Audacity Forum

I hit the record button. I see the stereo tracks. Both meters show recording. BUT, on playback I hear left channel only, coming out of both sides. I click on "Audio Track," and see that "Left Channel Only" is the default selection, and is greyed out.

Help? Please?

Please don't double post. New postings have to be moderated before they go live.

You need to describe what you're recording, how everything is connected what computer you have, operating system and which version of Audacity.

When you're recording, do both red recording meters move exactly the same. They may not be at the same level, but they never break lock step?

Meters are going to be important here, so you may want to make them bigger. Grab the right edge of the meters and pull sideways.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/Audacity1_record.jpg

Koz

I will get back to you on the meters, thank you. The software does seem to indicate that it is recording Left Channel Only. If you click on Audio Track, you'll see that Left Channel is selected, and grayed out.

Both waveforms look exactly the same. There's no difference between left and right.

I am plugging into a Lenovo Think Pad, running Windows 7. The other end of the cable is connected to a Mackie console.

I used my old Windows 98 computer as a backup recording device (running an ancient copy of Cool Edit Pro). There were no issues, so the problem would not appear to be in the cable or the mixer.

Up until a few weeks ago, I was able to record on the Lenovo without an issue. One day I noticed that Audacity wasn't running properly. There were large areas of dropouts. I uninstalled it, and started fresh. I've tried this a few times - reinstalling the software. Have had this left channel problem each time

I enlarged the meters. It gives the appearance of a mono recording level.

If I pan right, on the console, nothing at all records. I hear right channel on the speakers, but the waveform goes flat. It's simply not recording right channel.

Can you get closer? Our Lenovo Thinkpad has three audio connections, Mic-In, Line-In, and Headphones/Line-Out.

The Mic-In is mono and sometimes records "stereo" with the same thing on both sides. Line-In (blue??) is full stereo.

At the risk of being a little too beginner on you, did you unplug the audio connector and plug it back in multiple times? I have with these hands done a damaged recording by not pushing the plug in all the way. Not that I'll ever admit that to anyone.


Koz

My Lenovo is the SL410.

I don't see a Blue Line-In. I've been using the MIC Connection.

I've been using the MIC Connection.

Which on most computers is mono. Some machines have the ability to "convert" one connection between stereo and mono. Consult your computer instructions. It's impossible for us to guess at it.

Koz