Left and Right Channels Same in Stereo

[sudamericamonie]

I do still have the sound recorder. The record recorded with that sounds like mono. Does that mean I have a fundamental computer deficiency?

[kozikowski]

Both of those programs are something of a slave to the Sound System in the computer. Once you straighten that out, everything will be sweetness and light.

Koz

[sudamericamonie]

Well, I can't find anything in the sound system settings that pertain to stereo channels or pan control. I've emailed hp and behringer, so I'll let you know if one of them solve this problem. Thanks for helping me track it down to this point.

[kozikowski]

Two fluffy, right-brain ideas.

--You can get "left" on both channels if your 3.5mm (1/8") stereo plug isn't pushed all the way in. The tip (with Left signals on it) hangs between the sliding contacts for Left and Right.

--Audio Systems duplicate "Left" to both sides of a stereo show if they think you connected a microphone. Microphone one channel signals only appear on the connector tip where the Left signal is on a stereo cable. Nobody wants a microphone performance to appear only in the show's left channel, so most software packages duplicate the tip signal to both stereo channels.

Koz

[sudamericamonie]

There aren't any 3.5mm plugs in the mix. My stereo is connected to the Behringer with RCA plugs and the Behringer is connected to the computer with a USB plug. I'm hoping I'll get a reply from Behringer tomorrow telling me how to get the thing listed as an audio device in the device manager and still have the Behringer Vista driver. I'm still thinking that could solve this problem.

[jgrear]

I have encountered the same problem on a brand new laptop with Vista and integrated sound. That is, if I allow Vista to install the driver, I can pick up the input in Audacity but the left and right sides are identical. If I install the Behringer driver (Asio) for the UCA 202, the codec does not appear as an option in Audacity. I am anxious to see what solutions crop up here.

[steve]

I can't help you with the "Vista" bit, I've not got my barge pole with me, but I can tell you all about the UCA 202 on Windows XP.

The UCA 202 does not have any pan controls - it is straight in and out.

2 RCA input sockets - one for the Left channel and one for the right.
2 RCA output sockets - one for the Left channel and one for the right.
1 USB connector.

Connect the UCA-202 to the computer USB port and XP recognises it - chugs away for a few moments then says "Your New Hardware is Ready"
Open Audacity, and the UCA-202 is listed as an audio device in "Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O" for both Playback and recording.

I connect my mixing desk to the UCA-202 inputs (left and right) and the outputs of the UCA-202 to my amplifier left and right.

I set Audacity to use the UCA-202 for both recording and playback.

Also in "Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O", set the number of channels to 2 (stereo).
In "Edit > Preferences > Quality" I set the default sample format to 48kHz 16 bit.

Apply a signal to just the left input of the UCA-202 and it will record on the left channel in Audacity.
Apply a signal to just the right input of the UCA-202 and it will record on the right channel in Audacity.

NO ASIO - No problem, just the auto detected XP driver.

[jgrear]

I think this will solve the "identical channels" issue. Go into the Vista control panel for managing audio devices and go to "properties" dialog for the USB audio codec (the recording device loaded by Vista when you plug in the UCA202). Now, notice those sneaky little tabs at the top of the dialog. Click "Advanced" and then select 2 channels instead of 1 channel. This worked for me, and now I'm getting true stereo input in Audacity, though I don't know if it would still be better if we could get the ASIO driver working instead.

[sudamericamonie]

Thank you so much. I can't believe I hadn't noticed the advanced tab already. HP wrote me back and told me that there's no way to input stereo. the sound card was completely limited to mono imput. Glad someone could help.