No stereo recording option

[margohz]

Hello,

I have the 1.3.12 beta version and can't seem to record in stereo. When I go to Preferences/devices/channels, mono (1) is checked, and when I click on the arrows, no other option appears -- i.e., no drop-down menu with a stereo option.
I've been cut-and-pasting my mono audio onto to an added stereo track (obtained by clicking on Tracks/Add new/Stereo Track). Is the resulting audio the same as if I were able simply to record in stereo? If not, is there a solution to getting Audacity to record in stereo?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Margo

[billw58]

What input are you recording? Internal microphone? What computer do you have?

I've tried this with the internal microphone on my iMac, and the stereo option is available in 1.3.12 in Prefs > Devices > Recording > Channels.

-- Bill

[Gale Andrews]

Putting two mono tracks in left and right of a stereo track will sound identical to a mono track.

1.3.12 is obsolete. Please upgrade to 1.3.14:
http://audacityteam.org/download/ .

In 1.3.14 you can choose inputs, outputs and recording channels in Device Toolbar.

Please let us know the answers to Bill's questions about what device you are recording from and what version of OS X.



Gale

[margohz]

Hi Gale and Bill,
Thanks for the reply. I've updated to 1.3.14 but still appear to have only a "Mono" option. My Mac OS X computer is 10.6.8. I'm recording with an MXL VO-1A mic and CEntrance MicPort Pro, which have been selected as my Preferences.
Margo

[Gale Andrews]

Hi Gale and Bill,
Thanks for the reply. I've updated to 1.3.14 but still appear to have only a "Mono" option. My Mac OS X computer is 10.6.8. I'm recording with an MXL VO-1A mic and CEntrance MicPort Pro, which have been selected as my Preferences.
Margo

Hi Margo,

If you look at the CEntrance product page http://www.centrance.com/products/mp/ you can see clearly that it is a mono device for mono microphones. You can use two CEntrance pros and aggregate them into a stereo device. A control panel to do this is provided for Windows but I presume on Mac you would do this in Apple AudioMIDI Setup . This would work best with recording programs that support ASIO low latency standards, but Audacity does not support that unless you compile it yourself with ASIO support enabled.

Usually Audacity does allow you to choose two recording channels when recording from a mono device but presumably the drivers of the CEntrance don't allow that. You could see if GarageBand records in "stereo" from the CEntrance, but even if it did, it would only be duplicating the mono input into two channels, which would still sound mono. Of course if you have a dual mono recording (left and right channels the same) there are tricks you can perform to make it "fake stereo" like panning and desynchronising.


Gale

[billw58]

Margo:
You should also understand that recording a single microphone into a mono channel is exactly the same as recording a mono microphone into two stereo channels - the audible result is the same. If you are simply recording from the microphone and wish to export a stereo file there are a couple of tricks you can use to make Audacity export a stereo file:

1) Do Tracks > Add New > Stereo Track
This will create an empty stereo track, which will force Audacity to export a stereo file.

2) Convert your one mono track into one stereo track:
a) Select the entire mono track (either with Edit > Select All [assuming there is only that one track in your project] or by clicking in the Track Control Panel of the mono track.
b) Edit > Duplicate
c) From the Track Drop-down Menu of the upper track, select Make Stereo Track.

-- Bill

[margohz]

Aha! Thanks so much for all the info, Gale and Bill!
Best,
Margo