I wanted to run a stereo instance of Guitar Rig 5 as an insert in a channel for recording a mono guitar signal. Although the output of the channel is stereo and I can freely pan the mono signal, I can only get a mono out from guitar rig, even though the meters in Guitar rig say that it’s outputting in stereo.
If I record the guitar with a stereo input on a fully stereo channel, so that it makes a stereo file, then it works fine, even if I’m only recording the left input (the right channel appears as a flat waveform, but guitar rig is now in glorious stereo).
So my query is whether there is any means of recording the guitar onto a mono input but, but getting a stereo output from Guitar Rig or whatever when used as a channel insert. ie can I split the mono input signal into a stereo one, so that there is now a stereo signal path? Otherwise my guitar recordings are stereo files, which obviously doubles their size and seems a bit of a waste of memory.
Well that´s the thing with mono tracks: they are mono. If they´d output a stero signal they were not mono…
Create a stereo track and assign a mono input bus.
It used to be the case before VST3 that the plugin dictated the channel outputs, but now the channel dictates the plugin’s outputs. So, yes, a mono channel makes the plugin mono. So one way is to create a stereo channel (with mono input) and insert it there. You could send it off to a stereo group though too.
Pity, cause it was a nifty shortcut feature that I used all the time!! But I don’t think there’s any real overhead in the new method, and it seems that some people never use Mono channels now for this reason.
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Well that´s the thing with mono tracks: they are mono. If they´d output a stero signal they were not mono…
Create a stereo track and assign a mono input bus.[/quote]
Which is what I’ve done… that’s not my point… I simply want a way to record mono guitar files that can then feed a stereo insert to create a stereo output, which was easy to do in Soundscape. But now when I record a mono source, to get the stereo output, I need to record it on a stereo track, so it makes a stereo file, but with one side silent. In other words, the file is twice the size to what it needs to be and I also presume a stereo channel takes up more CPU than a mono one… not really a huge issue, as I do have plenty of power and hard drive space, but seems a little inefficient.
I also wouldn’t want to send a mono file to a stereo group, as I run multiple instances of guitar rig, each with different sounds, so channel inserts seem the obvious way to go.
No matter, I can live with it, now I know I can’t work in the way I got used to with Soundscape.
Is that really the case, that Cubase creates a stereo file when recording from a mono source on a stereo track? It could be only the graphical representation, unless ofcourse you checked the actual file size? BTW, I was thinking of the Mono to Stereo plugin, but unfortunately that needs a stereo source file (weird…).
Read my answer again it´s not what you have done -
What you have done is assign stereo bus as input of a stereo channel, what I advised was to assign a mono bus as input of a stereo channel.
The MonoToStereo plugin can work on a mono source but needs a stereo track for its stereo output.
So drag a mono file into a stereo track, insert MonoToStereo plugin and it will work as designed.
But dragging a file might not be what the OP wants, when he is talking about recording.
So as said 3 times already assign a mono input bus to a stereo track.
Ah, I see. The documentation (Cubase 6 Plug-in Reference.pdf) says “The plug-in must be inserted on a stereo track playing a mono file”. To me that constitues a stero source file, but I guess I’m used to WaveLab too much…
But dragging a file might not be what the OP wants, when he is talking about recording.
Was just pointing out about the above!