Stereo Track Monitoring in DAW (A4MKII + OB2 + Live 10 + macOS 10.15)

Elektron Software Overbridge
#1

Hi All,

I’m having trouble monitoring and recording the A4MKII’s track outputs in stereo in Ableton Live 10.

When using the OB2 plugin (VST or AU) in a MIDI track, the MIDI track’s output becomes available as an audio source in other audio tracks. When selected as a source, five channel options become available: the stereo output (L/R) and tracks 1-4 (mono only - displays as “Track 1 L/-”, for example).

When using the A4MKII as an audio interface (recognized by the system as an 8in/6out interface), the stereo output is routed to input channels 1 and 2, and tracks 1-4 are routed to input channels 3-6 (mono). Input channels 7 and 8 are unused.

Is there a way to configure the A4MKII to make track audio available in stereo? I tried to configure the audio interface in the macOS “Audio MIDI Setup”, but doing so just launched the OB2 control panel. All tracks show up as mono in the control panel, and I can’t find a way to edit them there.

Version details: A4MII (1.40A), OB2 (2.0.37), Ableton Live (10.1.14), macOS (10.15.4)

#2

Voice are Mono internally I’m pretty sure. The hardware main outs are stereo as are the Send FX but the tracks themselves should be mono. though I’m not sure what Panning P-locks would respond. admittedly haven’t tried much with stereoscopic stuff when working with OB.

1 Like
#3

I wondered if that might be the case, though the signal path diagram on pg. 15 of the manual shows each voice outputs in stereo following the VCA/PAN block.

I tried adding a panning LFO to one of the tracks and could hear/see the result in the main out channel (in Ableton), but the signal remained mono on the track channel.

#4

I think depending on the device the point that Overbridge Taps the audio is different. I know on some devices for instance you can get the metronome when recording the mains but others it’s tapped before the metronome. may be a idiosyncrasy of the way they implemented OB. might be tapped at or before the Stereo VCA?

1 Like
#5

Ah that might be it. I haven’t found any documentation about it, but this may have been a design decision to reduce the cost of the A/D converter.

I realized I haven’t tested the FX channel to see if it streams in mono or stereo. I’ll give that a try later tonight.

#6

Hi All,

Was wondering if anyone from Elektron could comment on this. Specifically, is this definitely a hardware limitation?

Edit: I’ve found a number of posts discussing this. If this is indeed a hardware limitation, I wonder if a future version of Overbridge could read pan information from the A4/AR and create the stereo track in the Overbridge Engine. Basically, work around the hardware limitation by applying the pan in software. I would find this very useful.

Does anyone know how to configure a DAW to read the pan parameter from the sequencer (e.g., to read the current value of a pan parameter that’s being changed by LFOs and p-locks)?

2 Likes
#7

I may guess (didn’t tried yet) that if you’re controlling knobs in a DAW using Encoders of A4 then you can fake that pan position via proxy in MIDI.
P.S. I was frustrated when I’ve found that A4 gives only mono voices in Overbridge USB Audio stream. It’s a shame for such an interesting device IMHO!
The same as with retrigs…