batsbrew
i don't know anybody that listens in mono.

Of course you do. Everyone listens in mono every day:
 
Grocery store
In the other room from where the stereo is
Through your co-worker's laptop speakers one desk over
Car speakers while washing the car
Office building lobby
Through cell phone speakers
 
etc. etc. etc.
 
Also, it amuses me when people bemoan things like how Pandora compresses music too much or how the mp3 has "destroyed" audio quality. How good was the average system on which most people first listened to Sgt Pepper? The vast majority of music listening the world over is with crappy audio quality. Period.
 

Jeff Evans
The single speaker is much better than switching your monitors into mono for sure.  Something like the Avantone mentioned here is really great.  The small speaker down at low volume is very revealing.  Once you get your mix sounding nice on that it will sound great up loud in stereo on your main speakers.
 
I prefer to set the panning and get the stereo image setup before going into mono not the other way around. You will find that panned tracks are still audible in mono but you may just tweak them a little so they are still clear. Then they satisfy the mono speaker and up in stereo on your mains you will find they have not changed much.
 
You still need your main speakers up loud for checking bass end and reverb levels though. The small speaker does not give you that information so well.
 
I spend most of my time on the small mono speaker. Not the other way around.
 
There is usually a stereo headphone output somewhere that will be carrying your main mix in stereo not being used and it will be great for this job.  Sum the outputs properly though through two resistors is better than shorting L and R together.  (or some cheap passive mixer) That is not so smart because you are loading down one side with the low output impedance from the other side. You might get distortion doing it that way.
 
 

Hey Jeff, 
I just sent all my tracks to a new bus. I put the bus into mono and then panned it to one side. Is this not exactly the same as mixing in mono to one speaker? I can't find a reason it would not be. 
This means I can use my system without adding a power driven mono speaker to check mono mixes.
Am I missing something?
 
TIA
Jimmy

jkoseattle

batsbrew
i don't know anybody that listens in mono.

Of course you do. Everyone listens in mono every day:
 
Grocery store
In the other room from where the stereo is
Through your co-worker's laptop speakers one desk over
Car speakers while washing the car
Office building lobby
Through cell phone speakers
 
 

i could not care less for individuals who are either stuck in those environments and chose to try to listen carefully to music,
or have actually chosen to be the mighty, the few, that fail miserably in enjoying music the way it was intended.
 
jko, all i can say, is, brother, knock yourself out!!
 

Hey Jimmy. Yes that will work for sure. I just like the concept of driving a quite small speaker that is bandwidth constricted. A small 3" to 4" speaker with no bass end or high end to speak of just naturally emphasises the mid range rather well so you start hearing other things that maybe the bottom end and the high end might distract you from. Also being a different speaker too means you are comparing your mix on another speaker all together which is never a bad thing.
 
Nothing to stop you from putting an EQ over your mono buss either and simulate the effect. Create a band pass filter from say 200 Hz to 5Khz or so.  Keep the volume down low too because that seems to bring out things like vocal levels against the music and also the snare will often suddenly stand out too.
 
Having a separate speaker and also on a separate control means it is very easy to just turn one control down and your stereo mains are gone and then another control is turned up and I am hearing the small mono speaker directly in front of me with the L+R mix already done. I have got it on my table right in the middle facing up towards me on a little stand I made.

Thanks for that Jeff. 
Another thought, I have the Behringer powered monitor laying around:
http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Loudspeaker-Systems/Portable-Speakers/B205D/p/P0957
 
It has a pretty full frequency spectrum above about 150hz. I might be able to use this at low volume.
 
 

Jimmy if I had that Behringer monitor speaker lying around I think I would give it a shot as well.  For a couple of reasons. Firstly it is a different speaker and therefore a different sound.
 
The other good thing is you can actually mix Left and Right channels in through the two inputs there.  It means you can feed it from a headphone out on your interface etc.  As you have two headphone outs I am sure you could spare one for the mono monitor.
 
All you need is a TRS to two TS leads and run them into inputs 1 and 2.  Or a TRS lead to two RCA's and use input control 3 for that CD input.
 
The fact there is some EQ is also handy.  Leave the mids at 12 O'Clock but try setting Lo and Hi to say 9 O'Clock to roll off some high and low end.  Try and get away from the full range sound.  And yes keep it low as well.  The speaker is a little big but the EQ should make it sound as if it were a bit smaller.  The fact it is powerful is also not bad especially at lowish volume too.  (it means it will never distort!)
 
I have got one of those old Boss monitors with the two 4" drivers in them and it also makes a good mono mixing speaker too although I dont use it for that but I have tested it and it works quite well in that role too.

Hi Jeff, 
Thanks much for the feedback! I was sitting in my studio surfing the web for a low budget powered monitor and saw all kinds of 3mm add ons for cell phones, etc. The speakers were too small.
So I thought "I need powered a 4-5" speaker". I looked up the specs on an Auratone and then it hit me that I have the Behringer sitting around! Duh! 
I will put it up on a mic stand in back of my monitors and use the headphone 2 out as you suggested. This should work perfectly!
 
Thanks again!
Jimmy

Jeff Evans
Jimmy if I had that Behringer monitor speaker lying around I think I would give it a shot as well.  For a couple of reasons. Firstly it is a different speaker and therefore a different sound.
 
The other good thing is you can actually mix Left and Right channels in through the two inputs there.  It means you can feed it from a headphone out on your interface etc.  As you have two headphone outs I am sure you could spare one for the mono monitor.
 
All you need is a TRS to two TS leads and run them into inputs 1 and 2.  Or a TRS lead to two RCA's and use input control 3 for that CD input.
 
The fact there is some EQ is also handy.  Leave the mids at 12 O'Clock but try setting Lo and Hi to say 9 O'Clock to roll off some high and low end.  Try and get away from the full range sound.  And yes keep it low as well.  The speaker is a little big but the EQ should make it sound as if it were a bit smaller.  The fact it is powerful is also not bad especially at lowish volume too.  (it means it will never distort!)
 
I have got one of those old Boss monitors with the two 4" drivers in them and it also makes a good mono mixing speaker too although I dont use it for that but I have tested it and it works quite well in that role too.

Just ran across this older thread!!  I too have an extra single Behringer laying around--- unfortunately, my AI is a Audiofire 4 with only one head phone out, and I don't think I would want to be swapping cables constantly.   I do have a spare Mackie VLZpro(1202) available... what would be the proper connection/hook up with my AI(it has four outs) in order to use it to monitor in mono and also in stereo(might as well be able to monitor that way too)
Thanks,
Freq

I see the Echo Audiofire 4 has 4 outputs on the rear panel. Have you looked into the Console software that is running alongside the Audiofire 4. e.g. its own in out routing software. There may be a way to have outs 3-4 mirror the stereo outs on 1-2. Often these programs running underneath offer some amazing signal routing options. 
 
You may even be able to sum L and R for the 3-4 output buss in the Console software. Otherwise some form of external summing option is needed to drive a single mono speaker.  A simple passive L+R sum solution will suffice as well.  But if you have an external mixer then the main outs could be summed for the mono speaker separately. 
 
 
 
 

Thanks Jeff... I will look into the Console routing options...
Freq