How do I record stereo from my sound card?

Really simple title, oddly infuriating problem: I have my sound card set up to record stereo, and my {audiorecorder} object is =audiorecorder(44100,16,2,0). However, instead of the Y matrix being Y(:,1)=left part of signal and Y(:,2)=right part of signal, both columns of data are equal. After some testing, I found out that the "stereo" was actually a duplicated stereo mix of my L&R channels.

How do I take in both the L & R channels from my audio input without them mixing? Should I get another sound card (external)? What specs should I look for? To clarify, I'm 90% sure my internal sound card isn't capable of delivering unmixed channels to MATLAB.

Answer 1

[Star Strider]

I would check your sound card driver and operating system sound recording options to be sure you are recording in stereo and not mixing.

Also, you obviously need two separate microphones or other different sound sources.

[Ben Fox]

I shouldn't need two mics. MATLAB can incorporate stereo in the audiorecorder object. I think it's correct to assume that there's an issue with my current sound card. Is there an external sound card/adapter alternative that'll leave the stereo unmixed? What are the settings for that?

[Star Strider]

I’m suggesting that you need two separate sound sources to record two separate and distinct channels in stereo. If MATLAB is only getting one signal, it will create two identical channels with the same data.

If you want to see your input capabilities, use the audiodevinfo function:

info = audiodevinfo
openvar info.input

Of course, you can also go into Control Panel (Windows) to see what your sound sources are. When I have my gaming headset connected, it reports two microphones; with it disconnected, one.