Audacity doesn't show both channels of stereo recording

Hi Im using Audacity 2.2.2 on Windows 10 and Im having a bit of an issue. I recorded a voiceover with my TASCAM DR60D and used it in a video that Im editing in Davinci Resolve. The track would only play out the left speaker even though my recorder was recording in stereo. So I fixed the problem with the track only playing in one speaker with Davinci Resolve however I have a question about Audacity. Audacity shows only what seems to be one channel in the waveform shouldnt there be two if this is a stereo recording the VU meter shows two channels. Ive posted a link to a screen shot that may better explain what Im talking about

https://i.imgur.com/2KSVkRT.jpg

If you already have a track in Audacity and then start recording, Audacity will record into that track. If that track is mono, then the recording will be mono regardless of the number of channels selected in the device toolbar.

If you record into an empty project (no tracks) and start recording, a new track is created automatically, and will be mono or stereo depending on the number of channels selected in the device toolbar.

To record into a new track when audio tracks already exist in the project, use “Shift +R” or “Shift + click the record button”.

Thanks for the reply but I think probably should restate my question in a different way. How do you do tell or can Audacity tell if the track youve imported is stereo or mono sorry for the vague question.

Audacity handles this automatically.

Audio files may have one or more channels. The channels are identified in the file.

If the file has one channel, Audacity will import it as a mono track.
If the file has two channels, Audacity will import it as a stereo track (with two channels).
If the file has more than two channels, Audacity will import it as multiple mono tracks (same number of tracks as the number of channels in the file)

The track would only play out the left speaker even though my recorder was recording in stereo.

That’s going to happen if you record in stereo with only one microphone plugged-in. :wink: That’s OK as long as you fix it… Sometimes there’s a different minor issue (low volume) if you use a 2-channel interface in mono without only one channel active. Sometimes you have to fix it either way.

So I fixed the problem with the track only playing in one speaker with Davinci Resolve however

Perfect! You converted it to mono. (Audacity can to that too.) Mono files are stereo-compatible and it will play through both speakers.

Except, if you are mixing the voice-over with a stereo backing-track you’ll need to make a “dual mono” file (a stereo file with the same audio in both channels) or otherwise mix the voice-over into both channels.

But please note that this behavior has recently been changed for the upcoming 2.3.0 release.

Here is the relevant extract from the in development alpha Manual: https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Recording#Recording_stereo_into_mono.2C_or_mono_into_stereo

WC

Thanks for the replies so I figured out that Audacity shows two waveforms if youre playing a stereo track and one waveform if its a mono track. The mic I was using is a RODE Reporter mic which is mono I didn’t know that and I wanted to record a stereo track well you cant do that. I used a different mic a RODE VideoMicro which is a stereo mic and played it back in Audacity and got two waveforms yipppie so now I know why you cant squeeze orange juice from a tomato lol :smiley: