One channel of stereo recording not playing back in Audacity

I recorded split audio (guest on one channel, host on the other) with Tascam recorder. Once imported into Audacity only host channel (left) is audible. I have good levels and all sounds fine when played through the Tascam speaker. Any Suggestions?

That’s VERY weird…

And you only see one waveform (left), correct?

Normally, the left & right channel samples alternate in the file so one side shouldn’t get accidently thrown-away. (Once left & right are separated in the normal way, of course you could have a dead speaker, or bad connection, or something.)

I wonder if the TASCAM made separate files for left & right and it “knows” to combine them when played.

What happens with Windows Media Player (or whatever you normally use)?

What’s the format? WAV?

Maybe a last resort, but if you have a desktop/tower computer with a regular soundcard you can plug headphone-out of the TASCAM into line-in (blue) on the soundcard and re-record. If you have a laptop with no line-in, you’d need a USB audio interface with line-in.

This was a radio interview that I recorded on site. Back at the station, transferred file to the computer. Opened in Audacity. Both waveforms are seen in Audacity. VU meters L & R show levels during playback. Only the left channel is audible. Tascam made one file with separate audio. I believe Tascom does combine when playing from the internal speaker. I rarely use Windows media player- Audacity is my default. Recorded in MP3. I could try to play the file and use the headphone output to play into audacity for a one channel recording. Defeats the purpose of the split channel recording.

I think the file is OK and there’s something wrong with your computer. Maybe you’ve got a dead speaker. Or maybe an odd Windows setting.

Or, Audacity has a L-R balance slider to the left of the waveform.

Have you tried headphones?

Have you tried playing a known good file?

Were you using built-in microphones on the Tascam, or did you have microphones plugged into it? The built-in microphones don’t have very good separation, so both channels would sound nearly the same anyway.

It could be an issue with left channel only from the computer to the control board in the studio. I have not tried direct headphones from the computer. Balance is even. As for trying a known good file, this is the first time I recorded on the Tascam with separated record channels. I appreciate talking this through.

Thank you- I used external microphones. Things sound great on the Tascam so I am pretty sure it has something to do with connection from cpu to the control board. I appreciate the talking this out.

ANY known-good stereo file. The goal is to determine if there’s something wrong with the file from the TASCAM. I’m betting that you won’t hear the right speaker with any WAV or MP3 that you happen to have.

Good point. I did find a work around. Had a bad speaker. Thanks!!

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