I understand that someone might want to check a specific stereo effect in Mono to check if it disapears,
but what doesn't make any sense at all is mixing to stereo but doing the monitoring in mono to do the volume balances, when the final result will be a stereo mix.
That doesn't make any sense.
This comment below sums it up well.
I have been doing this for more than 25 years:
I put all sound sources in position in the stereo image.
Then I switch to mono and make a balance.
If the balance is good in mono, I switch to stereo and most of the time the balance is good in stereo too.
I find mono mixing helps my balance by offering perspective. For me it's not about continually mixing in mono. Its another helpful tool to find an equilibrium for translation of the mix to sound good on as many systems as possible be they mono or stereo. Similar to L&R reverse the sudden change can highlight something you had become fatigued too. Level changes in mono generally have a positive effect on the balance of the stereo mix. I use a mono "horrortone" to check balance. Something I witnessed many great mixers do from the back of the room and personally it helps me a lot.
Within reason, I don't see any point in worrying about absolute mono compatibility these days. Sure, a lot of stuff might get played on an iPhone without headphones by some but, are we really wanting to conform downwards to the lowest common denominator?
I say more than 99% of people do not know how listen in a true stereo triangle. Just look at most peoples home music setups.
Have you ever noticed low bandwidth on streaming of video or music the audio will mono to prevent buffering.
Have you ever listened to DAB and the signal becomes weak and it goes mono's. Main signal is mono carrier side signal is the stereo and get dropped with weak signal.
What about all the people who listen on a single SONOS play 1 or a little mono bluetooth speaker.
The above are things I have noticed while listening outside the studio. Mono is still very prevalent and in many more situations than i've mentioned. If we disregard mono we disregard the quality of our mixes in many real world situations.
There isn't really a thing as "absolute mono compatibility" because of phase. The fold down is always going to loose something. If you work on a mix in purely stereo chances are the fold down to mono will not be that great. However if you're checking your mix to both then you can a achieve a just as good (if not better) stereo mix and a great mono fold down. No brainer for me to spend the time to have a mix sound as great as it can in every scenario....No matter how far away it is from the perfect listening conditions.
But for the sake of someone less experienced reading this thread that might get confused, I would just like to tell that I'm a professional mixing engineer, and it doesn't make any sense to me.
Neither any professional mixing engineer I know does that.
This has become two debates.
1) is mono mixing relevant?
2) OP - What is Greg's technique all about?
My Opinions
1)Mono fold down should be a big consideration in a mix
2)Never seen anything like that! doesn't seem like an intuitive way to work. It doesn't mean he is wrong. I haven't tried it..............yet!
For the sake of someone with less or more experience reading this thread. I would advise try everything and anything. Just because something doesn't make sense to one person and their colleagues doesn't mean it won't work for you.