i would guess this post will be redundant…but searching through reams of forum posts for the answer is really a bummer.
is there a current list of mixers or interfaces that work WELL with audacity on a windows machine for multitrack ie more than stereo?
Or are all mixers and audio interfaces asio and therefore require recompilation?
There’s a little bit of information in this topic: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/multi-channel-recording-in-audacity/15644/1
We are dependent on users providing this information, and sadly, few do.
MacOS seems to support multi-channel devices better than Windows, because the manufacturer’s usually provide multi-channel drivers for “core audio” (the native sound system for macOS). “Some” manufacturer’s provide multi-channel drivers for WDM or WASAPI (native sound systems for Windows), but others only provide multi-channel Windows drivers for ASIO. Audacity supports Core Audio, WDM and WASAPI “out of the box”, but supporting ASIO is problematic due to licensing terms.
Note that most USB mixers are not multi-channel interfaces. Most of them just give you the stereo-mix out of the USB port.
There are some higher-end Presonus and Behringer mixers that double as multi-channel interfaces. And, I’ve seen one 4-channel mixer that could record 4-channels but I can’t remember who made it.
And if you don’t already have a multi-channel interface, many of them come with multi-tracking software. Or, [u]Cakewalk[/u] is now free.
thanks for the responses. i’m looking at buying one of new breed of boards that combine mixing with audio interface like the Zoom Livetrak L-12 and Soundcraft 12 MTK. Both will output multitrack but i haven’t been able to figure out which drvier.
On a related but diferent topic, the Zoom Livetrak L-12 will record to SD card and the QSC Touchmix 8 will record to a HDD. I think both in Wave format. So i’m guessing i could physically move those to a computer with Auadcity to post mix the individual tracks.
But maybe free cakewalk is a better option.
LiveTrak is also a 14-in/4-out USB audio interface
(It’s not a full multi-track interface.)
On a related but diferent topic, the Zoom Livetrak L-12 will record to SD card and the QSC Touchmix 8 will record to a HDD.
There are advantages to a stand-alone recorder. Computers are the least reliable things we own, and computers are “flexible” which means there are lots of things to mess-up, and the multitasking operating system can “get in the way”. A lot of people do record directly to the computer but specialized-dedicated hardware is more foolproof.
For post-production mixing & editing, it’s hard to beat the computer.
If you are getting “serious” hardware, you’ll probably be happier with a “real” [u]multitrack DAW[/u]. Or, you may want to do your post-production mixing/editing directly on the hardware. (Audacity might be a good choice if you want to “master” your final stereo mix, or if you get real comfortable with your DAW you may want to use it for everything.)