Convert mono track to stereo

Hi

There is a possibility to EASY change mono track to stereo track ? like any other DAW ?

I read on forum and and I see different variant but no one EASY.

Why Steinberg not put this VERY SIMPLE option ?



Best Regards,

Cubase is not like “any other DAW”!
It is the differences in Cubase that make it so appealing for those who will take the time to learn.
You need to understand Cubase’s methodology for a lot of these things which can be a difficult exercise especially for those coming from some other DAW.
In this case you need to understand Cubase routing methods.
First ask yourself why do you think you need to “change” from mono to stereo or vice-versa; what is your goal; what are you trying to accomplish?
(Mono to Stereo in Cubase couldn’t be easier :wink: )

I am trying to get my head around the question… my apologies if I sound newbie… is it not true that making a ‘stereo’ channel from a mono channel is just copying the mono channel and pan one instance to the right and the other to the left for stereo image adjusting? Making an actual stereo channel from a mono recording would need re-recording of the original recording with two mikes, not?

Thanks in advance for clarifying…

In principle you’re right, but there’s no need for copying the channel, it’s all done in the routing - mono to stereo and pan to taste if necessary. (Fundamental mixing!)
Yes a true stereo recording of a mono source would require 2 recording devices i.e. mics. but that’s not the issue here.

Hi,

As your say…“Cubase is not like “any other DAW”!”…

If you live in Berlin and want to go to Hamburg first going (make a route) to Paris and then go to Hamburg. :laughing: Your logic is brilliant ! Your logic is NOT like any other logic … :laughing:

When you make a product and sell to people I think you should be “closer” to those who pay for your products.

P.S. I think is JUST marketing. If I want to make that must buy wavelab. :wink:


Best Regards,

Hi there

There is a simple way to do this. Go to the media pool. Select the file in question, right click, convert it to a stereo file and drag it from the media pool to where you want it in the project

Best Regards

Dave

Thank You

LOL … this is the answer I wanted…now i’m going direct to Hamburg :laughing: :laughing:

Regards,

Would it not be faster just to use Render In Place ?

Great answers guys, thanks!

Render in Place and converting the file to stereo both seem like unnecessary renders/processing though.

I know in the grand scheme of things a render to 32fp isn’t going to degrade but I can’t bring myself to do it if it’s not necessary.

You can of course create a stereo track and manually copy the mono audio on to it and I even managed to write a macro for this but couldn’t quite get it to work with a single command
It opens the new track command and after checking it’s set to stereo you have to click OK or hit return on your kb.
Then the macro continues copying all events and automation to the stereo track and deletes the original mono track.
It sounds lengthy but actually is faster than RIP or going to the pool.
Haven’t tested it extensively but happy to post it if anyone wants to try at their own risk!!!

So here it is FWIW…As I said I haven’t used it extensively so can’t be 100% sure it won’t get caught out in some circumstance. You can always undo if it does something wrong.

Mono to Stereo Macro

Edit - Select All on Tracks
Automation - Hide AUtomation
Edit - Copy
Transport - Locate Selection
Add Track - Audio
Edit - Paste
Project - Select Track: Prev
Project - Remove Selected Tracks

One might also use the Stereo Flip Function to do this. DaveAbbott’s answer is probably the best though.

I’m still not sure why this conversion is deemed necessary. The OP never explained what he was trying to do. He was talking tracks not files or clips. This file conversion might not even be necessary depending on what he was trying to accomplish. It might just have been a false assumption.

He was talking tracks not files or clips.

For sure…My assumption is that this is for when you have a mono recording on a mono track that you’d like to use a stereo insert on without adding another channel to the mixer or converting files.
No need to convert the clip/file if you use my macro or manually add a stereo track and copy the events over.

haven’t tried, but wouldn’t this create a mono audio track in case you had previously set your default configuration of an audio track in the ‘add track’ dialog to ‘mono’ (or quadro, or any other type than stereo basically?)

As I explained in the previous post it opens the dialogue, you select stereo if necessary and hit OK.

I couldn’t find a way to make it stereo without the extra interaction.

Mono tracks can be processed through stereo Insert effects.
Otherwise (if the output is to be stereo) an insert on a group or Aux or use an FX Channel

Mono tracks can be processed through stereo Insert effects.

I think the point is that you are doing this because you are specifically after the stereo effect.
Inserting stereo effect on mono track gives a mono result. (As you know)

Otherwise (if the output is to be stereo) an insert on a group or Aux or use an FX Channel

Of course this is another option but some (myself included) might prefer not to have an extra channel in the project.

True, but this was not a restriction imposed in the original request - as I said before no goal was originally specified, which leaves interpretation wide open.

With all my love for Cubase, that feature is often needed. It’s hard to call it a “feature”, though))
The implementation is, for example. I have a lot of backing vocals mono tracks. I pan and group them, etc. But one i decided to have a specific stereo delay on. But just inserting a stereo delay plugin won’t do, so here i go creating a group of FX channel, routing, send amount - just for one vocal phrase.

Grim’s Macro looks like the easiest way, thanks!

In the latest project I worked on, I started using the strategy of recording from a mono source (an interface defined as mono) to a stereo channel, by re-selecting the input after I create it. It turned out, to my slight surprise, that the clip created at the recording (the wav-file) is actually mono in this case. The advantage of this, as per my workflow, is that I won’t have to go to extra measures if I want to insert a stereo delay or ADT effect on this particular channel, i.e. create an extra fx-channel and send, or route the channel to a stereo group.

Is there any DIS-advantage to doing it this way that I’m missing? Because everything including panning seems to work as if it was a normal mono channel.

It HAS actually happened that I’ve created a stereo group and routed my mono channel to it, to be able to use some stereo insert. Then forgot about the routing at a later stage, was trying out other inserts and doing other manipulation on the wrong channel. So there’s a definite risk of confusion and mishaps the more convoluted your routing gets.