Pianoteq 9: True mono with stereo FX?

If you cannot achieve true mono it may come from the fact that you did not zero out the delays.

For example, if your are using two mics (with the risk of phase cancellation but this is another story), then you need to set both pans to zero but also the delays just below the pan sliders (2 delays for each mic). They need to be exactly zero for pure mono.

If using a single mic (which I would recommend), again make sure both L and R delays are zero.

Hi Fumbler, wouldn't that be redundant with selecting a single mic, which after all is a natural way for such a purpose?
The v8 mono was nothing else than a hidden single mic (hidden unless you double clicked in the mic section to see where it was).

Hi Phillpe, the thing is, when I use a single mic, or even a single line-out. the effects don't seem to work in stereo.

So, I then tried using the line out setting for both channels 1 and 2. However, when using line out #1 in channel 1 with it panned hard left, and line out #1 in Channel 2 with it panned hard right, I would expect a true mono signal; however, the meters display some slight stereo. It's not much, but it's definitely not mono! It would be nice to have a sinle Line-out from Channel 1 which could still process stereo fx, just like with a real Rhodes or Wurli.

When I tried a single mic, I noticed that the fx cannot work in stereo. Forgive me, am I missing something? Can I create a true mono signal and then apply stereo fx?

I can't speak for the standalone Pianoteq but I verified that a single-mic mono setup produces true dual-mono when using the VSTi with two tracks in a DAW with one receiving output 1 (L) and the other receiving output 2 (R). If they're panned to center, they null.

With the dual mono setup above, I'm able to get a stereo chorus sound when the two channels are panned left and right. Obvously it's not as rich as it might be with a true stereo input to the chorus, but it's noticeable.

Yes, one mic with Pianoteq's chorus. To be clear, the output of the chorus is also mono - i.e. the same in both channels - but a chorus effect does not require differing channels, just a time- and pitch-modulated copy mixed with the original signal.

I checked this out and the first thing I noticed was that that the positions of the two mics were differing by a thousandth in each axis so I wouldn't expect them to null. But setting them the same did not cure that. Possibly the mics get seeded differently or the stereo width control is affecting them (I notice the sound warbles as you move it) or something else; I don't know. I could experiment further, but if you want a mono output it just makes more sense to start with a single mic. And I don't see that the built-in chorus is going to behave any differently with a true monoi input than with a dual mono input.

EDIT: The failure of the two channels to null in the DAW seems to be a function of the panning in Pianoteq. If you pan both mics to center in the VSTi, they null, but they will not null in the DAW when panned hard left and right in the VSTi. The panning seems to be altering the signals, and not just in level.