Mono/Stereo? Confused

Recording Format

So after a few years of recording in NTrack (which I think is better than ever - 6.05 Build 2496) I’m starting to wonder about Stereo/Mono recording.
We’ve just recorded a song by mic’ing acoustic guitar and vocals (single mic for each).
From reading around I guess we should be recording these as mono tracks but when I look at my recording settings I only have a choice Stereo or Stereo -> Two Mono Tracks, no option to record mono.

Is this because of my soundcard settings (Toneport UX2).
If I record stereo and set the track setting to mono (on the track mixer) is this the same as if the track was recorded mono?

This seems pretty fundamental but I never really thought about it very deeply before.

Cheers

Martin

Quote: (plumbum @ Sep. 14 2009, 2:33 PM)

So after a few years of recording in NTrack (which I think is better than ever - 6.05 Build 2496) I'm starting to wonder about Stereo/Mono recording. We've just recorded a song by mic'ing acoustic guitar and vocals (single mic for each). From reading around I guess we should be recording these as mono tracks but when I look at my recording settings I only have a choice Stereo or Stereo -> Two Mono Tracks, no option to record mono.

Is this because of my soundcard settings (Toneport UX2). If I record stereo and set the track setting to mono (on the track mixer) is this the same as if the track was recorded mono?

This seems pretty fundamental but I never really thought about it very deeply before.

Cheers

Martin

I think so. I have the toneport UX2 as well. I find using the 2 inputs when I record at a time, a time saving feature. I have in the past recorded just a single track from the tone port and then cloned the track, set stereo and then pan. I found there was not much difference in it. Recording mono means a single track. In order for your sound to become stereo you'll have to clone it then pan it, that is of course you already knew that in which case, no offense intended.

As side note and perhaps not really on topic but maybe of interest.
You can with the toneport send a partial wet signal to the DAW, in effect what your hearing during recording will not be the same as what goes into the DAW. This can be an advantage because you can later add/tweek the effects as you like by adding the toneport VST. Like guitar rig 3 which records dry into your DAW you can then add the Guitar Rig 3 VST and apply your effects, changing and shaping it as you see fit.

PACO

Maybe this is what you are looking for:



No need to record two channels of mono.

Well that cleared everything up! :laugh: :p

Oh, did I screw up the link? Doh… Thanks for the recovery sir Phoo.

Thanks for the replies.
So it’s a bit clearer.
Are we saying that when I record stereo -> two mono tracks from a mono source like a mic I’m ending up with two identical tracks, so disabling one I get one perfectly good mono track?

Quote:

You can with the toneport send a partial wet signal to the DAW, in effect what your hearing during recording will not be the same as what goes into the DAW. This can be an advantage because you can later add/tweek the effects as you like by adding the toneport VST. Like guitar rig 3 which records dry into your DAW you can then add the Guitar Rig 3 VST and apply your effects, changing and shaping it as you see fit.


Yep, I do this and have the Gearbox plugin which has masses of amps/cabs/fx. I see inputs in N which equate to send 1 + 2 and send 3 + 4 in Toneport.
I think 3 + 4 are usually dry.
Although in this instance I had the Toneport set on mic and instrument and was recording the line from my electro-acoustic as well as the mic’d sound.
Would have been great if the missus hadn’t muted send 3 + 4 in Toneport. D’oh!

you need to go grab the free podfarm if you qualify at line 6. Way easier to use than gearbox. :agree: Will automatically import all your gearbox user presets too.

Phoo! Bubba! What’s that screen?

Here’s another way - click on the record arm icon in a new track, then choose which input from your source to record to that track in the window that drops down.

That makes things clearer, I guess a mono channel is duplicated
to create a stereo track because the stereo is labelled Send 2 / Send 2



I seemed to get a fuller sound, splitting the stereo track to two monos and panning left and right.

Quote:

you need to go grab the free podfarm if you qualify at line 6. Way easier to use than gearbox


I’ll check that out Poppa.


Thanks again guys.

Poppa,

For the free Pod Farm, does it run stand alone like GearBox?
I can run GearBox as a stand alone app, while running my Pod XT
in thru a USB, and GearBox becomes the controller for all the Pod XT settings
while I play in real time.

Or is the free Pod Farm just the plug-in that you run from within your
recording app (n-track)? I already bought the plug-in version a couple
months ago and have been using it a lot, and find it very useful, but
haven’t seen where I can use it as a front end controller for my Pod like Gearbox.

Quote: (pingcat @ Sep. 16 2009, 2:11 PM)

Poppa,

For the free Pod Farm, does it run stand alone like GearBox?
I can run GearBox as a stand alone app, while running my Pod XT
in thru a USB, and GearBox becomes the controller for all the Pod XT settings
while I play in real time.

Or is the free Pod Farm just the plug-in that you run from within your
recording app (n-track)?
I already bought the plug-in version a couple
months ago and have been using it a lot, and find it very useful, but
haven't seen where I can use it as a front end controller for my Pod like Gearbox.

Stand alone and if you pay for it you can get the VST version if I'm not mistaken.

PACO

yea - sorry been busy of late - it’s stand alone and replaces gearbox basically.

OK I’m downloading it now, thanks Paco and Poppa.
Poppa, I think a bad case of the “busyies” is going around, I caught it too.

I just did the free install and it looks like it is the plug-in, not stand alone.
Unless I
am missing something.
I start up the stand alone Pod Farm I have by clicking on the
desktop icon, but it comes up and says No Hardware Found, and the list provided
does
not list my connected Pod XT.

Quote:

it comes up and says No Hardware Found, and the list provided
does
not list my connected Pod XT


I had this exact problem too. Open POD Farm, go into File -> Preferences; on the Hardware Tab set the 'Launch Pod Farm using' drop down to 'Auto Detect'.
When mine said UX2 I had the same problem.

If that doesn't work you might also try the advice in this thread.

OOps just saw this in the FAQ at Line 6

Quote:

Q: Can POD Farm be used with my POD XT or POD X3 device?

A: POD Farm is compatible with our POD XT and X3 devices as a plug in only. It cannot be used as a standalone editor for your POD. Gearbox will remain the primary editor for all POD XT and X3 devices.


I think if you've got VST and stand alone in Gearbox, you will get the same in POD Farm.
I've really enjoyed playing with it so far and think the interface encourages you to play with different combinations more than Gearbox where I just used the presets mostly.

Concerning the Pod Farm. I have Toneport gold - does the Farmpod work with it?

Quote:

A: POD Farm is compatible with our POD XT and X3 devices as a plug in only. It cannot be used as a standalone editor for your POD. Gearbox will remain the primary editor for all POD XT and X3 devices.


Oh well, not good for me, but moving on, anyone use the presets under "Vocals (requires Pre-amp models)"?
I dont think my pod XT is a pre-amp model, but for those who have correct one, "Vocals" presets
of any value?