DP Bug or Design flaw? (Internal routing)...

[FMiguelez]

Hello.

I don't mean to pound on DP with this issue, but please help me understand why I shouldn't view this at least as a design flaw (or a bug), especially because we are used to DP being one of the "most flexible DAWs out there" when it comes to internal signal routing flexibility.

The good>
So Aux track sends can be assigned to mono or stereo output destinations (internal busses and hardware). We can even decide in the sends menu if we send a Stereo or Mono sum, and even only send (in stereo) from the L or R sources. Great. That's really nice.

However, DP won't let me have an Aux track with a Stereo input and a Mono output (of internal buses).
If you have an Aux with a stereo input, it will change it to a mono input the second you chose a mono output.

WHY does DP do this?

Why can its sends do it, but not the track's output? Please help me make sense out of this...

I think all other DAWs, including ProTools, do it as default.
Let me look for a clear example of this...

For instance, look at the purple Aux tracks in PT. That clearly shows what I want.

[csavetman]

Maybe put a trim plugin on last insert and pan both knobs to to one side so output is mono, only outputting on one channel of the stereo pair. Just a thought.

[FMiguelez]

Maybe put a trim plugin on last insert and pan both knobs to to one side so output is mono, only outputting on one channel of the stereo pair. Just a thought.

Thank you.
Yes, that's how I've been dealing with this to work around the issue.

I can "solve" it like you suggested, but the point remains, as it's not always easy or practical to do that...

I just don't understand the logic behind this (I'm trying to understand)...
-- Why can we do as we please with the Aux SENDS, but NOT with its output?
-- IOW, why can't we have an Aux track with a Stereo input and a Mono output (that sums to mono)?

Also, I've been noticing some weird DP anomalies when it sums to mono... But I haven't finished testing to demonstrate it, so that'll be material for another thread.

Thus, doing like you suggest brings a problem that I'm discovering... I'll report back on this.
HINT> DP summing is NOT canceling out with ANY mono summing plug-ins in my null tests (I've tried it with 4 different brands, including DP's own Spatial Maximizer)... And nope... I can't get it to null out (I keep seeing -70dBFS in the meter, so it's cancelling just a little, not fully.

Also, the 3rd party plug-ins (Voxengo's MSED, Melda, bx_solo --all free--) cancel PERFECTLY among themselves, no matter which brand combination I try each against, even with DP's own Spatial Maximizer with the Mid signal soloed.
They all cancel perfectly EXCEPT for summing to mono with Trim. Not even by summing by adding 2 mono tracks ala ProTools (panning to the center 2 tracks in non-interleaved stereo --a mono L and mono R track).
If I set it to -3,5dB, the most cancellation I get is -70dBFS.

WHY?????