I can't record in stereo from a stereo mic input

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I’m using Windows 10 (64 bit)
and Audacity 2.3.0

I’m recording a keyboard through a stereo mic input. When I’m monitoring the input, I hear it in stereo.
When I record and playback, it sounds like the left and right channels are mixed in the center causing weird phase cancellation effects.

I have the host set to MME and the recording channels set to 2 (Stereo).

Why can’t I get a stereo track recording?

2

Can you [u]post a short WAV or MP3 file[/u]?


When I’m monitoring the input, I hear it in stereo.

If you’re monitoring the computer output you should be hearing pretty-much what you’re recording.

There are was to get inversion/cancelation with a broken ground or with the wrong cable-adapters. And most laptops have mono mic inputs. Are you sure yours is stereo? How are you connected? Headphone-out to mic-in with a simple 3.5mm cable? Or are there some cable adapters?

If you have an [u]RCA adapter cable[/u] you can plug-in something else (a CD/DVD player, your TV, etc.) and check the stereo by unplugging left & right one at a time.

I’m recording a keyboard through a stereo mic input.

That can “work” but a microphone input is about 100 times too sensitive for a line-level (or headphone level signal). You can end-up with distortion and noise. If you have a desktop/tower computer with a regular soundcard you can plug-into line-in.

If you have a laptop with only mic-in, you should be using an external USB interface with line-in. The Behringer UCA202 is popular and inexpensive, or there are lots of higher-end interfaces. Don’t get a “USB soundcard” because they are like laptops with only mic-in and headphone-out. And, you’ll need different cables because most interfaces don’t have 3.5mm inputs.

3

I figured it out.

This link helped:
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/39532/how-to-enable-stereo-mix-in-windows-7-to-record-audio/

I had to enable the stereo mix in my sounds settings under the recording tab and set it as the default device.

Then I tried the line in, which didn’t work before, but now it does.

So I can record it either way.