Hi all,
I am an absolute beginner and this is my first thread here, so please bear with me 
I am starting to use Audacity with a Behringer UMC404HD audio interface.
When I plug one mic into the UMC (input 1) and start recording, the signal goes only to the left channel of the stereo track.
If I plug the mic into input 2 of the UMC I get sound on the right channel only.
Can’t I create a stereo track with sound on both channels using one single mic?
By definition, a stereo recording has different sound in the left channel from the right channel. If the sound is identical in both left and right channels, then the recording is “mono” (even though there are two channels and not just one).
To get sound to come out of both the left and right speakers from a single mono microphone, set Audacity to record in mono in the device toolbar. For most USB sound cards, you have to use input 1 (left) for mono recordings.
If you do that, make sure you can record the full 100% on the blue sound waves. There are some cross configurations which will try to cut you off at the 50% point like this.
Koz
Oh, and you won’t get a “stereo” show. You will get a Mono show which, even though it’s only one blue soundwave, will play to both left and right speakers.
See to the left of my picture in the INFO panel, it says MONO.
Koz