Stereo to Mono
Fold stereo to one channel โ mix both or keep just left or right.
About this converter
Three modes: mix both channels (the default), or keep only the left or right โ for the recordings where one side is the interview and the other is hiss. One click, WAV out, half the size of stereo.
When mono is simply correct
Spoken word is conventionally mono โ one voice does not arrive from two directions, and podcast production guides say so explicitly. Phone systems, voicemail greetings and IVR prompts often REQUIRE it. Speech-to-text services prefer it (16 kHz mono is the classic spec โ the resampler handles the other half). And mono halves file size for free when the channels were identical anyway, which describes most voice memos. The keep-one-side modes exist for a specific familiar disaster: recorders that put each microphone on its own channel, leaving your interview entirely in the left ear โ keeping that channel rescues everything. One honest edge case: tracks with strong out-of-phase content (karaoke files, width-effect music) can partially CANCEL when averaged, coming out hollow or vocal-less โ if the mix sounds wrong, keep a single channel instead; the difference between the two results tells you the track was phase-tricky. Chain with normalization after โ mixing two channels can lower the peak slightly.
Frequently asked questions
Mix, or keep one channel โ which should I pick?
Mix, unless one channel is the problem: recorders that split microphones per side leave interviews living in one channel โ keep that one. Mix of a half-silent stereo file just halves your volume.
Why does my mixed-down music sound hollow?
Out-of-phase stereo content cancels when averaged โ common in karaoke and width-processed tracks. Keep a single channel instead; hollow mixing is the fingerprint of phase trickery, not a bug.
Does mono really halve the file size?
For WAV, exactly โ one channel of samples instead of two. For speech there's usually nothing in the second channel worth the bytes.
Can I convert mono back to stereo?
You can duplicate the channel (players do it automatically), but nothing can reconstruct real stereo separation that was never recorded โ 'mono to stereo' tools that claim otherwise are adding fake width effects.