Recording Helix to DAW in Stereo

[TheDarkKnight1]

Hey Helix family,

 

Please don't flame me!!!!! I am very new to this! I need to record bass tracks and I want to use my helix. I will be going USB to PC into my Sonar software. My presets are all in stereo because I have special effects I need in there but I am not sure how that translates to recording on a DAW. Do I need to do this the very very old fashioned way and record two tracks, left and right or will the DAW pick up that the track I am recording is a Stereo track? Please help me out here, the engineer I usually work with is unavailable for at least a month and I need to get this done yesterday. What settings should I have set up on the Helix and conversely on the DAW? The Line 6 community is among the highest rated on the net so I am hoping I can get some assistance. 

 

 

[gunpointmetal]

Not familiar with Sonar, but most DAWs will allow you to set a track to be either mono or stereo. Set it stereo, select inputs 1/2 and go to town!

[codamedia]

• Insert a Stereo audio track in SONAR
• On that track, enable the two Helix inputs that will be used.... (eg: choose the stereo USB inputs)
• The single track will record both the LEFT and RIGHT so they can be controlled on a single strip. 
• If you add any plugins, make sure they are the STEREO version or the track will collapse to mono. 
• If you send the track to a BUS... make sure it is a stereo bus, not mono. 

I prefer to capture left and right on separate tracks, but that's just my preference. On a stereo track the PAN becomes a balance (level only) between the left and right, while a mono PAN precisely positions the track in the mix. I don't often want hard left/right... I like to soften those a little (eg: 9:00 & 3:00 or 10:00 and 2:00)

[SaschaFranck]

59 minutes ago, codamedia said:

I prefer to capture left and right on separate tracks, but that's just my preference. On a stereo track the PAN becomes a balance (level only) between the left and right, while a mono PAN precisely positions the track in the mix. I don't often want hard left/right... I like to soften those a little (eg: 9:00 & 3:00 or 10:00 and 2:00)

 

Fwiw, some hosts allow you to switch between different panning modes for stereo tracks. Doesn't exactly make much of a difference (IOW, you can achieve the same results with either Balance or Stereo Pan - which is what they're called in Logic), but I agree, though, as you usually don't need to compensate things (with further leveling actions) and hence get quicker results.

Generally, I personally prefer using stereo tracks because they're easier to handle - but of course there's some reasons (apart from the pan issue) to prefer two mono tracks (such as being able to tweak both channels separately, which is quite useful here and there).

[codamedia]

14 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

Fwiw, some hosts allow you to switch between different panning modes for stereo tracks. 

 

Absolutely... If my DAW (studio one) had the stereo pan option (without a plug in) I would probably use stereo tracks more often. 

[SaschaFranck]

4 hours ago, codamedia said:

 

Absolutely... If my DAW (studio one) had the stereo pan option (without a plug in) I would probably use stereo tracks more often. 

 

Yeah, before they introduced the stereo pan option in Logic, using the "dir mixer" plugin has been the common workaround.