Hi, I am using Audacity 2.3.2 on a personal computer running Windows 10 Home edition. I have a Behringer UCA202 which I am using to digitise vinyl. It is connected via a stereo RCA phono cable to the speaker outputs on my hi-fi. The UCA202 is recognised OK and I am able to create two-track recordings in Audacity but they are not true stereo - the tracks look identical. The clincher is that there is one song in which the voice should jump from left to right. I hear this effect on headphones when I am monitoring the UCA202, but it is not getting through to the Audacity recording. When I listen back, the effect is not the same. The voice just sounds far away or closer rather than moving sideways. So the problem is at the point the signal enters my laptop, or possibly within Audacity - but I think I’ve adjusted everything in Audacity to stereo settings.
I have trawled through various pieces of advice on this forum and found that I need to configure my USB device in Windows Sound to 2-channel. But when I go to the Advanced tab for the device, I don’t see this option at all (image attached).
From further reading, I find that Windows 10 is treating the USB device as a microphone, so that stereo is not available. Does anyone know how to overcome this, please?
It looks like a driver problem, or maybe a driver configuration problem. Sometimes “strange problems” like that can be fixed by un-installing and then re-installing the driver. (Actually, the driver should re-install automatically.)
Right-click Windows Start icon and open the Device Manager.
Open Universal Serial Bus Controllers (at the bottom of the list).
Right-click on the USB audio device and select Uninstall Device.
Unplug and then plug-in the USB again and the driver should automatically re-install, and hopefully you’ll see 2-channel option.
When you go digging down the Windows sound panels, do you get the bouncing sound meter? Mine is a single meter, but I believe it’s measuring both Left and Right. Play something to make the meter bounce and then disconnect Left at the UCA202, plug it back in and disconnect Right. Plug it back in.
The Windows meter may have changed volume a little as you did this cable dance, but should not have dropped dead.
Do you have Skype, Zoom or other chat application running or napping in the background while you’re doing this? They’re famous for taking over your sound system and not telling you.
Hopefully Steve is right and you have a 2-channel option for recording… (I’m sure playback is stereo by default.)
The clincher is that there is one song in which the voice should jump from left to right.
Make a note (which song it is and which way it “moves”) and hang-on to that record!!! Something like that can be super helpful for testing & troubleshooting. (I used to have an actual test record but I don’t know what happened to it. You can still buy them but they are not as common as they used to be.)
