Assigning inputs to mono

[Thomas Day]

I am brand new to Cakewalk by Bandlab and I will only be using the program as a multitrack field recorder  on a Windows 11 Dell laptop.  (I use Logic 11 on a Mac for all of my audio editing tasks, but I don't have a Mac laptop.)  My audio interface is a Focusrite 18i8 and I could be using all of the available inputs on occasion.  My current project requires all 4 of the interface's mic inputs and one of the line inputs.  So far, I have not been able to force Cakewalk to allow me to assign my inputs to individual mono channels, only a collection of stereo inputs, using either the left, right, or both input channels per track.  That is close to useless and if I can't figure out how to force Cakewalk to accept mono track assignments I'll be giving up on Cakewalk, since I don't have infinite time to mess with this DAW before I have to work on the project. 

[David Baay]

Choosing left or right gives you one side of the stereo pair. It's just Sonar's default labeling. In Preferences > Audio > Drivers You can enable to show friendly names like Mic1|Mic2 (double-click to edit and use the pipe symbol between the two input names).

[Chaps]

I routinely use both mono inputs while recording my guitar. Audio from my guitar preamp and direct audio for guitar sim processing. So the problem may be with your interface's software, or outputs, and not the Cakewalk software. It's worth exploring. Also, if you are using Cakewalk for Bandlab its ability to save projects will soon be gone as it is being replaced by Cakewalk Sonar, which has a free tier.

[Ross Smithe]

Set your inputs to mono in Focusrite Control. On each track in CW, pick the corresponding single L or R input (not stereo pair)