How to delete the right channel of an MP3?

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

I opened an MP3 file in audacity.
I want to delete the right channel and then export it as an MP3 (when I play the exported MP3, I want there to be no sound coming out of the right speaker).
How would I do that?

I tried selecting Left Channel in the little drop-down menu to the left of the track but that didn’t work. It muted the right channel while playing the file in Audacity but the exported MP3 still has the right channel.

2

I should add that the MP3 that I opened is a mono MP3 (same thing comes out of left and right speaker) and the Split Stereo Track option in Audacity is greyed out.


Audacity Audacity 2.0.3
Windows XP
Used EXE installer.

3

Open the work in Audacity and use the drop-down menus on the left to Split Stereo Track. Select the right channel by double clicking in it and mute it.

Edit > Remove Audio > Silence Audio (Control -L).

Drop-down menu > Make Stereo Track. File > Export.

Koz

4

Good to know that.
Duplicate the track. Edit > Duplicate.

Make Stereo Track. Then split it, etc.

Koz

5

Audacity is awesome.
Thank you kozikowski!!!
Worked perfectly.

6

That should work. It works here.
Perhaps you should try that again.
To be sure that you are listening to the new exported track and not the original, give the exported track an obvious and distinct name such as “ExportedLeftChannel”.

7

Oops, it actually didn’t work. Now I feel really stupid.
I forgot I had muted the right channel when I was messing with the volume control.
The exported MP3 still has audio on the right channel for some reason.

8

Wow, not sure what’s going on.
When I play the exported MP3 in KMPlayer, sound is coming out of left and right speakers but when I play it in VLC Media Player, it comes out of only the left speaker like it should.

9

Okay, figured it out. It’s a KMPlayer issue.
Apparently KMPlayer comes with a 3D Sound Effect filter enabled by default and that causes it to produce sound in both right and left speakers even though the MP3 only has sound on the left channel.

Here’s how to disable that filter in KMPlayer:
Preferences > Audio Processing > Basic Audio Filters > disable 3D Sound Effect

10

Thanks again for the help guys!

11

I was testing a new PC and the Hardware Department failed to mention they left Stereo Effects running. It took me a while to nail that down.

You might find this stereo test valuable:

http://www.kozco.com/tech/LRMonoPhase4.wav

Koz