Hi, I’m new to this:
Windows 10
Audacity 2.4.2
Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 gen 3
I’m doing some acoustic experiments so want to record multiple tracks simultaneously to compare waveforms and phases. Overdubs won’t work. I have 4 mics/transducers in the 4 main slots of the 18i8. The 18i8 is connected to my windows machine with a USB. I add 4 mono tracks or 2 stereo tracks to Audacity. But the max I get is 2 tracks recording. From other similar forum questions, it seems like a sound card might be necessary, but I am using a laptop and would like this to be portable. Seems like this is an Audacity issue, but I’m not sure. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.
[u]Here[/u] is some information about multi-track recording with Audacity. But from what I see here on the forum almost nobody is successful. 
Your interface should have come with “lite” versions of Pro Tools and Ableton Live!
it seems like a sound card might be necessary
No. Your interface “replaces” the soundcard and I don’t know of any soundcards that can record more than two channels.* Plus, the interface generally has better audio quality and, regular soundcards don’t work with stage/studio mics (or with a guitar).
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- There are soundcards with 5.1 or 7.1 channel playback/output.