Digital Bits Technology Column QnA

Question:

I downloaded the Audacity software as I am trying to record an old audio cassette to wav format. No matter what I try, Audacity only seems to record one channel properly. I’ve tried playing with the edit/preferences tab to change from mono to stereo and back. I’ve also tried changing soundcards but this doesn’t work either.  And I am almost certain that my cable from the player to the computer is stereo. I am not technically minded so am wondering if I am missing something basic?

Answer:

Generally, if your stereo recording is only appearing on one mono channel, then yes, there’s a stereo/mono problem. At some point in your recording setup, at least one component is configured for mono recording.

I’d look at your cable first, since you’ve tested other aspects. See if you can plug that cable in to a different recording device. For example, if you have another cassette recorder: use the cable to plug the output from your player into the input in a recorder. Try a test recording. Does this cassette-to-cassette recording appear in stereo? If not, then your problem is most likely with the cable being mono only - replace it with a true stereo cable.

However, if the cassette-to-cassette recording does indeed appear in stereo, then you know the player and cable are good. The problem is with your PC that’s doing the recording. In addition to the options in Audacity (and you should double-check those), also look in your Windows Control Panel (this assumes you’re running Windows, of course!) - here there should be an option for your soundcard. Look in the advanced options for “recording” or “line in” and see if there’s a setting to set your soundcard to record in stereo or mono.

Other articles related to this topic:

• Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static
• Stereo recording problems with Audacity
• Audacity recording is too quiet
• Audacity not recording all audio
• Audacity doesn’t record when it worked correctly before