recording with mixer off soundcard

[shizzle]

hey. if i purchase a program like cakewalk home studio, or sonar xl, could i just hook my 8 input mixer up to my soundcard and record 8 tracks simultaneously? if i purchased a new soundcard, like the delta 44? could i do all those trakcs simultaneously? i've gotten mixed responses from other forums, and i just want to know how many trakcs i could get simultaneously, because that is realy my main concern. any help is appreciated

 

[Ethan Winer]

Shizzle,

> could i just hook my 8 input mixer up to my soundcard and record 8 tracks simultaneously? <

No. A standard stereo sound card can record only two channels (left and right) at once, and no more. There are 8- and 16-channel sound cards you can buy, which let you record more tracks at once.

You can record multiple microphones at once on a standard sound card if you mix them together before recording. But that loses the flexibility of having each mike on a separate track, so you can change the volume and tone of each mike later.

--Ethan

 

[Emeric]

Simultaneously is the key word here.

It depends on a few things:

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By simultaneous if you mean, 'at the same time' then yes, your mixer will accept those signals, how it outputs depends on the mixer.

If your mixer does not have outputs for each input, then you can still record the 8 sources simultaneously, sent out the stereo outputs on the mixer, into the stereo input on the soundcard. So in software you would end up with two tracks - the sum of the 8 inputs, and no individual control over each of the 8.

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If you mean 'seperate' as in 8 seperate recorded tracks, then you need the following requirement:

- A mixer that has 8 inputs and an output for each input.
- A souncard that has 8 inputs.
- Software that supports an 8 input soundcard.

 

[AlChuck]

Shizzle,

Maybe this analogy will help,

If you had eight guys trying to go into another room through one door, they could not all pass simultanously into the other room unless all eight went through the one doorway together.

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

Here is another analogy.........

There are 2 rooms.

There are 8 guys trying to get from Room A (mixer) to Room B (computer).

Normally, Room A only has 2 doors and Room B has 2 doors.

Therefore, 2 guys can go from Room A to Room B at one time.

Now, if Room A has 8 doors and Room B has 8 doors, then 8 guys can travel from Room A to Room B at one time.