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I used Audacity to create mono "audiobook" files (such as can be heard here), and want to create an audio CD from them for submission to CreateSpace.

They, though, require that the files be in .AIFF format (easy enough for me to save my mp3 files as AIFF) and also 2-channel stereo, to wit:

Accepted digital formats

Uncompressed AIFF (44.1 KHz, 16- bit, 2-channel stereo files required)

The files are already 44.1 KHz, but are not 16-bit (they are 32-bit float), and are mono rather than stereo.

How can I convert my mono files to stereo (even though I realize the "other" side or channel will simply be a "carbon copy" of the original mono track?

I've tried saving one file as a left channel, and another as a right, and combining them, but don't see how to make that work in Audacity.

I tried File > Import > Audio..., but that doesn't seem to be the ticket.

UPDATE

Okay, I was finally able to copy a mono track to another (the first track was stereo, and had to change it to mono first); now, though, how can I save those two mono tracks as stereo? I see no "Convert to Stereo" menu option...

If I go to save these two tracks as an .AIFF file, it tells me that they will be saved as a single mono track...

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The key is to start with cursor at the beginning and just your mono track - make sure it's selected by clicking it. Then click [CTL] C to copy it. Next, click below the track so nothing is selected. Now that nothing is selected, [CTL] V will create a new track and paste the audio into it.

On each track, the dropdown menu beside the words "Audio Track" (or whatever you named the track) will let you change one track to "Left Channel" and one track to "Right Channel". With these changes made, select both channels and open that same dropdown to select "Make Stereo Track" and both channels will now be combined into one stereo track.

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Audacity allows you to create a stereo mix of two mono channels. I would create a new mono track, and place it below your original mono audio. I would copy and paste the audio to this new track. Then select the drop-down menu for the original track (from above where it states the bitrate of your track and you have the controls for muting or panning the track) and selecting 'Make Stereo Track'. This will convert the two mono tracks into a stereo (technically dual mono) track.

My only thought is that a mono audiobook might sound a bit dull? You could experiment with some very subtle stereo room reverb or something to bring it to live a little? Maybe even pan the voices of different characters slightly to add a bit of space to the narrative?

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  • That's what I tried to do, but couldn't figure out just how to do it - copying and pasting one track into another didn't work for me. Can you provide step-by-step instructions? I selected the entire track (which also selects the empty track below), then copied, then pasted it - but the second track remains blank.
    – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
    May 12, 2017 at 14:15
  • 1
    You are on the right track. On my version of Audacity I can simply highlight the source audio by double clicking it, then using CTRL C and CTRL V to copy and paste it into the next track. You might have to click the curser at the start of your new mono audio track first.
    – ABragg
    May 12, 2017 at 17:28
  • I am using the latest version (2.1.3) on Windows; I can highlight everything by 2-clicking, but it also highlights the as-yet blank track/channel. Thereafter placing the cursor in the blank track and selecting Ctrl+V to paste leaves the blank track blank - whether it "doubles up" the other track with a copy of itself, I don't know...BTW, was that a pun about being on the right track?
    – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
    May 12, 2017 at 17:54
  • Okay, I was finally able to copy a mono track to another (the first track was stereo, and had to change it to mono first); now, though, how can I save those two mono tracks as stereo? I see no "Convert to Stereo" menu option...
    – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
    May 12, 2017 at 18:09
  • There should be a little down arrow. If you look at the top left corner of your audio track there is the 'X' to delete that track, then the audio track title, then a downward pointing black triangle. 'Make Stereo Track' is the sixth option from the bottom on my version of Audacity. It will automatically grab both mono tracks and convert to a stereo track.
    – ABragg
    May 12, 2017 at 18:14

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