Split Track Recording Xenyx Q802USB

[Artwealth]

Hello.
Windows 7 Pro, Audacity 2.0.6.

I want to record interviews via 2, SLR mics through my Behringer Q802USB Mixer, into Audacity, and I want a separate track for each mic. So, split track or multi-track recording.

I'm currently getting one stereo track. Not sure if I'm supposed to split this in post or...?

Behringer support seems to think it should just split via USB, no extra cabling required, by panning hard left for mic one and hard right on mic 2. When I do that, the hard left mic is dead.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[kozikowski]

That's how it works. "Stereo" is really two independent audio channels that by convention contain the left sound and the right sound. Doesn't have to. I can put John Philip Susa on one and Katy Perry on the other—and have them stay separate.

Reverse the two microphone plugs at the mixer. If the dead channel stays left, then you may have a dead mixer channel or a bad adjustment. If the dead microphone reverses, then you have a dead microphone.

You don't need Audacity for any of this. You can do this totally at the mixer by listening on headphones and watching the flashing sound lights.

Koz

[Artwealth]

First I have to apologize to the mod for having double posted. Yes, I'm an inpatient dork who didn't read the message about my post needing to be moderated. Sorry . Good news is that you'll never have to worry about me trying to sell stuff here.

Thanks, kozikowski, for the reply. My mics are both working and the board is fine.

I can only assume that I'm missing some Audacity settings knowledge re splitting and editing in post. Any info would be much appreciated.

[kozikowski]

Keeping the two microphones separate is desirable because you can apply effects and corrections to one without affecting the other. That's assuming you have a large, sound-proofed room.



Note how far apart these two are. That's not an accident. That's to keep the two voices separate. What you don't see is the WNYC sound studio in the background.

You can mix the two voices down to a single mono show (if you wish) at any time in Audacity. Try to avoid hard-panned interviews. That gives listeners an headache.

Export each show as a WAV for archive and then MP3 if that's what you need for posting. You can't easily re-edit an MP3, but you can make a WAV into anything.

Koz

[kozikowski]

You should be on Audacity 2.0.6. Earlier Audacity versions used to default to mono and cause no end of troubles. Mono usually defaults to LEFT, so that still may not explain the troubles.

Audacity > Edit > Preferences > Devices > Recording: Stereo.

That help?

Koz

[kozikowski]

Audacity gets its sound from Windows, not the computer, so you can dig in Windows to see if the mixer is properly mounted and it's working OK. My Win7 had a control panel with little sound meters. Does yours have that and is it working?

Koz

[Gale Andrews]

I can only assume that I'm missing some Audacity settings knowledge re splitting and editing in post.

Can you hear what you expect in the Audacity stereo recording, one mic in the left speaker, one mic in the right? If so, use the Track Drop-Down Menu to Split Stereo to Mono then you can use the L....R pan sliders on each track to pan them.


Gale