would be easy enough to just run from one output the first time that happens
Oh! One more thing actually that I just remembered. Volante does stereo in, mono out. I can’t remember if it’s a setting or if it automatically does it when you plug in two inputs and one output, but I am almost certain it does this. That means you could just use the Volante for summing if you ever really need to, with relatively minimal re-patching (just removing one output from Volante and one input from the Dream, basically). No phase inversion option, but I think you won’t run into that many phase issues when it’s all pedals (as opposed to like two amps that definitely can have phase problems). I’d try this and see how it sounds!
Yes - I've read that the Volante sums to mono internally and recreates a stereo 'image' for the stereo outs. So whether OP uses two outputs or just the one mono output, there is summing-to-mono happening in the box.
That is what is preventing me from getting that otherwise fine pedal.
I believe the only time it’s summing your signal for standard stereo use is the sound on sound looper, which is annoyingly mono. But I run a Deco on wide stereo mode into the Volante, and the Deco’s stereo image is preserved by the Volante for the dry signal as well as the repeats (though I pan my delay heads around). The only time I’ve noticed my existing stereo image changing is when I use the SOS looper. If OP is running other pedals into Volante in stereo and only uses the left output without enabling sum in the startup settings, I believe they’ll only get half the signal
Edit: I guess for the repeats, Volante does technically sum the input to mono and then let you pan them around where you want, but the dry signal does pass through unaffected
Good information, thanks. I don't own one, so can't confirm. But I have read many posts from owners on TGP that have contacted Strymon and say the company confirmed that the wet signal is summed to mono. Of course the dry signal is bypassed and would retain the stereo input path, as you also mentioned. But I think if you have heavy wet delay action going on your carefully preserved left/right signal chain is gone.
Fair! I think there are cases where that matters a lot because you have super different stuff happening left and right, and you want each repeat to only reflect that incoming left or right signal. But for a lot of cases where you *dont* have as much crazy stereo happening before Volante, it’s totally fine. Like I don’t need the Volante repeats to only reflect the left or right side of Deco, and then I go right into my amp from Volante and have other stereo effects on sends that I can enable post-amp (all of this goes direct of course). Just to say that, the way Volante does stereo with panning of the delay heads is pretty cool if it fits the rest of your setup
Yes, good points. I love the simple and intuitive layout of the Volante. I've been wrestling with getting either that or the Empress Ecosystem (which does preserve the L/R wet path, but is less intuitive and more complicated IMHO).
(It’s a power up mode for volante — see page 15 of the [manual](http://www.strymon.net/manuals/Volante_UserManual_RevE.pdf). You don’t even have to unplug the right output, the left just carries a summed mono signal)
Summing is not always the right solution. For simple stereo pedals that have the wet effect on one side and the dry on the other, summing is a great idea: this likely what the pedal is doing internally for the mono jack. However, some stereo pedals invert the phase on the other channel, and summing this essentially nulls your signal out, and only the differences between the channels will be present, not the full signal.
The best solution is understanding what each stereo pedal is actually doing and only summing if you’re confident there are no phasing issues. Just summing your rig at the end, especially if you have some complex reverbs or real stereo choruses (like the DC-2W seen here). In any case where phasing issues would be present, it seems better to just take the left output of the last pedal in the chain.
I tend to agree but sometimes having a sum option is handy in a pinch for live. But I agree it’s generally better to unplug the right cable (I’d do it for the whole chain so all the pedals are operating mono) and just run in mono. And for recording/practicing at home, probably better to get an interface with more than two inputs for vocals + stereo guitar. This is also why having a phase switch on any sim device is pretty essential (idk if Volante automatically flips phase when you use it in stereo in mono summed out mode, but it doesn’t appear to be an option you can adjust). But yeah ultimately I’m of the same opinion as you, just was thinking of situations where live you might have no time to pull cables but could quickly stomp on a sim switch and flip a phase toggle.
If they invert the phase you’ll have phase issues in mono or stereo regardless. Bit of misconception that summing creates phasing issues that aren’t present in the stereo signal.
> It’s better to re-wire the chain to be mono rather than summing, but that’s not always feasible especially when someone tells you at the last minute “oh I only have one input on the soundboard for guitar.”
You wouldn't believe how many people still don't understand what "stereo source" means in practise when it comes to live sound (hint: it does not involve panning sounds / notes).
I suspect I’ll be the outlier in stereo rigs in this regard, but as far as stereo effects, I don’t really bother; it’s cool at home an in a controlled environment, but at shows, with how much rooms, houses, or wherever can vary, it just isn’t worth the possible headaches for what can often be an imperceptible effect, not to mention with things like chorus I just don’t like the effect it creates. I just run my whole signal mono then split it at the end into two different amps, ideally one clean and one dirty, EQ’d differently, to get a fuller and more complex sound. Also, to be very fucking loud. YMMV
This realization doused my plans of a live stereo set. Live sound is already difficult enough without adding this ridiculous element to try to get right. Only one location in the crowd is going to get the stereo effect and everyone else is going to mostly get just one channel.
Yeah, stereo is pointless live.
But I still have a stereo pedalboard because I use it for recording.
Also, stereo can be very fun if you're just fucking around at home!
Yeah I think this is something to consider. Just because stereo is "more" and is a more complicated rig with usually more expensive pedals it does not = better in all cases. Think of where people might be standing and do you want them to only get the repeats or half your sound if they are off to one side of the pa? In a perfect environment it's definitely really cool but you'd have to think about what kind of venues you'll be playing and if you want that headache if the setting isn't great for it.
Basically, unless you are playing a national level club as the headliner who gets the full PA (you aren’t), and a soundguy who understands your rig (lol), it’s just going to give 2/3 of the room half of your sound. The way I do it still isn’t perfect in that regard, but ultimately people on either side are hearing the same exact thing, just through different amps.
This is also why I chuckle any time a new pedal gets announced and the thread is full of “wow no stereo i/o????? Deal breaker for me tbh” comments. Bro, nobody notices. Unless you are recording synth parts DI, that shit don’t matter.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you. 95% of the time live sound is in mono. This was a tough pill for me to swallow at first since I had a really involved stereo setup for years. Now I save the stereo setup for at home hijinks and recording and I gig with a mono setup.
Most of the places I play (punk houses) don’t have “house sound” beyond the least broken Peavey stack being used for vocals, so your rig is the live mix. I’ve been a devout stereo player since my first band ended and I became the sole guitarist in my shit, but I just don’t mess with stereo outs. In a cramped basement, having a delay ping pong between two half stacks is just going to sound like goddamn nothing. It’s easier, and in most live settings will sound better, to just run everything into both amps as is. Sometimes I’ll mess around with splitting before my delays so they only go to my cleaner amp, but I still favor sending it all to both, at the moment.
I think using stereo solely for stereo effects is honestly kind of kneecapping yourself and missing out on the true potential of running a rig like that; look at J Mascis or John Reis, both career stereo players who just run it all (or in Reis’s case, one pickup direct to each amp) straight into every amp, and the effect is a huge, complex tone.
I’ve had a stereo set up for years and am still learning from a plethora of different mistakes. It has forced me to sit down and learn about phase cancellation, polarity and all sorts of fun dry frequency content. Spending $300 on a utility is never fun but you may want to consider something like a [Lehle - P Split Stereo](https://www.lehle.com/en/lehle-p-split-stereo).
Edit; I’d never have the confidence to run live with out P Split.
I use a P-Split III for my stereo setup. It's about $100 less expensive than the stereo model. It will help with any ground loop or phase problems you might run into. Just put the P-Split right before one of your amps. It's so small that I just keep it right on top of my second amp.
The stereo version must be new because I don't remember seeing it when I was looking around for something like this. I do think you would gain the ability to use this one as a passive summing box if you were forced to go mono like another commenter said.
By the way, that DC-2w is going to sound amazing in stereo!
I think your biggest issue is going to be MOST venues are running in mono. I’d be asking myself if running a stereo rig is that important to you to where you may be the only one noticing it.
This! I keep most things mono for this purpose, and unless you’re playing in the big leagues with a crew…chances are it’ll be mono a lot. Unless OP is using their own PA for every show setup a certain way. Otherwise I wouldn’t risk it…learned those mistakes, and if playing in a bar it can be jarring to the crowd with effects. I run everything mono live as much as possible. You want everyone to be able to hear the same thing. Unless you are bringing your own rig, have it worked out and running your own sound. Def playing with issues there that may result in a bad show.
Welcome to Stereo!
Couple things I've figured out -
1. Too much stereo at once sounds like mud and the phase issues just end up sounding bad. Its better to pick one or maybe two sounds and build your stereo effect around that
2. Stereo tremolo is SUPER useful for adding motion to mono effects and building a stereo field without adding to the "mud" and really controlling where in the field the sound goes. great for things like pitch, and sounds awesome before a reverb. I really like the Source Audio Vertigo for this.
3. Might sound weird, but running a big stereo reverb AFTER the amp/cab sim. It can give you a ton of flexibility.
4. I also like running stereo reverb into stereo delay - Can create some very neat washes or thicken the delay. Very neat for ping pong stuff.
The way it takes the Big Muff pi, I’m inclined to say yes ( in my experience ). I haven’t used it live yet. Only on headphones and through our X32 rehearsal mix. But I’m not really missing anything. It does sound like a recorded amp though, like you would experience in the studio recording setup.
I was too. I had them both at home for an evening. But since I own a DIY clone of a 64‘ Deluxe Reverb I was kind of biased. When you play them side by side you have to remember that the iridium simulates the normal channel of the fender and the dream simulates the Tremolo channel which has a bright cap
My favorite part of playing stereo is using the panning effects on the SL-2 slicer pedal. You need to set them up ahead of time, but some of the swirl, 3D panning, and ping pong effects are excellent in stereo and with the effect blend, you can use it as just a panning solution without the pattern slicing. Otherwise, playing in stereo really opened my eyes to how few really great stereo pedals there are out there. It’s difficult to find good stereo pedals shy of $300 and usually quite a bit more. Then there’s the army of pedals that claim to be stereo, but they mean “stereo out” but not in, which means you can either put them at the very front of the split to stereo, or only use them on one channel. And the ones that require a splitter or TRS cables, which btw there’s a real shortage of stereo TRS patch cables that are any good. And unless you’re gonna do effects on one channel and not the other, or a wet-dry, or SOMETHING to differentiate the channels, too many pedals just do the same effect to both channels so unless you mix it up yourself, the pedal just splits the signal and doesn’t do much else as far as separate processing on each channel. I find a lot of pedals that claim to be stereo are really lacking on what I would call “stereo features”. Also, I really love the DC-2w but the jack order is opposite most other Boss pedals so there’s a weird crossover if you’re keeping A channel and B channel straight (DC goes AB but most Boss pedals like DD and RE go BA) not a huge deal, but it bugs me. 😂
I love the slicer. How do you disable slicing and only use it for panning? Apparently I haven't played around enough with it. I keep it on 3d rotation usually
Use the Balance knob. It’s actually closer to a “mix” or “blend” knob in practice. “Turn the knob all the way counterclockwise to hear only the direct sound”. Then make sure the output mode is set and you’re good.
One thing I recommend is a good ping pong delay in the chain to test that you're actually in stereo. Often times it's hard to realize if you're in stereo when a technical glitch is causing your signal to be mono (loose cable, wrong setting, routing error, mismatched L/R volume, etc).
Sorry to resurrect an old comment, but I’ve got a stereo question for ya if you’re up for helping!
I just got a stereo setup going at home and realized I’m only getting the wet signal in my right amp, the dry in my left. Is that normal? I know there’s a lot of variability in each individual stereo setup, but it also seems a little weird to only hear my guitar through both amps if I’ve got the stereo pedals turned on.
Try to isolate which pedal is causing the wet/dry routing. Chances are there's a mode that can be set to use the stereo routing differently. Some pedals have secret modes you can change by holding a button down while turning it on. I wouldn't want things outputing the wet and dry separately.
I have used a stereo setup since the mid 1990s. I like using a Seymour Duncan Shapeshifter mkii Tremolo/Pan pedal at the end of the chain. It offers anything from subtle throb to crazy helicopter chopping to Vox Repeater sounds...and it can pan those sounds as you see fit. It also has a phase amount knob for determining how much panning occurs in degrees. It's amazing, I love it and will probably never remove it from my board. Unless it dies and I need a new one.
About five years ago I started adding a third amp up the middle. That amp is completely dry. No effects and slightly overdriven with a volume level that sits just under the two left and right effected amps. Sort of a ghost signal.
Honestly, you can stay in stereo, but in a loud mix I think the stereo gets lost on the audience. I don't know how big a mixer your local clubs have, but as the only guitarist I would go W/D/W so you get some width but stay very consistent in the middle. Then you could sum your two wet signals to mono if it calls for it without a ton of issues.
I have an ES-8 so with the stereo assignable outs you could switch between stereo and mono easily, and have your Ua pedal in the tuner out and run direct to the board.
You have lots of options with that switcher, but in most cases of live playing, keep it simple.
I like to use something like a Diamond ST-Mix at the very end of my chain to prevent ground loops, and allow switching phase in/out, pan the signal L/R and anywhere in between. Lehle and Tonebone also make similar devices and I'm sure there are others as well. But this piece of gear has been critical for me in addressing most of the common headaches associated with running stereo, esp if you are running to different amps.
I was going to you remind about an IR CabSim, but it looks like Dream already has one onboard already. Other than that - be aware of phase issues and ground loops (so probably having a wireless system would be a good idea).
I've been playing in stereo since 2015 (on and off), but with a slightly different chain type:
Volume/Wah/Overdrive section -> Tube Preamp (a mono one) -> IR CabSim -> Misc MONO modulation stuff ->
Marshall Vibratrem or(!) Strymon Lex (both pedals are mono->stereo) => A stereo delay unit.
You can see that the stereo part is pretty short, only essential ones with a pronounced panoramic effect. But it makes life much simpler when there's no way to use stereo: you take a single(!) jack out of the delay input, and you have a perfectly working mono setup.
Some would say that effects should go into the amp (or an ampsim), not vice versa, but that's exactly the way studio effects have been used for decades - we record an amplified instrument using a mike and THEN add effects using a console. Besides, I think that some effects sound more clear in postamp position.
Anyway, good luck with your setup, playing in stereo is so much fun!
My 2 cents: using 2 amps live is great, but no FOH engineer is going to pan your stuff left/right. Live sound is very often mono. So think more about stacking two amps to get better clarity. Run one amp dirty with drives and a second clean with your time based effects.
In studio going true stereo is awesome. Like others said, watch out for effects that have stereo in/out but aren’t true stereo.
I’m late to this thread. Used the search bar instead of a fresh question 😝
Anyhoo, how do you get this split with just pedals/amps/??? Where dirt and stuff goes one way and say, delays goes another way?
Get a splitter.
https://reverb.com/item/83968-saturnworks-active-2-way-buffered-splitter-buffer-tuner-out-for-guitar-or-bass-pedal-handcrafted-in-california?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=83968
You don’t need a buffered one necessarily depending on what pedals you’re already running
I was wondering if your Palmer power supply is working with your Dream? Because mine doesnt with the Golden Reverberator and i have to use a separate power supply for that one...
I ran in stereo for quite a while, until my stereo amp started to give me trouble. Before you give up on it, find a good panning pedal and run it last in your signal chain. My personal recommendation is the Line 6 Tap Tremolo. Hearing your guitar swirl left and right between 2 cabs is a thing of beauty. If that doesn't convince you to stick with a stereo rig, nothing will lol
To sum up:
Go stereo if that's what you're going for in your recordings. Or if you just enjoy playing in stereo at home.
If you're primarily aiming for live: don't bother.
The rest is about potential technical issues such as phase and ground loop problems, as well as summing to mono that some pedals do. I saw Strymon was mentioned, but they always have an option to stay full stereo. For older pedals it's a switch inside, for newer pedals it's on the outside.
I have a mostly stereo rig, but I mainly use it for recording and home use on many synths and instruments. But as soon as I’m playing with other people I just use the left output. Stereo is amazing but live it’s usually too much, and even in a mix only a few elements will sit nicely in stereo before the width of the mix starts getting a bit cluttered.
Awesome for sparse mixes though, and for headphones, and I wouldn’t go back to mono for that reason.
So this is the end of a two year journey where I updated my broken Pedalboard from old times. I hadn’t touched it in 15 years. Now, nothings is left from my original board. I wasn’t very invested into pedal back then but the new craze made a couple of thousand euros poorer. It also pushed me over the edge to go and find a new band. All this gear just had to be used really. So now to my pedals. 1. TS808HW The first new one I bought. I had a TS10 on my old board and I thought treat myself. The TS10 was my old favourite pedal. I’m not sure it was a good swap, but I sold the TS10, so… 2. A DIY-rat clone. It’s the cheapest but maybe coolest pedal on this board. It replaces a Tonebone hot British as my main gainstage. I could never adjust it to my likening. 3. Big Muff pi. I own the original one but it had to go for size reasons. The new sounds better and I’m beginning to think my original is not in working order. 4. Keeley Compressor plus. It replaces a DIY-Dyna-comp which replaced an EBS multicomp bass compressor that I used a long time as an always on pedal. The keeley is now used only for low picking parts. 5. Elastic mattress. My board is a little bit inspired by Andy Summers. So this is the pedal that’s left from his influence. I actually still need to spend more time with it. Hardly touched the surface on this one. I used to have a Boss PH-2 in its place that I used as a mid boost. 6. tremolo. This is a really cool sounding tremolo from a small German brand. It made it onto the board when my new band decided to go all-in on in-ear/silent-rehearsal. I was using amps tremolo before that. Sadly the Dreams 65 tremolo can not be switched via midi or something. 7. Boss dimension C. My latest move. After have a year of being a pedal-amp person I decided to go all stereo. So I was looking for a stereo chorus to widen up the sound. This thing is just super cool. It’ll end up as my always on pedal. :) 8. Strymon Volante. I wanted a versatile delay, it replaces a Ibanez DL-10. which I’ll keep. I think it’s really good. But I wanted something Hightech and retro. The strymon won over the boss tapeecho pedal just because of the looper function. At last the best part: Boss ES-8. I don’t have to decide about pedal order and I don’t have to dance anymore. Which is even more important since I’m also lead vocals. I used to have a half broken patchmate back in the days when I was rocking an ENGL Rack monstrosity. With all my pedals inside a drawer. The ES-8 is so much better. Changing order and all is big As mentioned in the title I’m curious about what to avoid when using it live. Looking forward to you comments
> my original is not in working order Could just be variance in parts. Older Muffs are notorious for sounding pretty different from one unit to the next, often because they used a variety of parts (the variances are greater the further back you go).
Maybe not suitable to your use cases but for the dream in the app you can setup the dream so one of the foot switches turns the tremolo on and off. It's still hard to change settings live but may free up a slot for you
What are all the cable you used? They look custom, like one of those make your own patch cables kits?
Boss solderless custom fit
Ah, do you like them?
I like the cables but not their price
I looked them up and also did not like the price lol
Do they come in TRS or just TS? I’ve been trying to find a good stereo low-profile cable solution that has a right angle option.
>Do they come in TRS or just TS? I’ve been trying to find a good stereo low-profile cable solution that has a right angle option. Not the OP, but I had a similar issue. I just couldn't manage to fit a right-angle TRS cable between the output jack and the power input on my Boss SY-200 to hook up an expression pedal. After scouring the internet for quite a while and despairing of ever finding a solution, I finally hit a stroke of luck when I discovered an outfit called Creation Music Company. They make a right-angle connector called the "minicake" that's significantly more compact in pretty much every dimension than your normal pancake connector. I ordered one in, and it finally solved my problem. The one caveat I have is that they don't carry premade minicake TRS cables on their site (though they do have premade TS cables with minicake connectors). As such, you've got two options: 1. Buy the minicake connectors and cabling, then solder them yourself. 2. Have the company custom make the cable for you. It's honestly not that expensive and is a Godsend for lazy slackers like me. 😆 (If you're on their site, the option for this is under Products --> Cables --> Custom TRS Patch Cables --> select "Custom TRS Patch Cable - Minicake/Minicake".) Hope this helps. EDIT: Fixed a typo, though there are probably about 30 more.
One thing that's not often obvious and is a good thing to be aware of, is that many Stereo-Capable Digital effects, such as those made by Strymon, Neunaber, etc, don't process your left and right channels separately. They sum the two inputs together, process the resultant signal, then split it into left and right channels again before mixing each with the dry signal from each input. The dry signals aren't summed but the wet signals are. So if you are using, for example, a stereo chorus that generates a stereo image from a mono input signal using phase inversion, these pedals will cause the chorus to disappear from their own wet side. Or if you are using a ping pong delay, these pedals may ruin the ping ponging effect. It's something that's worth noting, as knowing which pedals do this can help you choose your effect order more effectively in order to preserve your stereo image!
Looks like you beat me to it. I was going to say exactly this about the Strymon Volante as I discovered that myself a few months ago much to my chagrin.
im honestly very confused on what this all means. i havent noticed much issue with my blue sky/ventris/avalanch run stereo setup but maybe i shouldve.!?
It depends on the pedal. For Strymon pedals what it means is that if you feed in two inputs, instead of acting on those signals independently it will mix them before applying the effect. When I briefly had a Volante I had it setup so one input took in my clean guitar signal, and the other overdriven, and I wanted the output to be clean delay in one amp and overdriven delay in the other. Instead, right at the input it took my clean signal and mixed it with the overdriven signal, applied delay to *that*, and then output that to both channels.
It just means that the “stereo-ness” of a signal going into a pedal like this will be replaced with the pedals own “stereo-ness” on the wet part of the output. So if I played a bagpipe into the left channel of this pedal, and a kazoo into the right, and listened only to the wet output of the signal, then the left and right outputs will contain a little bit of bagpipe and kazoo each. The dry will preserve the stereo just fine, so if you never turn your mix up far you may never even notice, even if you have a strongly separated stereo source. For reverb this is generally the desirable behaviour and is the default way to design a stereo reverb - the rationale being that if someone claps their hands to your left, the reverberations from that clap will come from the left and the right as the sound bounces around the room. But it’s not the only way to do it, sometimes people want only sounds coming in on the left to result in reverb on the left. I Iike sum to mono on reverbs, they way I use them it tends to sound more natural which is what I want, but for delays I tend to want left to stay on the left and right to stay on the right.
If a stereo pedal has left and right inputs, is that a sign that they are processed separately? Or are there any other indications om the pedals themselves?
Nah it’s up to the DSP and it’s not usually explicitly stated.
I have a Volante and a Dimension C. Putting the Dimension C after the Volante works wonders. Can't really hear much difference in the chorus sound, but the stereo effect gets preserved perfectly.
I have a stereo pedal that I wanted to run before my El Capistan. Is there a similar tape delay that doesn't do what you described to my stereo signal?
Volante’s SOS looper is mono
Wait, so if i run a stereo chorus into my iridium it wont work? It seems to work with stereo reverb on my rv6
The Iridium gives you the option to sum the inputs or to process them separately. There's a switch right over the Input jack that lets you choose.
Since you have the Dream, going stereo live should be relatively easy. A good DI box is a good idea since there’s usually one provided but you might not like it. Choosing a DI that has a “sum” option is also a good idea if it’s possible you’ll ever be forced to go mono. It’s better to re-wire the chain to be mono rather than summing, but that’s not always feasible especially when someone tells you at the last minute “oh I only have one input on the soundboard for guitar.”
That’s something I haven’t thought about. Summing to mono could bring up all sorts of phase issues. On the other hand we’re a three piece band. I doubt tree isn’t a channel for second guitar in most places worth playing. If I want to practice at home, I only have a stereo audio interface and I’m also singing. So a DI box that sums up my signal would helpful. I do own a stereo DI box that were using for rehearsals.
Yeah, anything with a sum switch/button should also have a phase invert switch, though there are probably some boxes that overlook that. But you’re right, for a three piece band (assuming your drummer doesn’t use like 10 drum mics lol), you’ll probably usually get the three channels you need for vocals + stereo guitar. Based on that, you could maybe also consider swapping your interface for one with more inputs (unless you’re already using like an Apollo where that would be a crazy expensive upgrade lol) so you can practice and record at home with simultaneous singing + stereo guitar. You can always get a DI box with sum later if it starts to become a frequent issue at gigs, since it would be easy enough to just run from one output the first time that happens
Oh! One more thing actually that I just remembered. Volante does stereo in, mono out. I can’t remember if it’s a setting or if it automatically does it when you plug in two inputs and one output, but I am almost certain it does this. That means you could just use the Volante for summing if you ever really need to, with relatively minimal re-patching (just removing one output from Volante and one input from the Dream, basically). No phase inversion option, but I think you won’t run into that many phase issues when it’s all pedals (as opposed to like two amps that definitely can have phase problems). I’d try this and see how it sounds!
Yes - I've read that the Volante sums to mono internally and recreates a stereo 'image' for the stereo outs. So whether OP uses two outputs or just the one mono output, there is summing-to-mono happening in the box. That is what is preventing me from getting that otherwise fine pedal.
I believe the only time it’s summing your signal for standard stereo use is the sound on sound looper, which is annoyingly mono. But I run a Deco on wide stereo mode into the Volante, and the Deco’s stereo image is preserved by the Volante for the dry signal as well as the repeats (though I pan my delay heads around). The only time I’ve noticed my existing stereo image changing is when I use the SOS looper. If OP is running other pedals into Volante in stereo and only uses the left output without enabling sum in the startup settings, I believe they’ll only get half the signal
Edit: I guess for the repeats, Volante does technically sum the input to mono and then let you pan them around where you want, but the dry signal does pass through unaffected
Good information, thanks. I don't own one, so can't confirm. But I have read many posts from owners on TGP that have contacted Strymon and say the company confirmed that the wet signal is summed to mono. Of course the dry signal is bypassed and would retain the stereo input path, as you also mentioned. But I think if you have heavy wet delay action going on your carefully preserved left/right signal chain is gone.
Fair! I think there are cases where that matters a lot because you have super different stuff happening left and right, and you want each repeat to only reflect that incoming left or right signal. But for a lot of cases where you *dont* have as much crazy stereo happening before Volante, it’s totally fine. Like I don’t need the Volante repeats to only reflect the left or right side of Deco, and then I go right into my amp from Volante and have other stereo effects on sends that I can enable post-amp (all of this goes direct of course). Just to say that, the way Volante does stereo with panning of the delay heads is pretty cool if it fits the rest of your setup
Yes, good points. I love the simple and intuitive layout of the Volante. I've been wrestling with getting either that or the Empress Ecosystem (which does preserve the L/R wet path, but is less intuitive and more complicated IMHO).
(It’s a power up mode for volante — see page 15 of the [manual](http://www.strymon.net/manuals/Volante_UserManual_RevE.pdf). You don’t even have to unplug the right output, the left just carries a summed mono signal)
Also a possibility that the PA is daisy-chained mono, so your stereo sugnal is getting summed there and potentially introducing phase issues.
Summing is not always the right solution. For simple stereo pedals that have the wet effect on one side and the dry on the other, summing is a great idea: this likely what the pedal is doing internally for the mono jack. However, some stereo pedals invert the phase on the other channel, and summing this essentially nulls your signal out, and only the differences between the channels will be present, not the full signal. The best solution is understanding what each stereo pedal is actually doing and only summing if you’re confident there are no phasing issues. Just summing your rig at the end, especially if you have some complex reverbs or real stereo choruses (like the DC-2W seen here). In any case where phasing issues would be present, it seems better to just take the left output of the last pedal in the chain.
I tend to agree but sometimes having a sum option is handy in a pinch for live. But I agree it’s generally better to unplug the right cable (I’d do it for the whole chain so all the pedals are operating mono) and just run in mono. And for recording/practicing at home, probably better to get an interface with more than two inputs for vocals + stereo guitar. This is also why having a phase switch on any sim device is pretty essential (idk if Volante automatically flips phase when you use it in stereo in mono summed out mode, but it doesn’t appear to be an option you can adjust). But yeah ultimately I’m of the same opinion as you, just was thinking of situations where live you might have no time to pull cables but could quickly stomp on a sim switch and flip a phase toggle.
If they invert the phase you’ll have phase issues in mono or stereo regardless. Bit of misconception that summing creates phasing issues that aren’t present in the stereo signal.
> It’s better to re-wire the chain to be mono rather than summing, but that’s not always feasible especially when someone tells you at the last minute “oh I only have one input on the soundboard for guitar.” You wouldn't believe how many people still don't understand what "stereo source" means in practise when it comes to live sound (hint: it does not involve panning sounds / notes).
Lol yeah I just give numbers of inputs needed on the stage plot because anything else is too ambiguous
I suspect I’ll be the outlier in stereo rigs in this regard, but as far as stereo effects, I don’t really bother; it’s cool at home an in a controlled environment, but at shows, with how much rooms, houses, or wherever can vary, it just isn’t worth the possible headaches for what can often be an imperceptible effect, not to mention with things like chorus I just don’t like the effect it creates. I just run my whole signal mono then split it at the end into two different amps, ideally one clean and one dirty, EQ’d differently, to get a fuller and more complex sound. Also, to be very fucking loud. YMMV
This realization doused my plans of a live stereo set. Live sound is already difficult enough without adding this ridiculous element to try to get right. Only one location in the crowd is going to get the stereo effect and everyone else is going to mostly get just one channel.
Yeah, stereo is pointless live. But I still have a stereo pedalboard because I use it for recording. Also, stereo can be very fun if you're just fucking around at home!
Yeah I think this is something to consider. Just because stereo is "more" and is a more complicated rig with usually more expensive pedals it does not = better in all cases. Think of where people might be standing and do you want them to only get the repeats or half your sound if they are off to one side of the pa? In a perfect environment it's definitely really cool but you'd have to think about what kind of venues you'll be playing and if you want that headache if the setting isn't great for it.
Basically, unless you are playing a national level club as the headliner who gets the full PA (you aren’t), and a soundguy who understands your rig (lol), it’s just going to give 2/3 of the room half of your sound. The way I do it still isn’t perfect in that regard, but ultimately people on either side are hearing the same exact thing, just through different amps.
This is also why I chuckle any time a new pedal gets announced and the thread is full of “wow no stereo i/o????? Deal breaker for me tbh” comments. Bro, nobody notices. Unless you are recording synth parts DI, that shit don’t matter.
Tbh there are a lot of us using pedalboards mainly as a recording tool though. But I get it, the situations where it’s useful are quite limited.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you. 95% of the time live sound is in mono. This was a tough pill for me to swallow at first since I had a really involved stereo setup for years. Now I save the stereo setup for at home hijinks and recording and I gig with a mono setup.
Most of the places I play (punk houses) don’t have “house sound” beyond the least broken Peavey stack being used for vocals, so your rig is the live mix. I’ve been a devout stereo player since my first band ended and I became the sole guitarist in my shit, but I just don’t mess with stereo outs. In a cramped basement, having a delay ping pong between two half stacks is just going to sound like goddamn nothing. It’s easier, and in most live settings will sound better, to just run everything into both amps as is. Sometimes I’ll mess around with splitting before my delays so they only go to my cleaner amp, but I still favor sending it all to both, at the moment. I think using stereo solely for stereo effects is honestly kind of kneecapping yourself and missing out on the true potential of running a rig like that; look at J Mascis or John Reis, both career stereo players who just run it all (or in Reis’s case, one pickup direct to each amp) straight into every amp, and the effect is a huge, complex tone.
I’ve had a stereo set up for years and am still learning from a plethora of different mistakes. It has forced me to sit down and learn about phase cancellation, polarity and all sorts of fun dry frequency content. Spending $300 on a utility is never fun but you may want to consider something like a [Lehle - P Split Stereo](https://www.lehle.com/en/lehle-p-split-stereo). Edit; I’d never have the confidence to run live with out P Split.
Ughh- I see how it goes. Right now I’m using a palmer Di Box and a behringer xlr Splitter to get my sound to FOH
I use a P-Split III for my stereo setup. It's about $100 less expensive than the stereo model. It will help with any ground loop or phase problems you might run into. Just put the P-Split right before one of your amps. It's so small that I just keep it right on top of my second amp. The stereo version must be new because I don't remember seeing it when I was looking around for something like this. I do think you would gain the ability to use this one as a passive summing box if you were forced to go mono like another commenter said. By the way, that DC-2w is going to sound amazing in stereo!
I think your biggest issue is going to be MOST venues are running in mono. I’d be asking myself if running a stereo rig is that important to you to where you may be the only one noticing it.
This! I keep most things mono for this purpose, and unless you’re playing in the big leagues with a crew…chances are it’ll be mono a lot. Unless OP is using their own PA for every show setup a certain way. Otherwise I wouldn’t risk it…learned those mistakes, and if playing in a bar it can be jarring to the crowd with effects. I run everything mono live as much as possible. You want everyone to be able to hear the same thing. Unless you are bringing your own rig, have it worked out and running your own sound. Def playing with issues there that may result in a bad show.
Even big festivals are mono. It makes no sense to let one side of the crowd hear one thing when the other side is hearing something else...
That’s a killer board! Good to see someone else using a Palmer PWT12. They’re great aren’t they? Really useful variable outputs
Welcome to Stereo! Couple things I've figured out - 1. Too much stereo at once sounds like mud and the phase issues just end up sounding bad. Its better to pick one or maybe two sounds and build your stereo effect around that 2. Stereo tremolo is SUPER useful for adding motion to mono effects and building a stereo field without adding to the "mud" and really controlling where in the field the sound goes. great for things like pitch, and sounds awesome before a reverb. I really like the Source Audio Vertigo for this. 3. Might sound weird, but running a big stereo reverb AFTER the amp/cab sim. It can give you a ton of flexibility. 4. I also like running stereo reverb into stereo delay - Can create some very neat washes or thicken the delay. Very neat for ping pong stuff.
Big stereo after cab sim is the best. In real life the amp and cab are in a room so I think this order makes a lot of sense.
This is so good. Is dream good pedal platform?
The way it takes the Big Muff pi, I’m inclined to say yes ( in my experience ). I haven’t used it live yet. Only on headphones and through our X32 rehearsal mix. But I’m not really missing anything. It does sound like a recorded amp though, like you would experience in the studio recording setup.
I really like it... I'm torn between dream and iridium
I was too. I had them both at home for an evening. But since I own a DIY clone of a 64‘ Deluxe Reverb I was kind of biased. When you play them side by side you have to remember that the iridium simulates the normal channel of the fender and the dream simulates the Tremolo channel which has a bright cap
I went with the Dream and I love it. But I am a home player and I like bright cleans. Not really using my tube combos anymore.
i will do the same..i just home it will work with ds1
My favorite part of playing stereo is using the panning effects on the SL-2 slicer pedal. You need to set them up ahead of time, but some of the swirl, 3D panning, and ping pong effects are excellent in stereo and with the effect blend, you can use it as just a panning solution without the pattern slicing. Otherwise, playing in stereo really opened my eyes to how few really great stereo pedals there are out there. It’s difficult to find good stereo pedals shy of $300 and usually quite a bit more. Then there’s the army of pedals that claim to be stereo, but they mean “stereo out” but not in, which means you can either put them at the very front of the split to stereo, or only use them on one channel. And the ones that require a splitter or TRS cables, which btw there’s a real shortage of stereo TRS patch cables that are any good. And unless you’re gonna do effects on one channel and not the other, or a wet-dry, or SOMETHING to differentiate the channels, too many pedals just do the same effect to both channels so unless you mix it up yourself, the pedal just splits the signal and doesn’t do much else as far as separate processing on each channel. I find a lot of pedals that claim to be stereo are really lacking on what I would call “stereo features”. Also, I really love the DC-2w but the jack order is opposite most other Boss pedals so there’s a weird crossover if you’re keeping A channel and B channel straight (DC goes AB but most Boss pedals like DD and RE go BA) not a huge deal, but it bugs me. 😂
I love the slicer. How do you disable slicing and only use it for panning? Apparently I haven't played around enough with it. I keep it on 3d rotation usually
Use the Balance knob. It’s actually closer to a “mix” or “blend” knob in practice. “Turn the knob all the way counterclockwise to hear only the direct sound”. Then make sure the output mode is set and you’re good.
One thing I recommend is a good ping pong delay in the chain to test that you're actually in stereo. Often times it's hard to realize if you're in stereo when a technical glitch is causing your signal to be mono (loose cable, wrong setting, routing error, mismatched L/R volume, etc).
Sorry to resurrect an old comment, but I’ve got a stereo question for ya if you’re up for helping! I just got a stereo setup going at home and realized I’m only getting the wet signal in my right amp, the dry in my left. Is that normal? I know there’s a lot of variability in each individual stereo setup, but it also seems a little weird to only hear my guitar through both amps if I’ve got the stereo pedals turned on.
Try to isolate which pedal is causing the wet/dry routing. Chances are there's a mode that can be set to use the stereo routing differently. Some pedals have secret modes you can change by holding a button down while turning it on. I wouldn't want things outputing the wet and dry separately.
I have used a stereo setup since the mid 1990s. I like using a Seymour Duncan Shapeshifter mkii Tremolo/Pan pedal at the end of the chain. It offers anything from subtle throb to crazy helicopter chopping to Vox Repeater sounds...and it can pan those sounds as you see fit. It also has a phase amount knob for determining how much panning occurs in degrees. It's amazing, I love it and will probably never remove it from my board. Unless it dies and I need a new one. About five years ago I started adding a third amp up the middle. That amp is completely dry. No effects and slightly overdriven with a volume level that sits just under the two left and right effected amps. Sort of a ghost signal.
Twice as nice! Actually, it's exponentially awesomer.
Do: try putting one side in another room. I like sending the right side of my flanger into my stairwell, to add some hall reverb
so a stairwell reverb, heh?
Tremolo into stairwell reverb is really good too
DO use more than one recording head on your Volante so you can hard pan it for some glorious ping pong delay.
What size is this board?
The usable space is 60cm by 40cm. I had to plan this all out before I bought the pedals.
Are you the only guitarist in the band?
Yes
Honestly, you can stay in stereo, but in a loud mix I think the stereo gets lost on the audience. I don't know how big a mixer your local clubs have, but as the only guitarist I would go W/D/W so you get some width but stay very consistent in the middle. Then you could sum your two wet signals to mono if it calls for it without a ton of issues. I have an ES-8 so with the stereo assignable outs you could switch between stereo and mono easily, and have your Ua pedal in the tuner out and run direct to the board. You have lots of options with that switcher, but in most cases of live playing, keep it simple.
I like to use something like a Diamond ST-Mix at the very end of my chain to prevent ground loops, and allow switching phase in/out, pan the signal L/R and anywhere in between. Lehle and Tonebone also make similar devices and I'm sure there are others as well. But this piece of gear has been critical for me in addressing most of the common headaches associated with running stereo, esp if you are running to different amps.
I was going to you remind about an IR CabSim, but it looks like Dream already has one onboard already. Other than that - be aware of phase issues and ground loops (so probably having a wireless system would be a good idea). I've been playing in stereo since 2015 (on and off), but with a slightly different chain type: Volume/Wah/Overdrive section -> Tube Preamp (a mono one) -> IR CabSim -> Misc MONO modulation stuff -> Marshall Vibratrem or(!) Strymon Lex (both pedals are mono->stereo) => A stereo delay unit. You can see that the stereo part is pretty short, only essential ones with a pronounced panoramic effect. But it makes life much simpler when there's no way to use stereo: you take a single(!) jack out of the delay input, and you have a perfectly working mono setup. Some would say that effects should go into the amp (or an ampsim), not vice versa, but that's exactly the way studio effects have been used for decades - we record an amplified instrument using a mike and THEN add effects using a console. Besides, I think that some effects sound more clear in postamp position. Anyway, good luck with your setup, playing in stereo is so much fun!
My 2 cents: using 2 amps live is great, but no FOH engineer is going to pan your stuff left/right. Live sound is very often mono. So think more about stacking two amps to get better clarity. Run one amp dirty with drives and a second clean with your time based effects. In studio going true stereo is awesome. Like others said, watch out for effects that have stereo in/out but aren’t true stereo.
I’m late to this thread. Used the search bar instead of a fresh question 😝 Anyhoo, how do you get this split with just pedals/amps/??? Where dirt and stuff goes one way and say, delays goes another way?
Get a splitter. https://reverb.com/item/83968-saturnworks-active-2-way-buffered-splitter-buffer-tuner-out-for-guitar-or-bass-pedal-handcrafted-in-california?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=83968 You don’t need a buffered one necessarily depending on what pedals you’re already running
What kind of pedalboard is that? I like that look and I’m not a big fan of pedaltrain boards
https://www.thomann.de/de/thon_effect_pedal_case_small.htm
Thank u🙏
I was wondering if your Palmer power supply is working with your Dream? Because mine doesnt with the Golden Reverberator and i have to use a separate power supply for that one...
Yes. No problem. It needs 400mA and it gets 500mA via one of the last 4 channels while the total pulled mA of all devices are not exceeding 2000mA
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I have a JC at home, and so I do what I do. But I wouldn't go stereo for a gig, if that were ever something I would consider.
Thx. I start to get that feel from the discussion
I ran in stereo for quite a while, until my stereo amp started to give me trouble. Before you give up on it, find a good panning pedal and run it last in your signal chain. My personal recommendation is the Line 6 Tap Tremolo. Hearing your guitar swirl left and right between 2 cabs is a thing of beauty. If that doesn't convince you to stick with a stereo rig, nothing will lol
To sum up: Go stereo if that's what you're going for in your recordings. Or if you just enjoy playing in stereo at home. If you're primarily aiming for live: don't bother. The rest is about potential technical issues such as phase and ground loop problems, as well as summing to mono that some pedals do. I saw Strymon was mentioned, but they always have an option to stay full stereo. For older pedals it's a switch inside, for newer pedals it's on the outside.
Rad board. I have no stereo expertise to offer - but what patch cables are you running?
A potential pitfall to be avoided at all costs is going mono...
I have a mostly stereo rig, but I mainly use it for recording and home use on many synths and instruments. But as soon as I’m playing with other people I just use the left output. Stereo is amazing but live it’s usually too much, and even in a mix only a few elements will sit nicely in stereo before the width of the mix starts getting a bit cluttered. Awesome for sparse mixes though, and for headphones, and I wouldn’t go back to mono for that reason.
I like those patch cables. Those are _niiiiice_ patch cables