Solved Studio One 7 + Quantum HD8: How to get stereo output from Main Mix and Headphones?

[brmichael]

Hi,

I'm struggling with mono/stereo settings in Studio One, Universal Control and my Quantum HD8 interface.

I have a song with a cue mix and a listening bus. The main section of the console in Studio One looks like this:

There is a cue mix master (labeled "Phones 2"), a main master and the listening bus master (labeled "Monitor"). The cue mix output is routed to outputs 3+4, which are assigned to headphone output #2 of the HD8. The listening bus mix is routed to Main Left+Right of the HD8, which in turn feeds my monitor speakers and headphone output #1 of the HD 8. The main mix output is not assigned to any output of the HD8, because with no solo active, the listening bus carries the main mix, so it's possible to monitor main mix over the listening bus. As one can see, all buses are set to stereo.

The main section in the Universal Control mixer looks like this:

The fader labeled "Phones 2" corresponds with the "Phones 2" cue mix master in Studio One. Bus output is routed to outputs 3+4 with headphone output #2 assigned. The Main L/R bus is routed to outputs 1+2 of my HD8 which feed my monitor speakers and headphone output #1 of the HD8.

My problem is: with the settings shown in the above screenshots (everything set to stereo!) the main mix is mono (on both the speakers and the headphones), only the Phones 2 mix is stereo. However, when I deactivate the mixer in Universal Control (which makes the "Phones 2" fader disappear), Main/headphone 1 mixes become stereo, too.

What causes this strange behaviour and how can I get rid of it? Is there a way to get a stereo output on main/headphone 1 outputs without deactivating UC's mixer? Any help appreciated.

Regards, Michael

 

[SwitchBack]

Sure that's possible. The fact that disabling the mixers inside the HD8 gives you stereo suggests that the problem is with the mixer settings inside the HD8, not with settings inside Studio One. But to make sure please post Studio One's I/O Output matrix, which shows exactly what's sent where.

And then the HD8 acts like a mixing console, where the inputs from Studio One must be 'mixed' to outputs. I don't have an HD8 so someone who does should chime in for the details, but usually it involves linking mono inputs to create stereo inputs, and setting input faders for each of the interface's output mixes to make inputs go where you want them and not anywhere else.

Hope this helps

 

[brmichael]

Thanks for your reply.

Here is the output config in Studio One:


I can't see anything wrong there.

 

[SwitchBack]

Yes, that looks fine. So it must be the settings inside the HD8, which can be set from UC. In particular look at the linking of the Main inputs and inputs 3/4.

 

[brmichael]

After searching for a setting in Studio One, Universal Control or my HD8 that could be the reason for this, I finally gave up. I couldn't find anything that can force main output to mono, no channel linking, no audio leaking from left to right, nothing. I also went through the software reference manual provided by Presonus, but this also gave me no hint to what I'm doing wrong. Meanwhile, I assume a malfunction in UC or the HD8 being responsible for this. Until someone shows me a solution, I have to continue with UC's mixer deactivated. Fortunately, everything I currently need including cue mix works in this mode.

I will ask Presonus support about this.

Edit: Solved. I did a factory reset of my HD8. Now the main out is stereo regardless of the the mixer being activated or not.

However, I do not appreciate things like that to happen