Stereo input setting - Routing question Logic Pro

[wavestar]

Hello
Just had a routing question. I'm using Logic Pro 10, I'm using an RME Fireface UCX II.

When I mic an acoustic, I use two mic mono channels that I pan. But when bringing in a vocal that I want to apply a stereo effects to, I'm not sure if I should set the input track in TotalMix of my interface to stereo or mono? To better clarify my question:
It seems like mono inputs in Logic Pro get sent to the outputs as stereo. But are they hitting the effects as mono inline of the channel? In other words, it doesn't seem like a great idea to send a mono signal to an effect - Unless the effect in the channel strip is summing the signal before processing.

EDIT
I see what's happening now. If the set the input's to stereo in TotalMix, you get a true left right though the phones - no matter which way the left right pan in TotalMix is pointing. Or if you set an input in TotalMix to mono you can then use the pan at the top of the strip to control the signal's L/R. But I'm not sure what the stereo setting is for at this point. Like why would you want to make one channel stereo when you can just use two channels since you still have to bring in 2 input sources anyway.

 

[Deleted member 196982]

TotalMix is just an application that allows you to control *routing* of all the inputs and outputs within the interface. I don't use or have RME hardware, but it's similar to apps that are bundled with most interfaces. What they do is somewhat independent of what happens in your DAW, i.e., Logic Pro.

Just keep in mind that the mix you create in your DAW is what gets output when you bounce/print that mix to a stereo file. Unless you've somehow routed your computer output back to another input channel, perhaps to send to some outboard gear, the routing app probably is not needed. At least, that's IMHO.

The default routing *in the DAW* is for all tracks, whether mono or stereo input, to output to a stereo bus, and unless you set up AUXes and the like, they'll go to the main/stereo-out bus.

In my simple mixes, I never futz with the routing. So, for instance, I do not do different submixes, but if I need to do something like use the monitor out to play a backing track while recording something (for a music lesson video), but don't want the input that is being recorded to come out the monitors, so that what gets recorded is my playing along with the backing track, I'd probably do that in something like TotalMix.

 

[wavestar]

I know what total mix is keith, but thank you. If you've never used total mix, you probably can't respond to this question as there are a lot of options for routing.

I wanted to know how the mono channels were being sent to the input side of the FX plugins in logic. But I figured it out. The Mono tracks will send left and right signals as long as the pan at the top of that track is centered. But if you change the input track to stereo, you will only hear one side in the headphones if you have a single mic in one-input in that stereo track. This makes me think that the stereo option is only for when you're using two inputs. Notice in the image, that that stereo button is active and the signal is coming in on the left only - even though the pan is centered. But the outputs in logic merge the signal. So if the track is set to stereo, then there's a chance that the FX plugs are only getting signal on one side if there is only one input source.

This does not seem to be the case when the track is set to mono and your pan is @ center.

 

[Deleted member 196982]

If you set the input to stereo, it assigns one of the pair to the left side and one to the right side, in you image whatever is plugged into 3 would be sent 100% to the left and 4 would go 100% to the right, so if you've only got one real input and define the track as having 2, it should not be surprising that it only is heard on one side. Maybe I'm missing something.

How your FX act in Logic Pro will depend on how you set the FX, i.e., is it a mono or stereo plugin and how you've set the Pan control to work in Logic Pro (stereo/balance/binaural). Or, if you're using sends, then it will depend on whether you've set them to post or pre-pan. What I don't understand is why you're using TotalMix for setting inputs and using pan, i.e., what are you trying to achieve that you can't do just in Logic?

 

[wavestar]

What I don't understand is why you're using TotalMix for setting inputs and using pan, i.e., what are you trying to achieve that you can't do just in Logic?

I'm really not. I was just trying to understand how the different settings in TotalMix effect logic's routing.
You really can't avoid TotalMix, it's how everything is routed in the FireFace. Most of the time, I'm using bus sends and loading stereo plugs in an Aux channel in logic.
I have it down now. Thanks Keith