PreSonus Forums

How do I monitor the inputs into my Audiobox USB in stereo?
I might have to send it back if I can't monitor in stereo. All I get is mono. Someone asked this before but got no answer.

Is there a software solution? There's no point in keeping this box if I can't monitor in stereo. Can someone avert this expensive disaster please?

Which DAW are you using? Which release number and version of the DAW? Are you on Windows or Mac? What OS version? What do your input and output routings look like in your DAW?

Screenshots are encouraged. For easier support in the future, edit your signature and put all these specs in there. See my signature for a sample.

mwright137 wroteWhich DAW are you using? Which release number and version of the DAW? Are you on Windows or Mac? What OS version? What do your input and output routings look like in your DAW?

Screenshots are encouraged. For easier support in the future, edit your signature and put all these specs in there. See my signature for a sample.

(I put specs on my signature below. )
My signal going into the two Audiobox in's is in stereo.
When I monitor the incoming stereo signal using the Audiobox headphone socket I hear it, not in stereo, but combined in MONO.
But when I record the same stereo signal and turn the Audiobox mixer knob to Playback to play back the recording, the signal is in STEREO.

The two inputs on the AudioBox are mono. To get them stereo, you need to create a stereo track in Studio One and also use the input in the AudioBox template that is stereo. Otherwise you will get summed mono. You can't listen to what comes in as a stereo signal without routing through software first.

mwright137 wroteThe two inputs on the AudioBox are mono. To get them stereo, you need to create a stereo track in Studio One and also use the input in the AudioBox template that is stereo. Otherwise you will get summed mono. You can't listen to what comes in as a stereo signal without routing through software first.

That worked. What a relief. Now I can keep the nice little Audiobox with its dinky, solid knobs which I like. Good-o. Ta very much.

I created the stereo track from the Track menu. But I'm not sure what the input in the Audiobox template is that you mentioned - unless its just to click for the stereo, and not mono in the selection box in the stereo track.
Happy - days are here - again, tra la lal la ..

This device takes a single input (each one on the device) and send it straight down the centre of the monitored output. The input is a mono signal. There is no panning etc capabilities on the device itself or any way to, say for example, put input 1 in left out channel input 2 in right out channels. If you use multiple inputs, for direct monitoring it sends them both straight down the centre and sums them into a single centred image. Both left and right channels on the main outs and the headphones are "playing" the same thing when direct monitoring.

If you want to hear a panned etc stereo effect you need to send it to an external source such as Studio One and then listen to the output from that. You can control the stereo image there. You can record each input to a stereo track (or mono track) if you so choose.

On the front of the AudioBox USB there is a knob called mixer. Fully left is input monitoring as a centred image. If you use say Studio One to record you can play that back as a stereo output and you turn the Mixer knob fully right to playback the signal being recorded from Studio One.

The downside of doing so is a small latency but so long as you are not putting any effects on the track or main outs this should not be that bad. That said some people are more sensitive to even the smallest latency while others can live with surprisingly long latency.. I can't answer for you. You will just have to try it and see.

BTW if you want to monitor the input while at the same time playing back a backing track for something from external, like say Studio One, then you would adjust the Mixer knob to suit a mix of both that works for you. However on Studio One you would mute the input tracks so you do not get a strange "doubling effect" where the input is play as well as it's slightly delayed track being recorded in Studio One.

Isn't that what I said? lol

Make the input routing look like this in Studio One:

OK... will take another look at those suggestions which I was also not aware of. Good-oh.

Yep Melvis.. I supported your comment and I just expanded on your comment a but to include additional info

Input and output routing options for your Audiobox in Studio One can be found on page 25 of your manual:

http://www.presonus.com/uploads/products/3289/downloads/AudioBoxUSB_OwnersManual_EN1.pdf

But the latency on this device makes that kind of monitoring pretty much useless when playing a stereo-connected instrument like a synth/keyboard etc

Yep. This thing is useless to monitor in stereo without any latency. What's the use of having direct monitoring if you can't direct monitor in stereo on a 2 inputs device ? Really dumb.

Wasted money.

Moreover, this crappy device prevents my Mac from going into sleep mode... Again, really dumb.

Zero latency Direct Monitoring my bleep. Nevermore PreSonus for me.

Amazing that my old windows 7 Dell with a stock Realtek sound driver can have stereo in and out in real time with no latency, but this fancy schmamcy PreSonus box can't do it. Wow. Really? Can you not re-write or update your drivers to allow for this to happen without the recording software? If it is any consolation Windows 10 is indeed crap and they seemed to have written out stereo in/out OUT of their programming code as well with the stock system. Really sad that the programmer's "Improvements" make the systems less user-friendly (to put it mildly) and are based less and less on how humans are created, i.e. with 2 ears that are designed respond to air movement and echo-location and music. I hope your leadership responds to our needs and doesn't go the way Gibson guitars did, or where Microsoft is going. Things will eventually change back to meeting the needs of the users in a free market but oh what a painful and frustrated time you/we are in for until this gets straightened out.
Sorry to sound so cynical but Windows 10 has done me in and I am actually looking forward to the time -a few years from now -when I will be chucking computers entirely. Very few - not Apple, not Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc are getting it right these days. I was hoping for better from PreSonus and bought this product (Audiobox USB 96) from Guitar Center to solve the sound issues inherent with Windows 10 but it instead made things more complicated. Please do better going forward.