Recording to AUDACITY in Windows 10 .. do you get STEREO or TWO-TRACK MONO?

[Hugh Tyros 4]

I have a Tyros 4 which records to WAV, so no problems there.  But I also have a Yamaha AR80 organ, and record that via the LINE OUT under the organ through an Audio Interface (the Behringer UCA202) and into Audacity on my laptop via a USB Port.  This has worked well for years .. until I got a new laptop with Windows 10.  I very quickly realised that the recordings I was getting were no longer in STEREO, but were in 'two-track MONO'.  This of course removes any 'pan' I have done with instruments coming from 'left' or 'right', and gives an overall sound of appearing to come 'over the top of your head' .. and not worth listening to.

Just wondering if anyone else with an 'older' keyboard that doesn't have the facility to record directly to the keyboard's hard disk or to a Memory Stick has had this problem?

Hugh

[danand]

I use Audacity 2.3.2 on Win 10 without any problem.
There is an option where you can select if you will record Stereo or Mono.
In my case I can see this drop down menu in the center of the upper part of the screen at the bottom. The option is between the recording source drop-down menu (on the left) and the playback drom down menu (on the right).
Maybe you change this option from Stereo to Mono, just check.

You can also try to ask help on a specialized forum about Audacity.

[RoyB]

Also check the settings for the Behringer USB audio capture device in the Recording section of the Windows 10 Sound Control Panel (right click on the loudspeaker icon on the bottom right of the screen and select 'Sounds'.

In 'Properties' and 'Advanced' check the format.

I seem to remember that when I first hooked up my Behringer interface it defaulted to one ot the single channel formats. You need to make sure that one of the 2 channel formats is selected (typically  '2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 HZ (CD Quality)').

Regards

[Hugh Tyros 4]

Thank you denand and RoyB for your suggestions.  This has been bothering me since February (when I got my new laptop) as I have not been able to get a STEREO recording from my AR80 organ since then.  I think the difference between this new laptop and my old one is that my old one had REALTEK installed on it and all the options to change things were accessible from the Realtek Audio Manager.  My new one does not have Realtek installed, so I am dependent on the generic Windows Sound Control Panel.

So on RoyB's suggestion I have done a right-click on the loudspeaker icon (bottom right) and clicked on Open Sound settings. 

This brings up my Output and Input devices.  The Input device shows the below .. a Microphone, and herein lies the problem.  By default, Windows is setting up my USB Input Device as a Microphone (ie. as a MONO input).



To change this I had to click on Device properties showing underneath.
The next screen that came up is this one.



Looking at the above, it looks as though you have reached the end of the road, and Windows is just informing you that that indeed is the Input Device .. a Microphone (which you can Rename if you so wish).

But looking over to the right of the screen I see this:



Clicking on Additional device properties I got this:



Looking at the 'tabs' at the top, this tab is the General one.

Clicking on Advanced, I got this:



You can see from the screen above that the Microphone Properties, Default Format has been set up as 1 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality).
This is why all the recordings I have done have been coming out as 'two-track MONO'.

I then clicked the 'down-arrow' on the right and selected (clicked on) 2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality) .. ie. a STEREO input.



In this next screen I clicked on Apply, and then clicked OK.



Last thing I did was to set the Volume Level for my Input Device.
Clicked on the tab Levels at the top and set the volume to about 70%.  I can always change this later if my recordings are either too loud or too soft.



Here are the two versions of a piece I have recorded on this laptop from my AR80.  The first is the MONO version this 'new' laptop was creating until I changed the Windows settings; and the second is the STEREO version I am now getting.

MONO - https://app.box.com/s/v9n1tgpd6rkrppfgy9sqhfwlgfxff0wt

STEREO - https://app.box.com/s/pc8wxv40caadlu7ffsnxuhu3yuap6vee

Just listening to that INTRO, what a difference it makes to have the recording in STEREO!

So now (at last!) I can use my 'new' laptop to record my AR80 organ (or any other Stereo source) in STEREO.

My thanks again go to RoyB for sending me down this road.

Hugh

Edit (by Hugh): Images are now LINKED to a new 'cloud' storage.  Text has not been edited.

[RoyB]

Hello Hugh

It's just as it was with my Behringer Q502USB. It is recognised by Windows 10 as a new 'Microphone' recording device with a 1 Channel recordiing format.

So, as you have described, the format needs to be changed to a 2 channel format for stereo recording.

To make it more recognisable, you can rename the device (as per your second picture) to something more sensible, like Behringer USB or Behringer Capture.

The other thing to keep an eye on is the Level. I have found that after some Windows updates (or updates of other sound devices) this level can revert to 100%, which you will need to change again to 60 - 70%.

[Hugh Tyros 4]

Roy,

I have done as you suggested and renamed my device BEHRINGER.  So now when I run Audacity it says that the 'Microphone' is the BEHRINGER (USB CODEC).  Incidentally, I have to plug in my Behringer UCA202 before I run Audacity or Audacity doesn't pick it up.



Once I had done all this I did Restart my laptop just in case I needed to do this (?) in order to make my new settings the new 'Default'.

Hugh

Edit (by Hugh): Images are now LINKED to a new 'cloud' storage.  Text has not been edited.

[Hugh Tyros 4]

In the above, I had set the Windows Input Sample Rate to 2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality).  However, I only need 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality) and this is what I had previously set up in Audacity.



So I have gone back into the Windows Sound Settings, Input (right-clicked the speaker icon, bottom right and chosen Open Sound settings).



Clicked on Device properties, then Additional device properties, Advanced and changed the sample rate.  Finally clicked on Apply, and then OK.



Roy .. you did say in your post above that that was the sample rate to choose.

Hugh

Edit (by Hugh): Images are now LINKED to a new 'cloud' storage.  Text has not been edited.

[Hugh Tyros 4]

Note:  Every time I get a Windows Update my recording option is re-set to MONO, so I have to go back to the instructions above and change it back to 2 Channel, 16 bit 44100 Hz (CD Quality).

When I do this I have to have the BEHRINGER UCA 202 Audio Interface plugged into a USB Port (it shows it's 'live' as the green light comes on) as Windows Sound is actually configuring the UCA202 device.  I do not run Audacity until after I have re-set the option from MONO to STEREO.