cannot record in stereo

[misterfloyd]

Hello

I have a dell XPs 8930 and I'm running audacity 2.3.0

I finally am getting a signal into the program and I am able to record it however it is mono.

I have everything set as stereo, have gone into preferences> playback> record and all are set for stereo.

Everything is set for stereo.

I'm recording with one mic, in the input, in the front of the computer.

I have gone through the wiki, and know that audacity is automatically set for stereo, but that's not happening.

I have never had this problem with other iterations of audacity with windows XP, or 7.

Help!!!

I appreciate all, and any help.

[DVDdoug]

I'm recording with one mic, in the input, in the front of the computer.

One microphone is mono.

Stereo recording requires two microphones or a stereo microphone. And, the mic input on your computer is probably mono.

If you have a true-mono recording it will play through both speakers.

If you have a stereo recording with one silent channel, click the little drop-down arrow and select Split To Mono. Then click the 'X" next to the drop-down arrow to delete the silent track.

[misterfloyd]

I get what you are saying one mic= mono

Here is the part that gets me:

I can plug a cheap radioshack mic into my wife's laptop running audacity and it records in stereo.

Both L and R levels are flutuating when recording.

Both are doing the same in playback.

she is using windows 7, I'm using 10

Help.....

[DVDdoug]

I can plug a cheap radioshack mic into my wife's laptop running audacity and it records in stereo.

Both L and R levels are flutuating when recording.

The mic input could be wired differently, or the drivers might be doing something "unusual". But of course it's NOT true stereo and most computers/soundcards don't work that way. Usually you get mono or left-only. If you have a stereo mic input it's possible to use a stereo Y-adapter/cable to "split" a mono signal to the left & right connections. That will work with the line-input on ANY computer because line-in is always stereo, but some (most?) mic inputs are mono.

You can make a "dual mono" file with post-production (after recording) if that's what you want. "Mono" audio CDs are made that way but in-general it's a waste of disc space to have the same information duplicated in the left & right channels. If you rip a "mono" CD to MP3 you'll also end-up with a "dual mono" MP3 file, but MP3 compression (when done right) is "smart enough" that it doesn't compress the same information twice so the only downside is a file wrongly identified a "stereo".

Everything from records & cassette tapes to FM radio, TV, and MP3 is mono-stereo compatible... If you play a mono recording on a stereo system it comes out of both speakers. If you play a stereo recording on a mono system, both channels are mixed together so you get all of the sound.