Recording two inputs or two devices at once [SOLVED]

I orginally sent this message to user/Audacity guru steve, who asked that i post this HERE…so here you do steve:

I ran thru the FAQ’s and DID find SOME info there on this subject, but not quite specifically th issue i have…wan wondering if you could clarify…

I use an M-Audio Moble-Pre as my interface 'tween tthe instruments and Audacity, which I am fallingin love with by the way. The Moble Pre is set up thusly: (and you probably already know this, but bare with tme) it has two inputs and two outputs - either 1/4 inch or XLR. here are the specs:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Avid-Pro-Tools-MP- … pspn=pla&=

I want to set up my guitar, and a microphone, so I can sing and play at one time. I know that to get sound out of both speakers (when only using 1 input) I set it to Mono…So here is the guts of the question: #1: is it possible to bring in two signals at once into audacity, and if so #2: In order to do this, do I click “Stereo” up above where it says “Input Channels”, and then have each input set on “mono”.

The other possibility is running voc’s on left channel and guitars on right and then splitting them into mono, which i dunno how to do…

I guess, if you can…run me thru the possibility of recording vocals and guitar at once…

UPDATE: I messed around with configurations for hours tonight, and I WAS able to record two signals at once, however one would be left channel, one right. From there I dunno how to split them. I tried hitting different settings (i.e. “split astereo track”, etc) within each track with no luck. Hmmm…

Jim in MN

Just a quick reply before I log off for the night (in case you are in a different time zone and itching to get going with this) -
When you have the stereo track, vocal one side, guitar the other, Click on the name of the track and select “Split to Mono” from the drop down menu.

Set the number of channels to record in Audacity to 2 (stereo) http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Device_Toolbar
If you plug microphones/instruments into both inputs and set Audacity to record in stereo (2 channels), then channel 1 of the interface will record onto the left channel in Audacity, and channel 2 of the interface will record onto the left channel in Audacity.

The stereo track can then be split into two mono tracks:
Click on the name of the track and select “Split to Mono” from the drop down menu. http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Track_Drop-Down_Menu

This is a very useful technique for recording two instruments or voices at the same time. The method can be adapted for most stereo sound cards.
How did you get on?

Good day,
This post is dated 2012 but things do change and I need some help.
I am using Windows 7 with the recent version of Audacity.
I have two USB going into my desktop.
One of them is a microphone “audio-technical” http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/c75c5918ed57a8d0/
the other is pod hd from line 6 (here is a video of this Pod hd) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fDMBG9nSTM
I tried what you suggested but it only sees one of them at a time.
Hope that you or anyone could help
Sincerely,
Claude
Image1.jpg

It would have been better to start a new post in the Windows board Windows - Audacity Forum.

Steve is describing recording two inputs from the same device. This is completely different from recording from two different devices.

Audacity only records from one device at a time.

Why do you want to record from both devices at once? You can always lay down the voice first then overdub the guitar track (or whatever). See this FAQ: Can I play a track while recording a new one on top of it?.

There are ways to aggregate the two devices into one and have Audacity record the aggregate device, but there is always the risk of the two devices drifting apart over time. See this FAQ: Can I record from two microphones (or even two soundcards) at the same time?.


Gale

That is what I was thinking about doing the two separately. I needed to know for sure that there was no way of doing both simultaneously.
While I was waiting for a reply, I found that you can have one track play while you are recording the second track and doing the same for the third track.
Thank you very much for your time in confirming this scenario.
Case closed.