I have some stereo files I am editing that come to me heavily unbalanced to the left channel. How do I change it so that the exported file is corrected? I’m sure it’s really simple but I just can’t find it.
They come to me in .wav and I’m exporting to .mp3. I have Audacity v2.0.5; my system is win7 x64.
Thanks!
Import the track, then use the “Pan slider” (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/audio_tracks.html#pan) to adjust the left/right balance so that it sounds right, then export the track as a new file.
If it’s “heavily unbalanced”, the weak channel may also have quality problems. In that case, you may need a different approach.
If there’s nothing useful on the weak channel, you are better-off making a mono file. A true mono file will play out of both speakers.
You could try Normalize http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/normalize.html, with “Normalize stereo channels independently” checked. You can adjust the peak amplitude as desired. After you normalize, both channels will have the same peak amplitude. Listen and see how it sounds. If it’s okay, great. Otherwise you might have to adjust one of the channels up or down.
To split the track see attached images. Click the down arrow and select “Split stereo track.” Once it’s split, select the track you want to adjust by clicking the mouse in the empty space shown in picture. You can then amplify it up or down with the Amplify Effect (Effects Menu>Amplify).
When you’re done, click in the empty space below the waveform to remove the selection, then you can rejoin the channels. Click the down arrow again and this time select “Make stereo track.”
If both channels have been normalized to 0 dB (or close to 0 dB), then you should only adjust down because increasing the level will push the peaks over 0 dB which will create distortion (clipping).
Thanks so much everyone. I have solved it for the meanwhile with Steve’s suggestion, which works pretty well. I’m going to experiment with the others now.
I’m trying to correct some recording guy’s mistakes. None of this would be necessary if he just did his job. >grump grump<