stereo usb recording

[caseydentinger]

i am trying to master from an external line level source (zoom r16) through some outboard stuff and into a laptop running debian. i don't really care what is used to capture the sound, audacity, ardour, whatever. i went out and bought a presonus audiobox thinking it was the right thing but sadly it appears that i can't record in stereo. i saw two inputs and thought that's what that meant but as far as i can tell it just sums them mono. like for guitar and vocal or whatever.

i am bummed and kind of broke now. what kind of interface should i be using to do this? seems like a pretty basic operation to me, one that a cheap recorder with a trs input can do.

 

[gecko zzed]

the audio box does stereo.

you may have to set the track in the program you are recording with to accept stereo

 

[Chili]

The presonus should work for you. Never heard of Debian before, be sure it's meant to do what you want. For sure the problem lies in configuration somewhere. Connections coming out of the Zoom, creating tracks in Debian, or device/channel selection for your tracks.
Read through all the manuals and be sure you understand everything.

good luck.

 

[caseydentinger]

i am pretty sure i'm doing everything correctly and that the audiobox will indeed take a stereo signal over usb, but won't split the two inputs to stereo. i have plugged L and R into inputs 1 and 2 respectively, and have also used a Y cable to sum them to TRS and tried that in both inputs, but the outs to the monitors (2 mono) and the headphone jack are all still the mono.

to confirm this i unplugged the audiobox from the computer and plugged it into a powered usb hub which yielded the same results, eliminating any sort of software component. so it seems certain that the mono summing is happening inside the box, before the outs, though i'd be happy to hear someone explain differently.

 

[Chili]

I'm pretty sure there is something you're missing. But without looking at what you're doing, it's very difficult to troubleshoot through posted messages.

This kind of confused me:

but won't split the two inputs to stereo.

And I'm not sure what you were trying to do with the y cable:

and have also used a Y cable to sum them to TRS

This is interesting and tells me you should be looking at the Zoom. Pics might help in this case.

to confirm this i unplugged the audiobox from the computer and plugged it into a powered usb hub which yielded the same results, eliminating any sort of software component. so it seems certain that the mono summing is happening inside the box, before the outs, though i'd be happy to hear someone explain differently.

If you play a commercially released MP3 through the audiobox, is it mono??

 

[caseydentinger]

yea i am using a known good stereo recording and panning it left and right as i listen.

the zoom has two ts outs, left and right. i've tried putting them into channels 1 and 2. the Y cable puts two ts signals together into a trs. i tried putting that stereo signal into channel 1 then channel 2 to see if one of those was a stereo input that would be split to the outputs, but no dice.

so the scenario is pretty simple in the end, i have left channel and right channel, but when i plug them into inputs 1 and 2 on the audiobox, both left and right outputs are the same mono sum of the two inputs.

edit: sorry for lack of pics, i don't have the facilities to get them on the computer right now

 

[Chili]

Doing the Y cable thing won't accomplish anything because if the inputs were TRS, that would be for a 'balanced input', not for a stereo input. But I don't think the inputs are TRS and in fact, looking at the specs for the unit, I don't think they are for line level inputs either. It seems to be either mic or instrument (Hi-z), not line level.

yea i am using a known good stereo recording and panning it left and right as i listen.

This wasn't exactly what I was asking. Can you play an MP3 on your computer and listen to it with headphones on the audiobox? Is it in stereo? BTW, this is not the same as asking if you can pan it left or right.

 

[caseydentinger]

ok i see what you're saying. yes i can listen to stereo stuff from the computer, but i'm pretty sure that's because it's coming over usb in that case. it knows how to act like a sound card, but you're right that these aren't line inputs and that makes it sound like this thing just isn't made for what i'm trying to do.

think something like the m-audio fast track pro might be more what i need

 

[Murdersgalore]

While you are at it, Ditch Debian. Linux distros make for terrible DAW's.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Don't blame the Audiobox. It is designed to do what you are trying to do. I don't think it is even capable of summing the signals before it sends them down the USB. The fault is at the computer end of the USB connection (your software).

 

[Chili]

The fault is at the computer end of the USB connection (your software).

Right, either that or the zoom. I was trying to get him to see the audiobox can do stereo. I haven't been around much to continue helping.

 

[rayc]

NEVER buy the Fill Sphincter endorsed version of soft or hard wares. You'll always end hitting a brick wall of sound.

 

[raywon]

I had the same problem I bought a mixer to get the stereo to the sound card and computer I use 1/4" cords with stereo adapter or XLR mic cords from main out of mixer to input 1 and 2 sound card. I plug mic,keyboard,drum machine and beat machine into inputs of mixer.

 

[Kimsiferum]

I got the same problem

I got a PreSonus AUDIOBOX USB.
it'a like theres is only two mono channels.
yes, i plays in stereo if i launch a mp3 on my computer, because the computer sends the adio signals through the usb and directly to the monitors/headphones. it has nothing to do with the 2 input channels.
this is my example.:
I got an electric guitar, the Audiobox, jacks and usb.
I connect the headphones first. then i put the guitar jack into channel 2 (instrument ch.). the playback in my headphones are now in stereo and sounds good. when I hit "record" and play something, it only records the "right", not "left", so, mono.. if i continue recording, and i switch the guitar jack to channel 1 (mic ch.), the same thing happens, but now it records only "left" and not "right".

so, it's like there is only 1 stereo channel with 2 inputs. is this right?
Do i need to connect my guitar to my Pod Xt Live, then use 2 jacks from the output on the Pod, to each input on the Audiobox, just to get stereo?
if so, this is not as portable and practic as i though it would be with a "simple" extern soundcard....

PLEASE HELP!!

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I got an electric guitar, the Audiobox, jacks and usb.
I connect the headphones first. then i put the guitar jack into channel 2 (instrument ch.). the playback in my headphones are now in stereo and sounds good. when I hit "record" and play something, it only records the "right", not "left", so, mono.. if i continue recording, and i switch the guitar jack to channel 1 (mic ch.), the same thing happens, but now it records only "left" and not "right".

You're recording a mono signal (guitar direct) to the left or right side of a stereo track. Record it to a mono track.

 

[luutz]

Don't blame the Audiobox. It is designed to do what you are trying to do. I don't think it is even capable of summing the signals before it sends them down the USB. The fault is at the computer end of the USB connection (your software).

I have the same problem as described above. I use the Audiobox iTwo with two instrument/mic Line in's. When I put in 2 line out cables from my digital piano, the stereo image is not right. When i put the headphones or speakers in the output of my piano directly (so no audiobox in between), the stereo image is right. So I think the problem IS in the box of the Audiobox.

 

[gecko zzed]

I have the same problem as described above. I use the Audiobox iTwo with two instrument/mic Line in's. When I put in 2 line out cables from my digital piano, the stereo image is not right. When i put the headphones or speakers in the output of my piano directly (so no audiobox in between), the stereo image is right. So I think the problem IS in the box of the Audiobox.

Your first step is fine . . . putting the two line-outs of the piano into audio box channels 1 & 2.

When you record this, you need to do either of two things:

1 Create a stereo track that sees the audiobox channels 1 and 2; or
2 Create two mono tracks, with one using channel 1 as an input and the other using channel 2. These two tracks then have to be panned hard left and right.

If you are monitoring the piano's signal through the audio box's headphone output, it is possible that you will hear your left and right combined as mono. That's because the audio box has no way of telling whether you are recording two separate instruments, or a single stereo instrument. It may have software that allows you to make the monitor give you stereo or two mono signals.

 

[luutz]

Thank you @Gecko zzed!

It seems to work! What I do is:
Still plug in the two line outs from my piano to the two Line in's in the Audiobox.
Then, I use my Software on the computer (FL studio), to record Line in 1 of the Audiobox to one channel, fully panned to the left (=mono?), and Line in 2 to another channel, fully panned to the right.
If you playback these two channels together, it gives a much better stereo image! It sounds like the same quality when heard directly out of the piano to the headphones/speakers, though it uses a little software trick.

Thank you very much!