So here is a question. I am trying to sample from my DAW (studio one) and any other source for that matter that is connected to my mixer. I understand that I need to get the AUX send back into the octatrack. My problem is that when I connect a mono-stereo cable I only get readouts of the signal on one of the inputs on the octatrack. Any ideas? Is the signal coming out only in mono? Then do I have to send from two different AUX´s into one channel each of the octatrack?
That depends on what type of outputs your mixer has (balanced TRS or unbalancedTS) and what cable you use. If your mixer has unbalanced outputs and you use a TRS-to-2xTS jack (aka stereo splitter) you will only hear one channel, the other one being shorted to ground. If you use a balanced output with such a cable, you will see the lights blinking but, because the two channels have inversed polarity, you will run into various issues like weird phasing and frequency cancellation when listening on speakers (not on headphones!) and no response from the effects (the channels are summed before entering the effects section)
EDIT: if your samples are mono anyway, just use a regular jack into one out the OT inputs and set the source accordingly the rec setup page (A or B or C or D).
If they are stereo you must use two mono aux sends or one stereo aux send, patched to two output channels of your interface/mixer
Then just use regular mono jacks or a mono to 2xmono splitter (which I don’t recommend, it’s not necessesary, use the OT rec setup instead). Your signal will lose 3dB but that’s not much of an issue.It’s not recommended to split balanced signals without any isolation transformer or circuitry
Ok, sounds reasonable I do have two available aux´s on my mixer still. So you suggest that (if i want stereo) I plug in say Aux 3 and Aux 4 and plug both in as mono in the OT?
Yes, indeed, that’s the way you should do that. One aux per channel (L/R). I don’t know what mixer you have, maybe there are matrix sends or other ways to route out a stereo signal than using 2 aux busses
Hi.deffo use 2 x aux one for left and one for right.i have 4 x aux used on my mixer to my octatrack so I can send different sounds to different inputs.hope this helps
Since you haven’t stated what model of the Octatrack you are using:
MKI has unbalanced inputs, but MK2 has balanced inputs. So with an MK2 you can use TRS cables to connect the balanced mono outputs of your mixer to the balanced mono inputs of the OT for best quality.
I do have two available aux´s on my mixer still. So you suggest that (if i want stereo) I plug in say Aux 3 and Aux 4 and plug both in as mono in the OT?