getting mono only in recording

[richelieu]

Using a cheap ION turntable. recorded a bunch of LPs onto my harddrive. burned using nero. all are showing having been recorded in Mono from what I can see by checking them using Audacity. Also, on some recordings instruments such as the lead guitar or a lead vocal seem to be in the background and are barely discernible. Does anybody have any ideas?

[kozikowski]

It's possible to wire a cartridge so the left and right are out of phase (don't ask how I know that). Everything will seem OK until you listen on a mono device or reduce to mono for any reason in production. Everything in the middle will vanish. It's exactly the same effect as Vocal Removal in audio production.

So it's possible you have two problems. The cartridge is wired wrong and whoever did the transfer set up the connection mono. It's possible to do that and still get two blue audio waves, but unless you're paying attention, you don't notice they're identical.

If the transferred sound files are MP3, that's strike three. Never do production or archive in MP3. It gives you the show plus compression distortion.

Use Perfect Quality WAV (Microsoft).

Koz