# Mode only shows "2" even for mono files

**URL:** <https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [August 12, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144 "2015-08-12T18:22:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Joshua277456](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Joshua277456](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Joshua277456)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144/1 "2015-08-12T18:22:49Z")

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It always shows up as "2" for stereo and mono files.

I know that these are mono files. They play in mono. Foobar2000 says they're mono. I load them into Audacity and it is a SINGLE-CHANNEL file!

Look at the attachments to see that they're mono files

What am I doing wrong?

(P.S. these are ALAC (M4A) files if that makes any difference)

 ![](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/5/5ebbdb7ab2a711ec49e59555e5605c3d1603facb.png)  

![](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3198dfeb54721d049db76ae146c7b02828de116f.png)

![](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/b/b3bf537ac9864bf6ffc6708116e3ea3f407b42a1.png)

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**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144/2 "2015-08-13T03:46:55Z")

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> [@Joshua277456](#):
>
> It always shows up as "2" for stereo and mono files.  
> ...
> 
> (P.S. these are ALAC (M4A) files if that makes any difference)

Yes, apparently it does make a difference as MP3 files show as "Joint Stereo", "Single Channel", "Mono" etc.  
I found this thread somewhere else  
[http://forums.sbooth.org/viewtopic.php?t=615](http://forums.sbooth.org/viewtopic.php?t=615)  
where something similar is reported:  
"... 0002 (channel count !!) ... Interestingly, the file shows up as having two channels! The weird thing is, when opening the file in iTunes or QuickTime Player it is reported as mono. "

So I think: it's the message, not the messenger, meaning: this is the way it is stored and Mp3tag reports it.

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**Author:** ![DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/detlevd/32/123_2.png) [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144/3 "2015-08-13T15:51:44Z")

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> [@Joshua277456](#):
>
> It always shows up as "2" for stereo and mono files. .... (P.S. these are ALAC (M4A) files if that makes any difference) ...

You may find something interesting there ...  
[https://www.google.de/search?q=m4a+channels](https://www.google.de/search?q=m4a+channels)

Maybe this comes near to your situation ...  
[http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=93499](http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=93499)

Your M4A files seems to be encoded as two channel mono.

DD.20150813.1959.CEST

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**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mode-only-shows-2-even-for-mono-files/17144/4 "2026-02-09T12:25:49Z")

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