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Make mono mic stereo

T

thekaratehero

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2015
20
0
Hey - I've been searching for an answer to this and I can't seem to find one.

I have a condensing mic running through a Tascam US-2x2. I used to use a m-audio USB, and it had the same problem.

I'm trying to record audio through several programs. One is Game Capture HD. All of them just give me a drop down to select my mic.

When I do, it comes in the left channel only (mono). All the apps work the same.

In garageband and audiacity I can choose to make the mic Mono, and it duplicates the sound through both channels.

Is there a way to do this so it works for all programs? I've looked in MIDI settings, and there is no drop down to change it from 2 channel to 1.....
 
Hi,

can't you change : 1 ch - 24 bits to : 2 ch -24 bits, here in Audio Midi Setup ?



Edit : just tried with a mono USB mic (Mavericks 10.9.5)
In Audio Midi Setup, after selecting the mic on the left, the "Input" tab reads "1 ch -16 bits", the "Output" tab reads "2 ch -16 bits", so by default the sounds goes to both channels (tested).
I do not have drop down menus to change 1 ch or 2 ch on either tabs.
Don't know why it does not work for you, sorry.
 
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Thank you all for the replies!

I woudl say that gets me 98% of where I want to be. I'm assuming that flattens all audio to mono - so my system audio that is stereo gets dumped to mono? That works, but is there a way to do that just for one device?
 
Hi,

what said DeltaMac will dump your whole system audio to mono, this is not what you are after.

In Audio Midi Setup (AMS), if the "Output" tab for the mic reads 2 ch, the sound should go through both channels (check the output level for both channels).

I do have a mono mic and it does work for me.

Alternatively, I see that you have Soundflower installed, so make sure that SF is not the problem...

Or....
Your mic is NOT a mono mic, right ?
It says 2in/2out in AMS. So it looks like one channel is not working.
Another story, then.
May be you might use SF to merge the two input channels, I don't know.
 
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I'm in your boat - I have a MXL condensing mic, and it is a mono mic. I have it plugged into a USB interface (Tascam 2x2).

I'm guessing that Tascam is 2 channel where my mic is only one.

Some programs like garageband let me choose the input as mono or stereo. The recording apps I'm using do not.

Is there a way to force Midi setup to use the device as 1 channel? I've tried going into speaker setup and picking channel 1 for both outputs, but that doesn't work.....

How do you get your mono mic into your mac?
 
OP asks above:
[[ How do you get your mono mic into your mac? ]]

Easy -- I just plug it in.

I do my recording using Cubase. When I first set up a "dummy track" for a project (that is, a "base track" that won't actually be a part of the finished project, just a "guideline"), I usually record it with one mic.

Because I used only one mic (mono) the track (which is "set up" to be a stereo track by default) will play sound only on "one side" (such as "the left") -- again, because I used only one mic.

So.... I just go to the "audio" menu, and choose the option to "create stereo from left", and it "dupes" the left track to the right track, as well.

The resultant track isn't -really- "stereo", in that the audio information is the same on both sides of the track.

But for monitoring, it now plays on both sides of my headphones, much easier to listen.

Your original title for this thread is "Make mono mike stereo".
You've pretty much got to do this "in software", as above.

The only alternatives I can see would be to:
1. Get some kind of "Y-cable" and feed the mono mic signal to two channels,
or
2. Get a second mic,
or
3. Get a stereo mic.
 
No, I see what you mean. I don't have Cubase. I'm trying to record audio over recorded video through a variety of different programs.

None of these programs have an option to 'create stereo from left'.

What I'm hoping for is a way to do this at the system level, rather than at the application level.

What I meant about plugging it in is my Mic has a XLR port on it. I can't plug that right into my mac, so I bought a M-Audio and Tascam device later that will take it to USB.

But according to my mac's MIDI setup, the USB gizmo is 2 channel only and my mic is mono.

So, to fix this, I've tried:
1 - Editing the MIDI setup to mono - which doesn't work
2 - Look in the app for a mono setting, which isn't there
3 - Tried programs like Audacity to make it stereo and then present a new 'device' to my mac to input from, which doesn't work
4 - I've plugged the monitor port on the USB gizmo to the guitar in with splitters and cables, but thats ugly, and stupid.
 
The software for the tascam should have added a settings panel to your system preferences and you can switch between mono and stereo there.

If you don't have it, you can download it here: http://tascam.com/product/us-2x2/downloads/
 

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First off almost all professional recording is done with single channel microphones. You convert this to stereo later when you do the mixing by "panning" the track to the two output channels.

If you really need to do this in real time make a special cable that sends the signal to both L and R inputs.
 
The software: Yeah, I downloaded it and its misleading. If you read the text above it, it only changes the monitoring session. There isn't a way I see to make it stereo or mono in the Mac OS itself. Toggling that button just changes the feedback in the headphones, not the output.

The Cable: Thank you for validating I'm not crazy with a single channel mic! My mic wasn't cheap - so I didnt' think that was it. Is there a premade cable you can point me to? I can buy one at guitar center tonight?
 
Usually it's nothing as complex as system settings or even DAW settings. Whatever digital audio workstation you're using usually has track-by-track settings on the multi-track. So one can be accepting stereo signals and another accepting mono. You can output them that way too. It's usually a single click of a button. But I'm talking about Logic Pro, Garage Band, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Ableton, etc. Software made for pro audio.
 
Buy a mixer, any cheap mixer with xlr ins. Plug your mic into the mixer, pan it dead center. Send the mixer’s stereo out to your audio interface.
 
I'm also trying to solve the same problem. StevePaselli's solution would certainly work (assuming your audio interface supports stereo inputs, my UR12 and UR28 do not) but it is overkill. Surely someone has figured out how to downmix a mono mic input to both channels before it reaches my various applications. Sure, if I'm using a DAW, or Audacity, not an issue. But simple apps like Voice Memo, Camtasia and others only see left channel audio. On any computer with a mono mic input, the hardware mixes the mono mic channel into both audio channels. Why can't we get that with any of the dozens of 2-channel USB Audio interfaces?

Someone must have solved this problem in the general case when one is not using DAW software??
Thanks!
 
Seems like something you should be able to configure in Audio MIDI Setup, but alas, it is not.

I'm using Loopback to create a Virtual Device to output my mono signal (left channel) to stereo.

CleanShot 2020-12-29 at 10.56.11@2x.png


At $99, it's a costly solution, but we live in Hell World, so ...
 
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