jude77

Wayfarer
The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Bing Crosby among others all expressed their dislike of stereo. Personally I think everything sounds better in mono too, or at least in a narrow stereo field. I want things to sound as live as possible. When you go to a concert, you don't have band members playing at your sides. They're in front of you and spread out just a bit on stage. Records sound better when they're mixed in just that way in my opinion. I don't like this modern trend of hard panning stuff. Sounds very artificial to me. And I still record in 16 bit because effects applied to 24 bit tracks have much too wide a stereo field. Again, sounds very artificial in my opinion. It also tends to make things sound very thin and brittle. I don't know why, but it does. Just my take on things.
 
Bill

That's an interesting take on things.  When I first used drums machines for recording (waaaaaaaay back in the 80's) I used to pan them HARD left and right.  I thought it gave me a great stereo image.  When I listen to that stuff now I cringe. 

I realize I'm probably in the minority, but at least I'm glad I'm not alone.

John, I use the same program to ever so slightly widen my master track.  It helps things in the center to sit in the mix better, such as lead vocal, guitar solos, or whatever.  It's not for turning a mono track into stereo.  It's like the old Aphex or BBE aural enhancers, must be used judiciously.  I do tend to like wide stereo effects because many classic albums from the late 60's, 70's, and 80's experimented with stereo to great effect.  Eventually, even the Beatles liked it once they had new mixing desks installed in Abbey Road.

I suppose I have a pretty darned standard usage case- I veeerry often go to channel tools, or occasionally Hbasms Stereoizer, on mono tracks that I don't want in the center of the mix but that I also don't want to double (especially not for VST instruments)
When I am using stereo imaging it's never to get the effect of doubling since recording a full-on double often give a drastically different sound than SM plugins - especially on instruments like brass which I do a lot of.

Too bad I don't have the legacy of experimenting with these tools back in the 80's and 90's like a lot of the guys around here :)))

In my case I actually though the stereo effect added something but the more I listened the more I was finding myself annoyed by a bit more boomy ness on that track, even after I applied a high pass filter.
 
JB

A little bit goes a long way.  Too much stereo imaging makes a mix lose focus and sound spacey.  If that's the effect you're going for, fine...although it's always better to write that into the composition rather than try to cheat and "fake it" into the mix.  But this really depends on the particular project and genre.  Music is art.  If you feel it, chances are someone else will too.  Just use restraint and remember that too much "ear candy" will usually tire the listener out.  A dash of sugar is all it takes to sweeten the pot. :)