New iMac & Audacity Troubles!

Audacity Help Forum macOS
1

I have a new 27inch iMac - December 2012.

I’m running Audacity and my USB interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. I have KRK Rokit 5 speakers and my microphone is a Neumann TLM 103 which plugs into the inputs of the Focusrite with an XLR cable to record.

I only use this setup to record voiceovers.

Ok, here’s the problem…

When I put plug the mic into input 1 of the Focusrite and record with Audacity set to 1 (Mono) Input Channel, it records fine and I can hear the recording from both left and right speakers. When I use the same input - number 1 on the Focusrite - and set Audacity to record in 2 (Stereo) Input Channels I only hear the recording from the LEFT side speaker.

If I then change the input of the mic to input number 2 on the Focusrite and record, I only hear the recording from the RIGHT side speaker. Then if I stay in input 2 on the Focusrite and change Audacity back to the 1 (Mono) Input Setting to record, I get a signal going into the Focusrite but then when I hit record there is no wave showing on Audacity, just a flat line.

I took the Focusrite back to the store today and the guy tested it and it seems to be working fine. Is there something I’m doing wrong that I need to change on the iMac or is there something in Audacity that needs to be changed to at least let me record in MONO on input number 2 on the Focusrite? I’ve tried evrything I know!!

Thanks for reading this and any help appreciated.

2

You’re not doing anything wrong - that behaviour is “normal”.
Audacity does not (yet) have “channel mapping”, which means that input 1 of the device is always the 1st channel that Audacity sees and input 2 is always the second.
If you set Audacity to record “1 channel (mono)”, then it will record “input 1” of your device to a mono track, and it will play “in both ears”.
If you set Audacity to record “2 channels (stereo)”, then it will record “input 1” as the left channel and “input 2” as the right channel.

3

That’s just an interface. Turn the analog microphone into digital, and we’re done. Real mixers have the ability to pan a microphone anywhere between all the way left to all the way right – effectively creating a stereo show with a single microphone on left and right.

This is the pan control on one microphone channel of my mixer.

Koz
Screen shot 2013-04-24 at 5.19.10 PM.png

4

Thanks for the replies. Just relieved to know that it’s not a problem!