Can't get Audacity to record in MONO with a Scarlet 2i2 inte

I am using a scarlete 2i2 from focusrite as my interface. When I try to record with audacity it wikllk only show if i have the preferecnes set for stereo.
Then I have to go back and convert tracks to mono…I know theres got to be something Im missing in the settings.


Now I know that the scarlet2i2 is a little different froim say the Mbox mini 2 that I use to use. The scarlet 2i2 has two imputs a 1(left if you will) and 2 (right if you will).My goes from the #2 slot into the computer.
I think it has something to do with that . I use a iMac so I know you have to go to utilities/ audio midi set up, and I have tried it usingn the settings for the scarlet2i2 and the setting called aggregate device.and I’ve tried setting it to mono and stereo and it only works on one channel while recording, and like I say i have to convert the tracks when Im done…anyone else know what to do??
much appreciated upfront
’ Steve

Aggregate Device smashes two USB sound devices together. In general you don’t want that unless you really need to record from two USB microphones at once.

The bitstream presented to Audacity and the stream Audacity is expecting have to match. The exact opposite problem is trying to record a mono USB microphone in stereo. That doesn’t work, either.

So if you can sweet-talk your scarlete 2i2 into producing a mono USB bitstream, then Audacity will cheerfully record it.

Koz

I remember this. The focusright isn’t a mixer. It’s just a signal converter. If you put something in left, it will come out left in Audacity. There is no provision that I can tell for changing the USB character.

Audacity has Split To Mono in the menus on the left of the track. After it splits, you just delete (x) out the track you don’t want.

Koz

The left channel (Input 1) should record when Audacity is set to record mono.

I’ve found a fix for this. Uninstall and both Audacity and the Scarlett/Focusrite drivers and Plug-In Suites. Restart and reinstall, but test without installing the Plug-In Suites first. Then if it goes okay, install the Plug-In Suites, if you want them. (This is assuming you want them from the retail CD. They’re not necessary.) If it doesn’t work with the Plug-In Suite, there’s your issue.

Back story: Had everything working but decided to wipe my XPSP3 laptop and install Win7 Professional. Could only get my mic to work on the right side only. Mono rendered no output whatsoever. Been using Audacity for years and never had an issue. This was technically working but who wants to split and delete one track after every recording? Anyway, Audacity does not play nice with my built-in soundcard and WiFi anyway, so I’ve had to create a batch script to kill them before I launch it. Does the same thing for Sonar on this thing too. I think it’s best practice anyway to have the soundcard you are not using to be killed.

I think it would (technically) be better to sort out the sound and network devices so they don’t conflict with each other, but if killing the unused sound card works for you then that should be good enough.