Question

So this is a really basic question, but: How, without actually playing the audio, can someone tell apart stereo channels from mono channels in the console (mixer)?

Obviously, when the audio plays, you can tell from whether there's 1 level or 2 levels showing, but this isn't always convenient. There should surely be a way to know just from eyeballing the console!

For example, in Pro Tools, there are 2 main ways:

1. The 'track' has 2 pan dials instead of one.
2. The meter is twice as wide, and has a clear dividing line in the middle of it.

...but neither of these holds true in Studio One.

I'm probably just missing a really obvious cue, but I can't see what it is!

Thanks.

FYI, here's how the two types of track look in Pro Tools:

Answer 1

One way is to look at the inputs which are always visible, mono channels have one and stereo channels have two, and anything stereo playing will show two meters and mono one.

Answer 2

Thanks for the suggestion on the input sources. That's better than having no way at all to distinguish them, so it helps, though it's still not as clear on the UI as in Pro Tools. I will open a feature suggestion.

I know the meters will be different when playing, but the point of the post was that it's not always convenient to play audio just to tell whether it's stereo or not.

Answer 3

Another key thing I've realised regarding that response: if it's based on an instrument track, the option to look at the input sources doesn't exist!

Channels for virtual instruments will just have the VI plug-in's name. No mention of 1 or 2 inputs.