converting mono track into stereo

Cubase
#1

Hi
Is there any simple way to transform mono track into stereo track (no exporting or rendering mono file)? Converting mono wave to stereo in pool works fine but the track to which this wave belongs remains mono. It makes impossible to use plugs working only for stereo as an insert.

Thanks in advance … Vic

Cubase 9.5

#2

Create an empty stereo track, copy your mono audio on to it.

#3

Yeah - that is obvious. There is a nice plug from Izotope called Visual mixer (part of Neutron 2). It works only for stereo tracks - as expected. If you laid track as mono it is useless. You have to convert them to stereo. That was the point of my question.

Thanks … Vic

#4



…and then convert it to a stereo file in the pool.

#5

Well this was your question for which the obvious response is the correct answer.

It makes impossible to use plugs working only for stereo as an insert.

Every other stereo plugin works fine on mono audio loaded to a stereo track.
Did you actually try it?

#6

Yes, as Grim says and it’s what I do…not found a plugin it doesn’t work with yet.

#7

check Visual mixer then

#8

Are you saying that what Grim suggested doesn’t work with the Izotope plugin you want it to?

Assuming this is what you mean, in what way does the “not-working” make itself apparent?

#9

Works fine.

#10

it shows up but it doesn’t do what it should, ie. no panning and widening signal. It works only for stereo tracks (still obvious) loaded even with mono files. That’s why I was looking for simple mono to stereo track converting.

#11

Incredulous!

#12

Just create a stereo Group Track and route the mono track to it. All stereo effects will work when inserted into this group track.

#13

The fastest way is just to do a Render In Place.

1 Like
#14

Panning works fine here in the trial version. Not sure what you’re doing differently.

#15

“It doesn’t work” - the epitome of being vague…

#16

Hey,

this is the way how I convert a single Mono Audio Track by record it into a empty Stereo Track:

! It’s all about the routing setings !

SETTINGS OF THE ORIGINAL MONO TRACK to record into a new STEREO TRACK

  1. Input -> Setting unimportant
  2. Output -> Stereo Out

SETTINGS OF THE NEW STEREO TRACK to be recorded from the MONO AUDIO TRACK

  1. Output -> NO BUS !!!
  2. Input -> STEREO OUT (it’s not available when in Output the Stereo Out is still selected)
  3. Activate the Recording Indicator - shows up now in RED
  4. Activate also the Monitoring Indicator - shows up in YELLOW

Of course you have selected before the desired cycle to record, jump to the start and activate the record an the desired new stereo track.
Cubase is running and recording and you should see and hear the mono track is routed into the new stereo one, also the waveform should be seen while recording updating.

After this you should have the complete original MONO TRACK recorded into the new STEREO TRACK.

Now you have to re-set the few changes we’ve done before:

  1. MUTE the original MONO TRACK
  2. Select your new Stereo Track
  3. Input -> Select your desired Input Bus - f.e. a Group Bus
  4. Output -> After you make your changes to the Input you can also change here the output to STEREO OUT again
  5. Deselect the Monitoring Indicator

That all! You’re done! Just a bit playing around with the routing - I find myself this is the easiest way to create STEREO from MONO Audio without fiddling to much around with tons of tools or plugins.

Hope this works for you!

Greetings from Germany

#17

+1 :confused:

#18

Or vice versa! In Pro Tools, I can right-click a stereo track and “split to mono” with one click. It’s all about workflow and speed.
As for the stereo plugin issue, it’s plagued me for years. I don’t want to route to a stereo buss and then put the stereo plugin on that buss. I want to load a stereo plugin on a mono track and have the track “appear” to be stereo, just like Pro Tools does. Then if you remove the stereo plugin, the track appears to be mono again. Again, it’s about workflow and speed. Less messing around and more getting down to business.

#19

Agreed. Moreover, this is kind of ironic, considering that we already had this feature in the past, 15 years ago, when Steinberg released Cubase SX 1. Unfortunately, it was removed after the SX 2 update, and it never returned back.

#20

In project/pool, locate the file for the track in question, right click on it and select “convert files”. The dialogue box gives various alternatives, select format “stereo interleaved” and convert. If you have chosen “replace” then the existing mono track will now show the two channels but the track remains mono. Then create a new stereo track and slide the (now) stereo part onto it.
If you have chosen “make copy” then create a new stereo track and slide the new stereo audio onto it from the pool.