Multiple track recording

[billygoatmersh]

Hello I bought recording gear in december on the advice of this forum but due to growth I am afraid I am at a cross road

My equipment is
A dell pentium 4 computer ( very new lots of memory)
soundcard: m-audio audiophile 2496 PCI digital audio card
pre amp: peavey pv8 mixer
a shure 58
and powertracks as my recording and editing software

What i would like to do is record 4 tracks at the same time with 4 mics and have powertracks show them as 4 seperate tracks so i could manipulate each one independently. Am i able to do this with my current setup or do i need new gear? and if so what do you suggest on a 17 year old's budget?

Thank you in advance his forum has never let me down

 

[Markaholic]

well from looking at the specs of that card...the answer is no.
I suggest a delta 44 shall be sufficent for what you need.

 

[billygoatmersh]

How does that work with my mixer, there is 4 places for the mics but only one meter that shows gain, so how would i know if the volume/gain leverl are good on the mic's, also I would have to tell powertracks that there are 4 mics now right?
PS thanks for the quick reply

 

[Markaholic]

yes ...if you have a 4 input souncard...you tell your software to have 4 inputs...then assign these inputs to the track/tracks you want
Once the software knows theres 4 inputs...you should have 4 meters

 

[billygoatmersh]

sorry for my ignorance I just want to double check that his will work, they will appear as seperate tracks (i.e. track1 one mic, track 2 a different mic...and so on)

 

[Markaholic]

yup...just make sure in your windows control panel..under sounds...that it is showing the delta 44 instead of another sound card..thats if you had a standard sound card installed too

 

[billygoatmersh]

This will work with my current mixer, what I do now is check the gain level on the mixer, which i'm using as a pre-amp, am I checking the gain level of the 4 mics on the computer now with the new setup?

 

[Markaholic]

what you will do is run all mics/instruments into the mixer and then run your mixers outs to the delta 44's ins...adjust gain/eq on mixer to your liking.
Then check levels on your software.....in the delta 44's properties and in your powertracks i believe.

 

[billygoatmersh]

thanks man i really appreciate it, i'm trying to make miles davis style jazz/blues improv sessions and it's ridiculous having to do overdubs/ take old rythm sections to do it with, i really appreciate your help

 

[Markaholic]

no probs

 

[travelin travis]

your mixer will also need to have seperate outputs for each track to hook up to the seperate inputs of the sound card. the needed mixer outs can be in the form of channel inserts, aux sends, etc. check and make sure your mixer has this ability before getting a new sound card.

 

[Markaholic]

yeah he has channels inserts on 1-4