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Does anyone mix to mono just to hear instruments in the center?

I'm curious if anyone ever switches their output to mono just to hear instruments in the center of the soundstage. I'm thinking of Coltrane in particular. Most of his recordings have him mic'd on the left or right and I just want to hear the horn and all the transients coming from the center. Does anyone find this compresses the soundstage a bit and reduces the separation between instruments? 
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fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,498 posts
 
I haven''t but I been known to have swapped channels or remixed tracks due to hearing differences in each ear. The  BRG used to put most old Beatles vocals in the center.
diamonddupree's avatar
diamonddupree OP
75 posts
 
Were Beatles vocals not originally center mic’d? Maybe I’ve only listened to remastered albums but I feel like Beatles vocals are always at the center of the soundstage. 
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,735 posts
 
I've seen "mixing" controls where the knob starts at 6:00 and rotates clockwise. As it does, it slowly collapses the stereo soundstage until, at 12:00, it is mono. Keep rotating clockwise and it ultimately reverses channel content when it reaches 6:00 again. Pretty cool but, obviously, not "pure high end" enough for our crowd.  
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