Stereo to Mono

[GideonNewell]

Hello- I'm looking to squeeze down some simple voice recordings into smaller filesizes, and so I've been splitting these stereo MP3 tracks into Left/Right channels then deleting the Right channel & re-saving. Is there a better approach to shrinking these files for web distribution?

I'm currently using Audacity 1.3.2 on Windows XP.

Thanks!
--Gideon

[steve]

There may be a quicker way than this, but this will give you a genuine mono mix:

1) Click on the name of the track and Select "Split stereo track"
2) Click on the name of the upper track and select "Mono"
3) Repeat step 2 for the other track
4) Press [Ctrl]+A (to select All)
5) Click on "Effects" and select "Amplify"
6) Set the amplification to "-6 dB" (minus six) and click "OK"
7) Click "Project"-> "Quick Mix"

Note this is for v.1.2.6 (this is the the board for 1.2.x on Windows)
v.1.3.2 is an out of date beta version, you should update to either 1.2.6 stable, or 1.3.4 beta

In v.1.3.4 the process is identical except for step 7)
7) Click "Tracks" -> "Mix and Render"

If you are wanting a lot of compression, use a fixed bit rate and set it to a small number (this will give a smaller file, but lower quality sound).

[GideonNewell]

Great thanks Steve- I'm using 1.3.4 now and all is working just fine!

[kozikowski]

It's also good to know that compressing before the final show isn't a good idea. Compressors do their best starting with uncompressed, perfect masters. So capture your voice at 48000/16 and do the cutting and production in that. Then, when you get everything pretty much perfect, Export As MP3...

You know you can change the MP3 export settings, right? Preferences > File Formats > MP3 Export Setup. You may find that with a good quality mono audio track, you can crank that bitrate down into the 30s without noticing any bubbly audio problems.

Koz