Hi,
 
I get my Bass, Synth's & Strings from my Yamaha S30 Synth, and I have found that when recording the audio playback back into the DAW, that they seem to have a nicer placement within the mix when they are captured as stereo. They seem to be in a realistic space behind the main Vocal and guitars or main instrument. (Even a Bass which still remains in the centre). I have a small reverb activated on the synth, but it is definitely not intrusive or dominant in anyway. NOTE: I still use PAN when required for added atmosphere and placement within the sonic space depending on what voice I am recording.
 
What are your thoughts on the use of a stereo track?
 
TIA
Adrian
 

Things that  produce stereo should be recorded in stereo. Things that produce mono should be recorded in mono.  

...bearing in mind that mono things sometimes play in an acoustic environment, which can be good to capture in stereo.
 
There's very little I don't record as stereo tracks these days, but then again, I use Channel Tools to pan the right and left independently so I'm not limited to a Balance control.

What Craig said. If the sound in stereo gives a sense of placement, you'll want to capture that in stereo.
 
Regards,
Dan

I'm starting to learn that Pan Laws are a very interesting area to experiment with on a track to track basis when using stereo tracks within a project ... 
Before I used Pan Laws  I felt I was pushing a lot of stuff around the sonic stage for no reason .
I had to do drastic EQ adjustments just to have some of the stereo tracks sit well in a mix with each other  ...
On a track to track basis applying Pan Law 's such as , Linear , - 6 dB center , - 4.4 dB center , -3.0dB center , and - 2.5 dB center  can have very interesting results within a songs sonic stage ...
I have been messing around with some of those settings while moving my individual track pan pots around.
 
interesting stuff for sure ...
Kenny

i only ever record in mono.
 
even my 'overheads' are mono and panned.
 
if i want stereo 'effect', i use a tailored reverb (panned) or stereo slapback.
 
on rare occassion, i'll do stereo overheads, or a stereo mic pair (usually for acoustic guitar, a leslie cab, that kind of thing)
 
 
it's wonderful to capture the sound of an excellent recording space..
and no better way to do that than with several techniques of stereo recording..
(AB, X-Y, ORTF, MS, blumlein)
X-Y is my favorite, just cuz it's the easiest.

I use stereo tracks for stereo microphone pairs only.  ORTF, AB, MS, NOS (God forbid, XY) etc., these are designed to be panned hard left and right with no alteration in post.  I always record acoustic instruments in stereo, you have to in the classical field, it is called the main pair and it is the starting point for all professional acoustic recording (throwing down the gauntlet on that one I bet).  
 
I do supplement with many other microphones for spots and supports, those are in mono so I can easily pan them in the stereo field without a competing stereo image.  For instance, when I record an orchestra, I will use a stereo pair in front of the entire group as the main pickup, but I usually have a couple microphones spaced evenly for the woodwinds and brass.  Those are recorded on mono tracks because I might not want them panned 100% either way or may need to adjust levels independently.  This is a pain in a stereo track, but a quick, basic task in mono.  
 
It really is as simple as counting to two.  If you use one microphone, use a mono track, if you use a matched stereo pair, use a stereo track.  Stereo synths, use stereo, a mono sample, use mono.  It is a no-brainer. 
 
The only exception would be a couple stereo plugins which may glitch on a mono track, but many of those have a mono version of the plugin.  Whatever works in that case.
 

This topic is also going in another thread.
 
I think with synths you can use a similar approach to acoustic instruments.  For example if the synth is doing a bass sound then yes it may not be a great idea to record a really wide stereo patch onto a stereo track.  You also need to investigate what effects are being used also on say a bass patch.  It may sound better with any modulation widening effects removed for example and just recorded onto a mono track. Some synths like the Juno 106 are basically mono except for one effect right at the end of the chain. But it is well worth recording the chorus effect. It is quite unique. As was the ensemble effect in the Roland JP4.
 
With synth lead sounds this may also apply but then again some leads may sound killer in stereo and it may be well worth recording them that way too.
 
With mid range sounds eg pads etc then stereo options may be best for sure.  Not all synths rely on modulation effects either in order to create a wide sound.  Some use the concept of stacking say 4 or 6 (or 32 in the case of the new Kurzweils) layers in order to create the stereo imaging.  Layers are panned here there and everywhere.  (in Emulators for example individual voices/layers can be panned or modulated in pan position to create the most sublime effects)
 
It would be seriously silly to ignore an effect like this and record in mono.  You would just be missing out on a beautiful wide sound for no good reason.
 
Don't forget you can always record in stereo and use a plugin like Channel Tools to narrow things down or bring back to mono later on if you feel the need. And if things don’t sum well here then you can try manipulating the phase of one side of the stereo while summing to mono. There will be a point where L and R will sum and still sound robust.
 
Like all things use your ears and judge. If a synth sound sounds magnificent in stereo, record it that way.
 
Also you can mix multiple stereo synth outputs to create huge wide effects.  What you don't do in these cases is pan every stereo synth output to hard L and hard R.  A good trick is to pan some that way but others from hard L to C and others from C to hard right. Others from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock for example.  There are many ways to combine multiple stereo synth sources.
 
 

Anderton
There's very little I don't record as stereo tracks these days, but then again, I use Channel Tools to pan the right and left independently so I'm not limited to a Balance control.

I tend to lean the opposite way and record everything in mono. If it's a stereo part (ie: synth, piano with two mics, acoustic with two mics, overheads, etc...) they get recorded on two separated mono tracks labeled left/right. 100% control of panning without the need of channel tools. If I want to share EQ and/or FX I'll just buss them.
 
It's just a work flow I am more comfortable with but next year I may feel differently

Count me in the mono-by-default camp. Reserve stereo for things that truly need it, such as recording acoustical and vocal ensembles. I don't like to have more than 3 stereo tracks in a project because contrary to intuition, too many stereo tracks can make the full mix sound LESS stereophonic, not more.