mp3 options and mono

[willwinuk]

Hi,
In 1.3 of Audacity when I go to the options for an mp3 that I am exporting, under channels there is a choice of Joint Stereo or Stereo.
Why is there no mono option?

[steve]

If your show is mono, then Audacity will export it as mono automatically.

[willwinuk]

Ok thanks

[Someone I don't know]

Sorry for bumping this old one


I have a source mono .wav file, and exporting it to mp3 (128 kbit cbr), selecting stereo, it actually makes the output file stereo, thus not saving any space. How can I really export mp3 mono??

[steve]

I have a source mono .wav file, and exporting it to mp3 (128 kbit cbr), selecting stereo, it actually makes the output file stereo,

If the pan position for the mono track is dead centre (ie you have not adjusted the pan position from its default central position) then the exported MP3 will be mono.

thus not saving any space

No it won't save any space. You have selected 128 kbps, so each 1 second of audio will use 128 kb of data. If it is stereo, then the 128 kb each second will be shared between the two channels. If the track is mono then all 128 kb each second will be used for that 1 mono channel. If you want equivalent sound quality to 128kbps stereo, but for a mono track and you want to use CBR encoding (constant bit rate) you can reduce the bit rate to about 80 kbps (though it's probably better to use "Preset Medium").