This article explains how to monitor a mono Unison input through stereo effects in Console, all with no noticeable latency.
Many common input sources are monophonic - such as a microphone, guitar, or bass - however many UAD plug-ins have stereo features. Sometimes you may want to monitor your mono input through a stereo reverb, or maybe you want to get the full effect of the stereo mics in a guitar amp plug-in like the Fender '55 Tweed Deluxe.
For this example, we'll explain how to monitor a mono Unison guitar input through the Fender '55 Tweed Deluxe plug-in in stereo so that the mics in the plug-in can be panned. This method gives you true stereo output from the amp plug-in while maintaining Unison impedance interactions on the input. The concepts covered in this article can be applied to any mono input source and any stereo UAD plug-in.
With this workflow, two amp plug-in instances are used in Console: One in the Unison insert to capture impedance interactions, and one on a stereo AUX channel so the mic pan controls can be adjusted.
Connecting the Instrument
To get started, first plug your guitar into the Hi-Z instrument input on the front panel of Apollo. The input is automatically switched to use the Hi-Z jack.
Hi-Z input jacks on Apollo 8
Console Setup
In Console, place the amp plug-in into the Hi-Z input’s dedicated Unison insert slot. The Hi-Z input is routed into the amp with Unison impedance and bidirectional control interactions.
Amp plug-in placed in a Unison slot
Within the Fender Tweed plug-in interface, set the amp’s ON/OFF toggle switch to the OFF position. The amp’s red power lamp turns off, but the impedance interaction remains active.
Fender 55' Tweed Deluxe plug-in toggled off
Next, prepare an AUX channel by muting (or lowering to zero) the SEND to AUX controls for all inputs except the Hi-Z input. Route the Hi-Z input to the AUX by setting the SEND control in the Hi-Z channel to maximum. The dry signal with impedance interactions is routed to the AUX channel for further processing. In this step, the key is to make sure the Hi-Z input is the only signal being sent to the selected AUX channel.
Hi-Z input sent to AUX 1 via the SENDS panel
Switch the Hi-Z input to MUTE. The input is no longer routed to the monitor outputs, preventing duplicate signals.
Muting the Hi-Z input channel
Next, place the second instance of the amp plug-in into an insert on the AUX channel. The signal is not yet heard, because the Hi-Z input is muted.
Inserting second instance of amp plug-in on AUX channel
Switch the AUX channel from POST to PRE (i.e., pre-fader) so the muted Hi-Z input is heard via the stereo AUX channel. The Hi-Z input can now be monitored in stereo with complete Unison amp processing.
Setting the Aux to Pre-Fader
In the amp plug-in on the AUX channel, you can now adjust the mic pan controls shown below:
Adjust the pan controls in the amp plug-in
DAW Setup
To record complete Unison amp processing in the DAW with this configuration, create a stereo track and set the track to use the AUX channel as it's input source. To record the mono input signal dry with Unison impedance interactions, create a mono audio track in your DAW instead and set the track to use the Hi-Z input as it's input source.