diff --git a/app/MainWindow.cpp b/app/MainWindow.cpp
index 1625daf..d3c8955 100644
--- a/app/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/app/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -113,8 +113,8 @@ void MainWindow::init_from_session(const string &filename) {
   ifstream ifs(filename.c_str(),ios::binary);
   if (!ifs) return;
   
-  brain s,t;
-  u32 version=0;
+  brain s,t,lt;
+  u32 version=1;
   ifs||version;
   renderer r(s,t);
   ifs||r;
@@ -133,7 +133,14 @@ void MainWindow::init_from_session(const string &filename) {
   ifs||source_window||target_window;
   // todo: probably don't need to load all the sample data too :/
   ifs||s;
-  ifs||t;
+  ifs||t;  // left
+  ifs||lt; // right
+
+  if (version>0) {
+    ifs||m_stereo;
+    m_Ui.checkBoxStereo->setChecked(m_stereo);
+  }
+
 
   // brain tweaks
   search_params * p = r.get_params();
@@ -159,7 +166,7 @@ void MainWindow::init_from_session(const string &filename) {
   m_Ui.spinBoxSynapses->setValue(p->m_num_synapses);
   m_Ui.sliderSlideError->setValue(r.get_slide_error());
   m_Ui.spinBoxSlideError->setValue(r.get_slide_error());
-
+  
   // target
   if (t.get_samples().size()>0) {
     // extract target filename from brain sample
@@ -198,8 +205,6 @@ void MainWindow::init_from_session(const string &filename) {
   m_Ui.sliderAutotune->setValue(r.get_autotune()*100);
   m_Ui.doubleSpinBoxAutotune->setValue(r.get_autotune());
 
-
-
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/app/MainWindow.h b/app/MainWindow.h
index ed27ef2..ab9733e 100644
--- a/app/MainWindow.h
+++ b/app/MainWindow.h
@@ -393,7 +393,11 @@ private slots:
   }
 
   void stereo_mode(bool s) {
+    m_stereo=s;
     send_audio_osc("/stereo","i",s);
+    // irritating but need to tell process thread about stereo state
+    // just to it can save it to the session file
+    send_process_osc("/stereo","i",s);
   }
 
   void net_enable(int id) {
@@ -467,6 +471,7 @@ private:
   audio_thread *m_audio_thread;
   
   string m_audio_port;
-  string m_process_port;
+  string m_process_port; 
   QString m_format_string;
+  bool m_stereo;
 };
diff --git a/app/process_thread.cpp b/app/process_thread.cpp
index d09e127..dfc05f9 100644
--- a/app/process_thread.cpp
+++ b/app/process_thread.cpp
@@ -140,6 +140,10 @@ void process_thread::process() {
       if (name=="/save_session") {
         save_session(cmd.get_string(0));
       }
+      if (name=="/stereo") {
+        // only for session file save
+        m_stereo=cmd.get_int(0);
+      }
     }
 #ifdef WIN32 
     Sleep(1);
@@ -174,16 +178,7 @@ void process_thread::load_session(const std::string &filename) {
   m_left_target.clear();
   m_right_target.clear();
   ifstream ifs(filename.c_str(),ios::binary);
-  u32 version=0;
-  ifs||version;
-  ifs||(*m_left_renderer);
-  ifs||(*m_right_renderer);
-  ifs||m_source_block_size||m_source_overlap;
-  ifs||m_target_block_size||m_target_overlap;
-  ifs||m_window_type||m_target_window_type;
-  ifs||m_source;
-  ifs||m_left_target;
-  ifs||m_right_target;
+  stream_session(ifs);
   ifs.close();
   pthread_mutex_unlock(m_brain_mutex);
 }
@@ -191,16 +186,23 @@ void process_thread::load_session(const std::string &filename) {
 void process_thread::save_session(const std::string &filename) {
   pthread_mutex_lock(m_brain_mutex);
   ofstream ofs(filename.c_str(),ios::binary);
-  u32 version=0;
-  ofs||version;
-  ofs||(*m_left_renderer);
-  ofs||(*m_right_renderer);
-  ofs||m_source_block_size||m_source_overlap;
-  ofs||m_target_block_size||m_target_overlap;
-  ofs||m_window_type||m_target_window_type;
-  ofs||m_source;
-  ofs||m_left_target;
-  ofs||m_right_target;
+  stream_session(ofs);
   ofs.close();
   pthread_mutex_unlock(m_brain_mutex);
 }
+
+void process_thread::stream_session(std::ios &fs) {
+  u32 version=1;
+  fs||version;
+  fs||(*m_left_renderer);
+  fs||(*m_right_renderer);
+  fs||m_source_block_size||m_source_overlap;
+  fs||m_target_block_size||m_target_overlap;
+  fs||m_window_type||m_target_window_type;
+  fs||m_source;
+  fs||m_left_target;
+  fs||m_right_target;
+  if (version>0) {
+    fs||m_stereo;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/app/process_thread.h b/app/process_thread.h
index 8523d69..8f47ccc 100644
--- a/app/process_thread.h
+++ b/app/process_thread.h
@@ -54,13 +54,16 @@ namespace spiralcore {
     brain m_source, m_left_target, m_right_target;
 
   private:
-	OSC_server m_osc;
+    void stream_session(std::ios &fs);
+      
+    OSC_server m_osc;
     u32 m_source_block_size;
     float m_source_overlap;
     u32 m_target_block_size;
     float m_target_overlap;
     window::type m_window_type;
     window::type m_target_window_type;
+    bool m_stereo;
     pthread_t *m_thread;
 
     // only use in mutex obvs...