I’ve followed all the suggestions for getting Audacity to record in stereo, however, there is still just one channel being recorded at a time. The one thing I’ve noticed is that your instructions say to change the “bit” rate to something lower (can’t remember) than the bit rate on this computer, which is 64. If I lower that, it will affect all kinds of other programs related to recording, so can’t do that. I’m using an AudioBox iOne, and have two mics plugged into it, one in the mic input and another run through my mixer and input as an instrument to the AudioBox. Both mics seem to record on Audacity just fine, but only on one channel. Can someone help? 
Make sure the [u]Device Toolbar[/u] shows 2-channel stereo.
I Assume the mic-input goes to the left and the instrument-input goes to the right (when recording in stereo).
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The one thing I’ve noticed is that your instructions say to change the “bit” rate to something lower (can’t remember) than the bit rate on this computer, which is 64. If I lower that, it will affect all kinds of other programs related to recording, so can’t do that.
I’m not sure where you’re getting that… Audacity is a 32-bit application and it runs on 32-bit or 64-bit Windows. This is NOT related to the audio quality/format.
Bit rate (kpbs = kilo_bits_ per second is usually related to compressed files and it can be a rough guide to quality. A 64kbps MP3 would be rather low-quality. A good quality MP3 will be somewhere between 192 and 320kbps. If you know there are 8 bits in a byte you can calculate file size from the bit rate and playing time.
Or, you can calculate the bit rate of an uncompressed “CD quality” file as 16-bits x 44.1k samples-per second x 2-channels = 1411kbps. (But, we rarely talk about the bit rate of uncompressed files. We talk about the bit depth and sample rate.)
Your interface records at a bit depth of 24-bits and that’s what’s sent to Audacity. By default Audacity works internally at 32-bit floating-point, which is pretty-standard for audio programs and/or digital signal processing. You can convert losslessly from 24-bit (integer) to 32-bit floating-point, and back. CDs are 16-bits.
Your interface can record at sample rates up to 96kHz (96,000 samples-per-second). You can set Audacity to match under the [u]Quality Settings[/u]. If Audacity is set lower, the drivers will downsample and it will work fine. 24/96 is the “pro studio standard”, and you don’t really loose quality if you go down to 44.1kHz (“CD quality”). But, there is no harm in using 96kHz (except for bigger files).
Yes, the Device Toolbar shows “stereo”. And, yes, the mic input is on the left and instrument input just to the right of it on AudioBox.
Thanks for your detailed reply, but I still have no answer to this conundrum. Any other ideas?
Did the device come with driver software? Driver software can scramble settings like this.
Both mics seem to record on Audacity just fine, but only on one channel.
And that’s why I suggest drivers. My single microphone USB interface has a native choice of stereo which is what you want, and mono which drops the right-channel. There is no “mono mix.” That would have to be done through extra software.
Koz
Yes. I had to download the driver for AudioBox iOne. Where do I go and what do I do? Does the driver itself dictate stereo or mono? Sorry to sound so dense, but I’m very new at dealing with this particular interface. Thanks for your reply.
I’m very new at dealing with this particular interface.
Did the software have any instructions? It’s unusual for the maker to provide fancy tools and effects and not tell you how to use them.
On the web page?
“Download the special software to mix, yadda, yadda, yadda.”
There is one possible downside. The software controls may not be compatible with Audacity.
Koz
Okay, let’s see here. A number of questions. No software was packaged with AudioBox. I had to get it online, as you (or someone) replicated. One just downloads it, and it doesn’t really explain much. Mostly it has a driver for the hardware and all the software to run Studio One, which is apparently the recording program they expect you to use with it. I’ve looked all over my computer to find the actual driver for Audiobox, but can’t find it anywhere. If I could, maybe I could look at Properties to see what’s set up there.
In order to get on with my current project, I wanted to use Audacity, which I’ve used and enjoyed extensively for past broadcasting work, instead of taking the time to learn what appears to be a very complicated new program (Studio One). A horrible thought: maybe Audiobox iOne is only compatible with Studio One! I’ve queried Presonus (Audiobox people) to ask if that hardware interface is compatible with Audacity, but cannot find and have not received an answer to that one.