It's almost impossible to imagine a situation where converting a stereo sound to mono would not change the tone to some degree.
 
If I was the person receiving the tracks to do a mix, I would want to receive all of them in their native format. I would then decide what to do with them during the mixdown process. If you don't trust the engineer doing the mix to make decisions that are the best for the song, consider seeking a different engineer.

Anderton
It's almost impossible to imagine a situation where converting a stereo sound to mono would not change the tone to some degree.
 
If I was the person receiving the tracks to do a mix, I would want to receive all of them in their native format. I would then decide what to do with them during the mixdown process. If you don't trust the engineer doing the mix to make decisions that are the best for the song, consider seeking a different engineer.

sure i get that, so then what is the "correct" option, even session drummer... spits out 8 stereo tracks, but kicks should be in mono.   But when you convert it to mono, it changes the tonality.  
 
Should I change the track manually to only receive "left" from the kick drum synth?  but even then, you are not getting the sound exact.
 
hmmm...

AdamGrossmanLG
 
sure i get that, so then what is the "correct" option, even session drummer... spits out 8 stereo tracks, but kicks should be in mono.   But when you convert it to mono, it changes the tonality.  

I never like using companies' templates.
I created my own Track Template for AD: Mono for Kick, Snare, Hi Hat, 1 each for Toms, then stereo tracks for OH and Room.
Set them up once and never fail again!
 
Maybe the drums is a poor example since my way probably SHOULD be the standard, but every synth and user taste is different.  Companies have to guess at how the user is most likely to use the product and aim for that.  So it'll never be 100% for anyone...  This small tweak is a good balance for me.  

Slugbaby

AdamGrossmanLG
 
sure i get that, so then what is the "correct" option, even session drummer... spits out 8 stereo tracks, but kicks should be in mono.   But when you convert it to mono, it changes the tonality.  

I never like using companies' templates.
I created my own Track Template for AD: Mono for Kick, Snare, Hi Hat, 1 each for Toms, then stereo tracks for OH and Room.
Set them up once and never fail again!
 
Maybe the drums is a poor example since my way probably SHOULD be the standard, but every synth and user taste is different.  Companies have to guess at how the user is most likely to use the product and aim for that.  So it'll never be 100% for anyone...  This small tweak is a good balance for me.  

 
cool thanks, good idea with the template... but let me ask... if you are only taking the input of the left channel for the kick drum (to make it mono), would the kick sound exactly the same if you got both channels (L & R) in there?  

I would have thought so, but Anderton's always been right where I've been wrong.  So according to his post above, it can add a change to the sound.
 
But I get my kicks in mono.   (insert drum roll here)
 

In Session Drummer there are width controls in each channel, which is probably why a converted file might sound different. Try setting the widths to minimum.

thank you for the replies, very helpful... so now this bodes a new question.  say i have some synths as mono tracks (interleave mono and a left only input) and then some full stereo.  If I want to do a complete stem mix (so I can send them to be mixed).... if I export all tracks, is Sonar smart enough to know to export the mono ones as mono files and the stereo ones as stereo files?

Some very good answers here ...wish I could read the whole SOS article ....I be non subscriber at the moment ...
 
if the version of SONAR you have includes this , you may want to give it a spin on a number of your stereo tracks ...
you may find settings that work very good for your tune and some of your synth choices ....
A very underrated plug IMHO ..
 

 
Kenny

AdamGrossmanLG

Slugbaby

AdamGrossmanLG
 
sure i get that, so then what is the "correct" option, even session drummer... spits out 8 stereo tracks, but kicks should be in mono.   But when you convert it to mono, it changes the tonality.  

I never like using companies' templates.
I created my own Track Template for AD: Mono for Kick, Snare, Hi Hat, 1 each for Toms, then stereo tracks for OH and Room.
Set them up once and never fail again!
 
Maybe the drums is a poor example since my way probably SHOULD be the standard, but every synth and user taste is different.  Companies have to guess at how the user is most likely to use the product and aim for that.  So it'll never be 100% for anyone...  This small tweak is a good balance for me.  

 
cool thanks, good idea with the template... but let me ask... if you are only taking the input of the left channel for the kick drum (to make it mono), would the kick sound exactly the same if you got both channels (L & R) in there?  

If you take just the left channel (or right), this IS your mono signal which you can pan anywhere you want.
 
If you take left AND right you're doubling up again and will get a 3dB lift