Bugzilla – Bug 2195
Multi-channel recording pairs the first two channels as a stereo track
Last modified: 2020-05-14 13:41:31 UTC
Previous versions of Audacity would record multiple channels as mono tracks. User feedback indicates that this is preferable than the current behaviour of pairing the first two channels as a stereo track.
There has also been an enhancement request to allow multi-channel audio files to be imported as multiple mono tracks, rather than always grouping the first two channels as a stereo pair. The downside of this enhancement is that most multi-channel formats have FL / FR as the first two channels, which is a tangible benefit for people working with multi-channel audio (though a disadvantage for users that just want multiple mono tracks).
(In reply to Steve Daulton from comment #1) > The downside of this enhancement is that most multi-channel formats > have FL / FR as the first two channels, which is a tangible benefit > for people working with multi-channel audio Given that Audacity does not support multi-channel playback, and is therefore unable to map any channels other than left/right, I think that's a spurious argument. (Even if the first 2 channels of a 5.1 file are mapped correctly, that's hardly a "tangible benefit" considering that the other 4 channels are not mapped to the correct output channels). I therefore think the correct fix is to record / import multiple channels as multiple mono channels except for the supported special case of 2 channel stereo.
Fixed at https://github.com/audacity/audacity/commit/3ea2b82
*** Bug 2152 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
See Leland's comment in Bug #2195 where he wrote >I'm not sure this happens any longer. I just tried recording 8 channels >and they all wound up being mono channels. There is also attachment #948 [details] in that thread showing Leland's result with the 8-channels. I marked this as OK on Linux on the basis of Leland's testing. I have no ability to test this as I have no multi-channel device (apart from 2-channel stereo) I'm pretty sure this is fixed but will leave this open until the Forum poster(s) who complained about this regression can test with 2.4.0 Release Candidate or 2.4.0 release.
(In reply to Peter Sampson from comment #5) Sorry Leland's comment was in Bug #2152
Created attachment 957 [details] 24 channel recording on Window You actually can test this using LoopBeAudio device from: https://www.nerds.de/en/loopbeaudio.html It works nicely for this kind of thing and you get 60 minutes per boot to test. Once installed you have to go into sound control panel (Recording tab) to select how many channels you want out of it.
(In reply to Leland Lucius from comment #7) I couldn't get Leland's suggestion of using LoopBeAudio on either W10 or macOS 10.15.4 But I did try the corollary test on Win and Mac 1) Export 5 mono tracks as a 5-channel WAV with Advanced Mixing options 2) close Audacity 3) relaunch Audacity 4) import 5) Observe: 5 mono tracks Repeat with One stereo track and three monoi tracks - exported to 5 channel WAB - on import you get 5 mono channels I do not have a multi-channel input device to test further
