Simultaneous Recording Capabilities

  • Thread starter Thread starter Confusitron
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Confusitron

Confusitron

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I see many of these PCI recording cards and external recording devices... They have very few inputs (the most I've seen is eight). Would this mean that with these devices I could only record eight tracks simultaneously, unless I send numerous channels to one channel, etc.? Would a multitrack recorder be a better purchase over a PCI or external PC recording interface in order to record many tracks separately?

Thank you.
 
Correct, you can typically record only eight separate tracks simultaneously for a soundcard that has eight inputs. To get more tracks, you would have to either a) buy another eight input soundcard, b) buy an interface that can split out the inputs further (some soundcards like RME offer expansion boards for this, also look into MOTU products), or c) forget about having a separate input for each instrument and submix using a mixer, which is a very common, and sometimes preferred, approach.

Keep in mind that most multitrack recorders are also limited to eight tracks at a time and the price for additional inputs for multitrackers are often greater than the expansion cost of quality soundcards.
 
Depends on your budget .....
I've got a MOTU 828mkII and a SM Pro Audio PR-8 MK2 8 channel pre amp with the ADAT option card. Spent $1000.00 US and allows me to multitrack up to 20 tracks simultaneously into my DAW.
I'm very pleased with this set up.

-Ken
 
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