Yeah, I'm stumped then.  I tried to recreate your problem on my VS-700 but couldn't.  I thought for a second I had it when you said you manually changed the interleave to stereo.  But in my system, no matter what I set the interleave at, if I record a mono source I get a mono waveform.  If I record a stereo source, I get a stereo waveform. 
 
The only way I could reproduce your problem was by unplugging one half of a stereo input and recording in stereo.  That would give me a one-sided stereo track, as you described.  But it sounds like you're selecting the correct mono source (Right VS-700 7-8), so there's no way that should be recording in stereo, no matter what the interleave is set at.
 
Weird stuff.  I'm going with the "ghost in the machine" theory.  Best of luck sorting it out!

This thread is crazy. What does it matter if you record a mono track and you leave the interleave to stereo? Honestly, does it really matter? It still pans the same. Also, if you want to use stereo plugs, they will work as stereo. Plus, I think it sounds better with the interleave left at stereo.

The OP said it was a mono synth. Even with two outputs it's still mono. So if you record two tracks, it's still mono. Only when you pan the two tracks left and right will it become stereo and even then it doesn't sound stereo. Once the wavs are made, sliding one by a few ms will give a better effect of stereo. Or, you can use just one track and use Channel Tools to do the same thing.

Guitarpima

This thread is crazy. What does it matter if you record a mono track and you leave the interleave to stereo? Honestly, does it really matter? It still pans the same. Also, if you want to use stereo plugs, they will work as stereo. Plus, I think it sounds better with the interleave left at stereo.

Exactly! I've been thinking while this thread has been ongoing ... I can't be the only person here who records a Mono source while wanting to monitor it in Stereo. For example, I record my Strat in Mono, but use Input Echo and change Interleave to Stereo so I can hear Guitar Rig in Stereo while I'm recording. There has never been a time in the last, well, there's never been a time ever that I did not want to record a Mono source while monitoring it in Stereo.

This was no big deal in previous versions of Sonar because the Interleave button was on the track right in your face and you could see it change when you set your Input setting. As silly as it sounds, it's a lot harder now because it has been taken off the track and put in the Inspector. It's really easy to forget about it when it's 'out of sight out of mind'.

Please Cakewalk, put the 'Phase' and 'Interleave' button back on the track in X2, or whatever it's called. Please, for ol' Bub? I'm such a cheerful fella ya know. Ok, even I can't keep a straight face on that one. But again, I implore you, please kind gentlemen, please put these two buttons back on each track.

konradh


OK, this is still not working right.  I have a mic plugged into one input in the V-Studio interface (in this case #8).  I create a track.  Sonar does not let me select stereo v mono.  The input in the track Inspector says Right 7-8 which is how Sonar makes you pick an input.  There is no way to pick 7 or 8: you have to pick 7-8 and then say whether you want left, right, or stereo.

When I record, I get a stereo track with the same signal on both sides.  I still see no way to record a mono track.

If you select 7-8 and then select Left it should record only a mono track; you seem to be suggesting that after you choose 7-8 the option is there in fact to choose only the left or right channel, is this not correct? After selecting, but before recording, see if selecting Left only causes the track interleave to switch to mono.
 
Another option, when you select the input source choose Selected track Input Series and select only one input, ex. 7. This should also force the channel interleave button to mono before you record.

Ok, now it is getting crazy.

I humbly and publicly apologize for starting this thread. .  Problem with mic is repeatable.  Will let anyone interested know how it is resolved.  Regarding the synth, it is a Tyros 2 and does have stereo outs.  I listen to it and other synths playing multiple voices on different MIDI channels when arranging and then record the sounds one by one on separate audio tracks when ready to cut (track) the song.

The real confusion came up with the mic.

Sorry again this got everyone so excited but I appreciate all the kind assistance.

@Heather, I acutally love the integration of the V-Studio and have customized the buttons on the console to make working really fly.  I think I had a bad installation to start with and we haven't chased out all the little bugs.

RESOLVED:  Sorry again I caused so much excitment here, although the dialog was good.  I shut down everything, console, audio interfance, PC, etc.  After restarting, I restored a backup copy of the Preferences file I keep on the PC.  I went into the Preferences and unchcked the unwanted devices (e.g., ARX Editor, IO700) that confuse the input options.

Then, selecting a mono source (e.g., Right 7-8) as described by CJ and others DID result in a mono track.

I have no idea what was broken or why, but it is fixed now.  Trust me, had I know how much time I would have taken from y'all, I would not have posted this.  My Sonar/V-Studio installation has been a little flakey from Day One, but little by little I am working through things—even if I don't always know what happened or why it is fixed.

wow....missed this classic thread. Good input in a lot of cases but a lot of bad reading too which fired everyone up on tangents. I'm glad some people learned some valuable things here too which is great. Manufacturers have really confused users by using LEFT and RIGHT as terminology. As someone said earlier, all inputs are mono. If you have 8 inputs you have 1-8, you don't really have 4 stereo pairs of inputs. The manufacturers just named them as such./n/n\n\n

A mic attached via a cable requires one input so it's clear its mono. In konrad's case, he wasn't seeing separate inputs as left (7), right (8), stereo (7+8) if I'm correct in my reading. Now he is seeing what CJ and others see on their Roland units. Weird that you wouldn't see that. Glad you got it sorted.

But synths attached via cable require two inputs. Some synths or other devices are stereo but some may also just be dual mono. If you play a mono-pad type of synth, it's probably outputting the same analog sound on both the left and right cabling so you are better off recording a mono source (by choosing Input 7 OR Input 8 and not Input 7+8) and using SONAR to pan it into the space in your full recording that you want to (SONAR will output the left digital data to Output 1 on your interface and the right digital data to Output 2). If you have a dual mono source like that, pan does nothing. IF you have a synth with (as an example) a ping-pong delay that bounces between the left and right field, then there is different information going between the left and the right cables on your input so that is a stereo track that you need to record in stereo. Pan it centre so that you don't lose one side or the other in your full recording.

I may be confusing the solved issue by responding here, but it's important to know what your instruments actually do and how mono and stereo change your sound. As someone said earlier in a key point, most sources are mono. It's only when we hear with two ears that it's stereo. The invention of 'stereo' recording was only trying to separate the sources out to two speakers and have them be slightly different to fake what we hear. If you send the same information to both speakers its not really stereo. So, you're really safe in assuming that most of your sources are mono. If this big BIG HUGE orchestral recording sample you have from your synth sends the same signal on both sides, its not really a stereo recording.

Even if you're producing some huge dubstep wobble type thing, it's not really stereo if both sides of the speakers in the club are doing the same thing....you want the wobble to move around in the space. Anyway, good thread.....very important stuff. Voice is mono. Guitar is mono. A violin is mono. Unless you point two microphones at those instruments and separate them so that they pick up differing information. Point two mics side by side at the same source doesn't make it stereo. It's simply dual mono of the same source and you won't be able to pan it effectively because both sides contain the same thing.
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I'm not sure why my paragraph breaks aren't showing up.....that is **** to read as one big lump of text. Sorry. :) I've tried twice to fix it.
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I had to put '
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"Storm"
I'm not sure why my paragraph breaks aren't showing up.....that is **** to read as one big lump of text. Sorry. :) I've tried twice to fix it.

Recent versions of Firefox have a hard time on these forums. The dated forum software is to blame. Most of us use something else, even if just for this forum.