Newbie: Mixing Tracks into PC

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mkrps

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Been reading through these threads & learning a lot, thanks everyone!

I still have a basic question, though...I am recording live drums, guitar, bass & vocals into an analog Behringer Eurorack MX802A mixer that connects to my computer's basic Soundblaster via regular 1/8" stereo inputs and I record into Cakewalk Pro. This method obviously only gives me control over the input stereo left & right channels.
I am seeking control over each input channel coming into Cakewalk to separate each instrument onto it's own track (for real-time mixing on the computer). Is purchasing a digital mixer & soundcard and connecting them with a S/PDIF cable my best option? Does the S/PDIF connection allow all input channels to come into Cakewalk separately?
 
Spdif is only a 2 channel digital link. If you want more channels then you need TDIF, Roland RBUS or ADAT LightPipe for 8 Channels.

You can do multiple channels through an analog connection with a card that has multiple i/o like the Delta 1010 or Motu stuff. You would use the Direct Outs, Busses or Inserts to send the individual channels to the card.

Or continue the way you are doing it but just record one track at a time.
 
As far as I know, if you enable the S/PDIF Input on the SoundBlaster the analog inputs get disabled and vice-versa. So you have only two inputs to work with, period.

If you want to record more than two individual parts simultaneously to distinct tracks, you need a audio interface with more inputs, like an M-Audio Delta 44 (with four analog ins), Delta 66 (four analog ins + stereo S/PDIF in), or a Delta 1010 (with eight analog ins + stereo S/PDIF in), or any one of many other similar products.
 
Thanks for the clarification, that really helped & let me just say DAMN you're quick with the help!

I'm left wondering, though, just what the best, affordable, option is for multitrack 'live' recording? Is it the common practice to use one of those M-Audio soundcards and the individual OUTputs of an analog mixer or do most simply stay away from computer-based systems for these types of group recordings?
I'm looking to buildup a quality affordable recording system piece by piece as needed so I'm in need of some direction. I have the space and musical equipment and have been acquiring decent mics and now I need to get the actual recording components. I have the Behringer analog mixer and the computer with Cakewalk already, so I've naturally been trying to build around that, but I'm not sure if it will give me the control I desire for recording a band, live.
 
I don't really know what the percentages are. There are pros and cons to both dedicated multitrack digital recorders and computer-based digital audio workstations. There are many articles that do a fairly good comparison of the various types of systems to give you a clearer idea of which suits your needs best. Try a search on this forum, and poke around in some of these websites for other articles, etc.:

http://www.studiocovers.com/articles.htm
http://www.emusician.com
http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles.html

That should help get you started, or get you completely dismayed by all the options and factors to consider...
 
IMHO if you want to have a dependable system that can handle more than a few tracks being recorded at once I would recomend a dedicated recorder like a Mackie HDR, Alesis HD24, or Radar 24.

You can do it with the Maudio cards and many people have done it successfully but it may take alot of computer tweaking to handle all of that data at once. You will need a pretty good box with a lot of ram and fast HD's.

The process is the same either way. It's just a matter of computer speed and setup time vs. the plug in and go ability of a HD recorder.
 
Gotta second the HD type systems. Low learning curve, intuitive to operate, very robust system and you can still transfer your tracks into a computer in a variety of ways for sweetening or mixing with damn near any software multitrack/editor.
 
There's a perfect solution for your problem. A Fostex VF16 or the newer version VF160 and an souncard with Adat interface. Just connect the VF to soundcard with two toslink cables and you can use the VF as analog front end for the computer. You don't even have to haul your computer to where you record the drums because you can take the VF and track the drums and download the tracks to computer when you get back. On the VF there's two analog input with XLR and phantom for conderser overheads and 6 1/4" inputs for dynamic mics so it's perfect for recording drums. VF can record up to 8 channels of audio as is and thru the Adat I/O you can get 8 more with external AD converter like Fostex's own VC-8 if thats not enough.
 
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