Is there any way to record four simultaneous vocal tracks with Audacity? Thank you. Rob S.
Recording more than 2 tracks at a time requires an audio interface that supports multiple input channels, AND multi-channel Windows drivers.
Unfortunately, many 4 channel audio devices only provide 2 channel Windows drivers, and require ASIO for recording multiple channels. Audacity cannot be shipped with ASIO support due to licensing issues. I don’t think we have any up to date information about which audio interfaces have multi-channel Windows drivers. We have this topic: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/multi-channel-recording-in-audacity/15644/1 but much of that information is now out of date.
Thank you. I’ll look though these posts. Rob S.
You didn’t mention any hardware. Do you have an [u]Audio Interface[/u] with 4 (or more) inputs?
Sometimes the interface comes with software. If it didn’t come with software you probably need a [u]DAW[/u] application. This kind of software is designed from the ground-up for multi-channel/multitrack recording & mixing.
If you have a [u]USB Mixer[/u] Audacity can almost always record the stereo mix. (Most inexpensive USB mixers ONLY give you a mix… They can’t multi-track record 4 separate channels.) Or, a mixer and an USB interface will work. Or, if you have a desktop computer with a regular soundcard you can connect the line-output from an analog mixer into line-in on the soundcard.
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A couple more hardware notes:
In general you can’t use more than one device at a time so you can’t record from more than one USB mic. (Sometimes it can be done with the “right” software but it’s not easy and from what I’ve read it’s not worth the trouble.)
Audio interfaces and mixers don’t work with USB mics or analog “computer mics”. You need a stage/studio mic for that kind of set-up.