UPDATE: Send and Patch Point inputs

[Will.]

I think:  I know the answer to this - I might be wrong too. 

Question: Why don't Cakewalk have Mono Sends? 

UPDATE: I know why this was on my mind. So . . . 

"The QUESTION should be: Why doesn't the Input of a Send or Patch Point force the signal to Mono?"

Edited July 18, 2021 by Will_Kaydo
Update

[Bill Phillips]

22 hours ago, Will_Kaydo said:

I think:  I know the answer to this - I might be wrong too. 

Question: Why don't Cakewalk have Mono Sends? 

I think sends match the track. So a mono track send will be mono and a stereo track send will be stereo. Stereo tracks can't have mono sends, though if a stereo track send is panned hard left/right the send will still be stereo but only one channel (left or right) will contain any data. So you could use two stereo track sends with one panned hard left and the other hard right to send the left and right channels separately. Not sure that's what you're looking for.

One confusion to me is how to use the left/right/stereo options for patch point inputs. AFAIK, all aux tracks and buses are stereo and so are patch points. However patch point sends can be directed to either the left or right channel. So far, I've never felt the need to sort this out. But I'm guessing if a send from a mono track is routed to the left/right side of a patch point, it will be sent to that channel of a aux track or bus. However if a stereo track send is routed to the left/right side of a patch point it will be summed to mono then sent to that channel of a aux track or bus.

[Will.]

11 hours ago, Bill Phillips said:

One confusion to me is how to use the left/right/stereo options for patch point inputs. 

This is exactly why I'm asking this. I go crazy with patch points. Anything from sidechain, isolating Drums/Vocals/Guitars or Reverbs. So this comes down to the actual question: Why does the patch have the LSR inputs but not from the send? Wont that make it more flexible? Meaning: Sending the channel straight to the L/R input from its send? It made sense at the time of asking myself this. (lol)

Edited July 16, 2021 by Will_Kaydo

[Will.]

The Inputs of a Send | Patch Point from an Aux or Audio Track dont seem to work. It doesn't force the Input to Mono as with Instrument tracks inputs. Wonder if this is a bug? 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Will_Kaydo

[Noel Borthwick]

On 7/15/2021 at 9:08 AM, Bill Phillips said:

I think sends match the track. So a mono track send will be mono and a stereo track send will be stereo. Stereo tracks can't have mono sends, though if a stereo track send is panned hard left/right the send will still be stereo but only one channel (left or right) will contain any data. So you could use two stereo track sends with one panned hard left and the other hard right to send the left and right channels separately. Not sure that's what you're looking for.

One confusion to me is how to use the left/right/stereo options for patch point inputs. AFAIK, all aux tracks and buses are stereo and so are patch points. However patch point sends can be directed to either the left or right channel. So far, I've never felt the need to sort this out. But I'm guessing if a send from a mono track is routed to the left/right side of a patch point, it will be sent to that channel of a aux track or bus. However if a stereo track send is routed to the left/right side of a patch point it will be summed to mono then sent to that channel of a aux track or bus.

A patch point input is no different from any other stereo hardware input. It has 2 channels. When you use it you can choose the left right or both channels. Sends are OUTPUTS. Cakewalk doesn't support outputting to a specific channels in virtual outputs today. If you need to send to the left channel of a patch point just use send pan to hard pan it left.

[Bill Phillips]

3 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

A patch point input is no different from any other stereo hardware input. It has 2 channels. When you use it you can choose the left right or both channels. Sends are OUTPUTS. Cakewalk doesn't support outputting to a specific channels in virtual outputs today. If you need to send to the left channel of a patch point just use send pan to hard pan it left.

Thanks for that clarification. I seem to keep losing track of the fact that all Cakewalk inputs/outputs are stereo meaning outputs from mono tracks, including sends are stereo. That's not a problem for me with audio interface I/O it matches hardware routing.

But for mono tracks with outputs or sends routed to other mono tracks via patch points, I believe that I need to pan the mono tracks stereo Output or Send hard Left or Right and select the correct Left/Right patch point channel as the receiving mono tracks input. If both the mono tracks Output and Send are going to mono tracks, then only the Output needs to be panned if the Send is post fader. Have I got that right?

[Glenn Stanton]

i leave my pan law to 0db centered. then my sends on mono tracks to other mono tracks via patch points don't seem to know... i seldom ever use panning on sends unless i have some reason to position something (e.g. reverb buss to position something in the reverb field)

[Bill Phillips]

13 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

i leave my pan law to 0db centered. then my sends on mono tracks to other mono tracks via patch points don't seem to know... i seldom ever use panning on sends unless i have some reason to position something (e.g. reverb buss to position something in the reverb field)

So you select the L+R Stereo patch point input for the receiving mono track?  I haven't investigated before and don't recall any surprises in my use of mono track patch point inputs, but I hope to soon just to clear it up for me.

It seems to me the patch point input selection does make a difference to the receiving mono track. A stereo input is  3,072 kbps for 32 bit/48 ksps instead of 1536 kbps for mono. Not sure that panning is necessary for either the stereo or mono patch point input selection. I think that the stereo output from a center panned mono track is just two (L+R) identical copies of the mono signal.

[Glenn Stanton]

1 hour ago, Bill Phillips said:

... Not sure that panning is necessary for either the stereo or mono patch point input selection. I think that the stereo output from a center panned mono track is just two (L+R) identical copies of the mono signal.

correct