question
I’m using a presonus firebox and a line 6 pod, (which has only 1 cable for the output) going into channel 1 of the firebox. I’m only getting the left channel VU and also the same in my headphones. Am I missing a setting where the guitar can come out both VU’s and both sides of the phones?
Also, where can I find the setting to record 1 mono track?
The choices I have are Stereo or Stereo > 2 mono tracks…
thx,
Lou
Click on the hammer and there should be three options. Mono, stereo and two mono.
Check the settings on the Presonus and Line 6 to get the sound in both channels.
On the n settings, set to stereo 2 mono tracks, click the little red light/button on the bottom of the record meter, disable recording from either left or right channel to get a mono recording.
Dear One Way, There is no “mono” option listed" … weird.
Dear Yaz, I will try your suggestion as there are only 2 stereo options.
Get back to ya later…
Thx for the replies.
Lou D.
I’ve got a Firepod, not Firebox, but if they are similar you will see only two input “channels” for the ASIO driver, but they are stereo.
So your four “Inputs” are routed as follows:
Input 1 -> “Channel 1L”;
Input 2 -> “Channel 1R”;
Input 3 -> "Channel 2L; Input 4 -> Channel 2R.
I.e., you are inputting only to the left channel.
Hi DA,
So what does that mean if channel 1 is dedicated to the left? Do I go into the firebox mixer and move the pan to the center on cahnnel 1?
thx, Lou
Lou;
Once it is recorded as a mono track you can pan it to wherever you want using the output controls for that track in NTrack. If you are talking about monitoring while recording, I’m not sure – I don’t think the Firebox output has a pan control (i.e., it’s not really a mixer; it just sends each input to a separate channel over the firewire).
D.
Isn’t there software with the Presonus? You may have to pan the channel to center with asio drivers (mono inputs on the Presonus), or if you have the option of changing input strips from mono to stereo input.
Tried everything so far and still can’t get any signal to the right VU meter…
I panned the presonus mixer & hear sound on both sides of my phones now but still only getting signal to “left side” on mic input 1 & only right in mic input 2.
Trouble is not with n-track as it’s doing the same with ACID which I just installed. Got to be something I’m missing with the firebox. I will call presonus tech support monday.
Thank you everyone.
Lou D.
Well if using asio drivers which are stereo this may not be an issue. Could depend on how the software for the Presonus is set up, can you change the inputs from mono/stereo in the Presonus software? Not familiar with Presonus, I have E-Mu card and with Patchmix (software for the card) it’s a virtual mixing board/patchbay all in one software. So the inputs can be changed from mono inputs to stereo inputs.
Check your Presonus manual for any issues and/or troubleshooting.
If the track was recorded as stereo and the sound is on the only one side then panning won’t help. The track will need to be split into 2 mono tracks first.
There’s a lot of semi-random info in this thread – sorry if this has been pointed out already, but the symptom seems to be that the underlying track may 2 channels with no signal on one side.
Lou,
Here’s a screenshot for recording in asio to get a mono recording from stereo using asio drivers.
Hope that helps.
I really don’t understand why you would want a single input channel to record in stereo. Each input channel on the Presonus SHOULD BE routed to a different track, otherwise what’s the point of having separate input channels? I repeat my earlier statement: the Firebox is NOT a mixer.
It has a lot to do with the driver architecture. ASIO always operates in stereo pairs and WDM operates sort of similarly with several driver instances carrying a stereo pair. That’s somewhat simplistic and I may have the WDM a little wrong. Where’s Phoo when you need him? I think n-Tracks approach is just fine. It allows the user to setup his/her I/O for exactly what they need. You can even choose to ignore or not enable some I/O channels if you wish. Is it a bit “fiddly” to tweak if you want a mono source? Maybe… but I’d rather have the capabilities you gain from such flexibility than not have it.
D
Yes, stereo pairs in ASIO. So, the eight channels on my FirePod are routed as follows: channels 1, 3, 5, 7 to the left and 2, 4, 6, 8 to the right sides of the four, respectively. If Lou wants action on the right side of ASIO channel 1, he should input to the second channel of his FireBox!
Ah… gotcha! 
It does get confusing… 
D
Quote:
ASIO always operates in stereo pairs and WDM operates sort of similarly with several driver instances carrying a stereo pair. That's somewhat simplistic and I may have the WDM a little wrong. Where's Phoo when you need him?
I am here...do not know if I can help. This is my understanding of the divices...read with caution..
For a piece of hardware that supports 8 channels of I/O:
ASIO - Single multi-channel device -- Single 8 channel device
WDM - Multiple stereo pairs -- 8 channels will be 4 pairs and show up up as 4 stereo devices
For a piece of hardware that supports 2 channels or I/O:
ASIO - Single multi-channel device -- Single 2 channel device -- One Stereo Device
WDM - One stereo pair -- 2 channels will be 1 pair and show up up as 1 stereo device
Input and output do not have to match channel count - 2 in and 8 out is typical of many cards.
ASIO MUSTMUSTMUST be opened as a single instance at "whatever" channels it supports. That makes is a booger to record anything less than "whatever" channels. Apps that support "X" channels input, but let you selcet less, are probably recording "X" channels and throwing away whichever channels are not being used, if not you will always get "X" channels even if some are empty.
WDM on the other hand can be opend more easily as a single stereo device, and MAYBE a single mono device but, do not know about mono in the real world...it is driver specific and assuming too much can be a problem. Also, there is a "sync devices" setting in many multi-channel soundcards (not available in the n-Tracks prefs because it can only be set in the soundcards mixer) that forces all pairs to be daisy chained from a single clock source. That setting will prevent recording (and possibly playback) from a single pair. Generally, use this feature when recording from all the inputs at once and keep it off when not. These sound cards have only one clock, but this function insures that all device are started in perfect sync, which will usually happen even if it it not checked.
He has a mono input source, I explained in a PM that he would have to use a mono to stereo cord from the Line 6 pod (it’s mono output only) to the presonus to get signal in both channels, the screen post is just explanation of how to record mono track from stereo input. He wasn’t hearing his guitar in the right channel when he tried to record and he thought there was a setting wrong or the presonus was defective.
The firebox is more a patchbay than a mixer.
All is well.