unable to record in stereo using Focusrite 2i2

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

I’ve just installed Audacity and can only record in mono. My microphone is connected to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which connects by USB to my computer. These are my toolbar settings in Audacity:

MME
Line In (3-Scarlett 2i2 USB)
2 (Stereo Recording)
Line Out (3-Scarlett 2i2 USB)

I’ve also adjusted the Windows Sound settings so that the Scarlett 2i2 is the default recording device and its properties are 2 channel, 16-bit, 44100 Hz.

2

I presume that is one, mono microphone?

3

It’s one microphone (ElectroVoice RE20).

I also have Audition and can record in stereo with the same setup. As a test, I opened in Audacity one of the WAV files I recorded in Audition, and sure enough, it shows up as a stereo recording in Audacity.

In case you’re wondering: I’d stick with Audition but for the price tag, which is prohibitive now that Adobe has switched to a subscription model.

4

You’re not actually recording in “stereo” in Audition, though you may be recording “2 channels”. If it’s a “mono” microphone (which the ElectroVoice RE20 is), then you have a “mono” signal and if you record into a 2 channel track you will have 2 identical channels - in other words, it is still “mono” but in 2 channels rather than one (which incidentally uses double the disk space of single channel mono).

In Audition, you are probably using different sound card drivers for the Focurite - at a guess I’d say you’re using ASIO drivers in Audition.
Audacity cannot ship with support for ASIO due to license restrictions, but in this case it really does not matter. Just set Audacity to record “1 channel mono” and you will get the sound from the microphone coming out of both left and right channels.

If you specifically need a 2 channel track (for example, if you wish to apply a stereo effect), then it is easy enough to convert a mono track into a stereo track. All you need to do is to duplicate the track (select the track then “Ctrl+D”) and then join the two mono tracks to create a stereo track (see: Splitting and Joining Stereo Tracks - Audacity Manual)

5

Thanks, this works! Another trouble I’m running into, however, is that I rely on Audition to use and convert different formats for audio production (not for personal use), and after wrestling with LAME and reading the patent issues, I don’t think Audacity is going to work out. Back to Audition for now.

6

Actually, Audacity can do that, too.

Oop. Too late.

Koz