[Edit: I should preface this post that it's not a feature or bug-fix request, but a technique that (hopefully) works around the whole issue of ambiguous mono/stereo interleaving settings on tracks with 1) mono sources and 2) stereo FX.]
I remember being troubled by the whole paradox of stereo FX processing on mono sources. For a mono source, Input processes (e.g. recording) should be set to Mono, otherwise you get something goofy, like a stereo WAV recorded with one side silent. But if you put a stereo FX in the track's FX bin, its outputs should appear to the final buses in stereo. So, is it a mono track, or a stereo track? Quite a conundrum!
When I first ran across this puzzle (probably around SONAR 3 time), I got around it by inserting a Send in the mono track, and then placing the stereo FX on in bus' FX bin. All FX in the mono track's FX bin would be for mono processing. So for example, a mono Vox track would have, say, compressors and EQ in its mono FX bin, and stereo reverb, for example, would be on the bus FX bin. That way, the mono things stay mono, and the stereo things stay stereo, with no further futzing needed. (Remembering, of course, to set the mix on all Send bus FX to 100% wet.)
Some mono source tracks do need to be processed 100% through the bus, so that none of the the "dry" sound of the track reaches your ears. One example of this could be when the source track is electric guitar, and the stereo FX in the bus FX bin is Guitar Rig. Here, you have two possible choices: you could set the track's FX send to Pre-fader and then turn the track fader down, or you could simply set the track's output destination to None. The former lets you bleed a little of the dry sound through, for example if you like to experiment with combination clean/amped sounds. Also, in this case, you would want to set the effect's mix control the same as you would if it was sitting back in the track's FX bin (season to taste).
So, unless I'm mistaken (and it has been know to happen...), this type of FX routing should side-step the whole issue of the Interleave setting. The settings mentioned are X1's default/preferred ones, so if you never need to change it from the default, X1 should never change it on you either. Granted, this does not address the matter of whether X1 should never change settings on you (FWIW I think it should not), at least you have a way to work smoothly, and save yourselves a lot of clicking in your workflow. The best news is that you don't have to wait for a fix to make this work.
You just have to get used to having your guitar FX sitting on a bus (since it's a stereo FX). It's not such a big problem, once you get used to it. Your VST GUI can still be sitting right in the same spot that it always was, and by separating mono and stereo into their own tracks and buses, you gain a little more flexibility and control over what's going on.
post edited by losguy - 2011/05/17 18:58:37