Need help troubleshooting Audacity recording problem

[YZeng]

I am having trouble recording with Audacity Mono setting. The resulting audio sounds like a monster
When I switch to stereo channel recording, with everything else the same, the recorded audio is good.
I have no knowledge in voice encoding, and am at a loss how to troubleshooting this problem. What steps should I take to troubleshoot and make Mono setting work?
I would appreciate your help!

Below are my settings:
Audacity 2.1.3 on Windows 10
Normal logitech analog headset with mic ( ~ 10$ stuff)

In this shared dropbox folder are the result of 2 tests, with Mono and Stereo setting respectively. There are 2 files for each test, an mp3 audio and a screenshot of my audacity settings.
Be prepared mentally for the monster voice

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z20qltkhci4yvh3/AADJ-d2bzb71aQF9mvVIC-2sa?dl=0

Thanks,
YY

[SkyRider]

Very strange - it sounds dramatically slowed down. One thing you might want to try is to record in stereo then convert to mono. You convert by selecting the whole track (easiest way is to click somewhere in the grey box to the left) then on the Tracks menu choose Stereo Track to Mono.

You should be able to record directly in mono, but until someone clever than me figures out what you need to change this will at least give you a file you can edit and upload to LibriVox.

Cheers,
Paul

[tovarisch]

In most cases Audacity should respond correctly if you just tell it that you need a single channel recording. Edit -> Preferences -> Devices -> Recording -> Channels. Or use the drop-down in the toolbar.

[TriciaG]

That is weird.

The stereo one imported into Audacity as a mono file. How did you achieve that?

(FYI, the volume is too low on both the files, so you'll have to adjust that. The stereo one also sounds very tinny. Did you do any sort of noise removal on it?)

[YZeng]

Hi Tricia,

In Export Audio dialog, there is an option "Force export to mono"

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6cprjh1s2910yot/forceexporttomono.JPG?dl=0

[TriciaG]

Ah, I see it now.

I think you could keep using that option, if it works (which it seems to).