Mono vs. Stereo Signal path, versus CPU consumption?

[Funky40]

Hi there,
simple question since i play now a bit guitar and again a bit Bass and my “patches/Rackspaces” are quite loaded, and since i HAVE to run this with small buffers ( 64 samples):

if i create my signal path in mono, and set all my VST FX to “mono in” and “mono out”,
is this saving me on CPU ?

i mean, 3% or 5% is not from any importancy,
but who knows, maybe its way more ?..maybe its up to 40% or so, who knows…

1. is there any insight given on this ?

2. in Case, is this dependent on the used VSTs ?

Thanks !

[speed12]

I believe most of the time it is plugin dependent, but can make a small difference (a few percent maybe, max).

I tend to switch to mono where stereo is needed - mainly due to the fact it looks nearer! - and for some plugins you do see a small change in CPU but for other no’s change at all.

Probably best practice is just to use mono where stereo isn’t needed and stereo where it is; the differences are small so you may as well set up the rackspace to suit the sound you are after.

[Ali_B]

@Funky40

3% or 5% is not from any importancy,

Hi, I was looking into this last week. For my setup it seemed to save about 2-5%. Mono is also 6dB quieter.

[Funky40]

thanks for the feedback.

i begun to set a patch all to mono the other day, …but found the work to do very cumbersome.
so i guess, i will live with stereo until i run out of CPU cycles.

[dhj]

Yes, also known as avoiding premature optimization