Combining/Linking Delta 1010LT cards

[J,R,D, Ltd]

Ok, So I am looking at buying one or more Delta 1010LTs and in the description it says:

The Delta 1010LT delivers much of the same universal connectivity, high fidelity and seamless performance as the popular Delta 1010 on a single PCI card—and at a fraction of the price. Multiple analog I/O, MIDI, S/PDIF and surround sound support are all here. Two inputs even have mic/line preamps on XLR connectors, saving the expense of outboard preamps. It’s all on a compact, half-size PCI card with two color-coded breakout cables. Combine up to four Deltas* in your system for a maximum of 32 analog and four stereo S/PDIF inputs and outputs.

* It is not possible to use multiple (linked) audio cards with Pro Tools M-Powered or Pro Tools MP.

Now I have some questions:
1. How do you connect the cards together?
2. Does the Delta 1010LT come with multi-track software?
3. If the answer to 2. is Yes, What is the software called?
4. Can Audacity use more than one Delta 1010LT linked?

Thank you so much, I know not many people have these cards but I hope some people that do will see this thread and reply.

[steve]

4. Can Audacity use more than one Delta 1010LT linked?

Probably not (assuming you are using Windows).

[J,R,D, Ltd]

4. Can Audacity use more than one Delta 1010LT linked?

Probably not (assuming you are using Windows).

Yea I didn't think it would be able to since Audacity can only use one device but not knowing how this whole "linking" thing works I thought I would ask. I would be using Windows but I could use Ubuntu if it would do what I need.

[steve]

It is definitely possible to use multiple sound cards with Audacity on Linux (using Jack), though I've never had a Delta 1010LT to test what the performance would be like.
I've also read on other forums of people using a pair of these cards successfully with Ardour2 http://ardour.org/
On Windows you could probably use a pair of them in programs such as Sonar, but Audacity can only record from one device at a time, so you probably can't use a linked pair of 1010LTs with Audacity on Windows.

[J,R,D, Ltd]

Why has the Audacity team been unable to make Audacity capable of recording from multiple devices?

I couldn't take the Ardour source and compile it on windows right? It wouldn't work because it is designed for linux/mac.

Have you heard of Cool Edit Pro?

Thanks for answering my questions.

[steve]

Why has the Audacity team been unable to make Audacity capable of recording from multiple devices?

You mean "on Windows". Both Mac OS X and Linux have built-in support for "aggregating" audio devices, but Windows doesn't. For Windows it is (theoretically - I've not tried it) possible to configure multiple sound card support using ASIO, or using virtual sound card technology such as Virtual Audio Cable. Using multiple sound cards on Windows is not a trivial problem, not least because many sound cards do not have drivers that allow their use simultaneously with another sound card.

Cool Edit Pro was a great (now obsolete) piece of commercial (non-free) audio software that had many cool features, including support of multiple sound cards when using WDM compatible sound cards, though this was not guaranteed to work with all sound cards. Cool Edit Pro later became Adobe Audition which has extended and improved multiple sound card support by using ASIO drivers. Unfortunately Audacity is not able to be shipped with ASIO support enabled due to licensing restriction.

I don't know if Audacity would be able to access multiple sound cards in the same way as Cool Edit Pro did. Audacity uses PortAudio to connect to the computer sound system and I don't know whether PortAudio is able to do that. However, PortAudio is cross-platform compatible - it works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Cool Edit Pro was Windows only, so they did not have to worry about using a mechanism that would work on other platforms.

There is a lot of interest in Audacity supporting multiple sound cards simultaneously, so hopefully it will be supported at some time in the future.
Would you like me to add your vote here: Record from multiple sound devices at once?

[J,R,D, Ltd]

Why has the Audacity team been unable to make Audacity capable of recording from multiple devices?

You mean "on Windows". Both Mac OS X and Linux have built-in support for "aggregating" audio devices, but Windows doesn't. For Windows it is (theoretically - I've not tried it) possible to configure multiple sound card support using ASIO, or using virtual sound card technology such as Virtual Audio Cable. Using multiple sound cards on Windows is not a trivial problem, not least because many sound cards do not have drivers that allow their use simultaneously with another sound card.

Yes I meant on windows. I've read that to use ASIO for putting multiple cards together they must have ASIO drivers and most cards don't.

Cool Edit Pro was a great (now obsolete) piece of commercial (non-free) audio software that had many cool features, including support of multiple sound cards when using WDM compatible sound cards, though this was not guaranteed to work with all sound cards. Cool Edit Pro later became Adobe Audition which has extended and improved multiple sound card support by using ASIO drivers. Unfortunately Audacity is not able to be shipped with ASIO support enabled due to licensing restriction.

Ah, I've read about Audacity not being able to be shipped with ASIO support but that it can be compiled in by the end-user for personal use. I was able to do this with help from another forum member even though I don't have an ASIO card.

I don't know if Audacity would be able to access multiple sound cards in the same way as Cool Edit Pro did. Audacity uses PortAudio to connect to the computer sound system and I don't know whether PortAudio is able to do that. However, PortAudio is cross-platform compatible - it works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Cool Edit Pro was Windows only, so they did not have to worry about using a mechanism that would work on other platforms.

That's one thing I don't like about windows, many of the developers want money for their backend software so software that uses that backend software can't be free. I've tried to figure out jack but I've been unable to find guides for using it to combine multiple audio devices into one virtual device on windows.

There is a lot of interest in Audacity supporting multiple sound cards simultaneously, so hopefully it will be supported at some time in the future.
Would you like me to add your vote here: Record from multiple sound devices at once?

Yes please do! Are a certain number of votes needed before a feature is added or do the votes just set the priority of the feature requests?

[steve]

ASIO drivers are available for most sound cards that have been designed for music production, but not usually for cheap general purpose sound cards.

I've tried to figure out jack but I've been unable to find guides for using it to combine multiple audio devices into one virtual device on windows.

The development of Jack for Windows has stalled a couple of times. I'm not sure what the current development status is, but it works well on Linux and is still being actively developed. To use multiple sound cards with Jack on Linux is really easy. There is no need to go into the complexities of creating aggregate devices, just use "alsa_out" and "alsa_in" (part of "Jack Tools") to create additional ports for the second sound card, then use any dummy device (such as an empty "Jack Rack" to provide a single device for Audacity to connect to. (Audacity is still limited to mono/stereo out, but this enables Audacity to record from multiple sound cards onto multiple audio tracks at the same time.

I've added your vote to "Record from multiple sound devices at once".

Are a certain number of votes needed before a feature is added or do the votes just set the priority of the feature requests?

The votes just give a rough indication of how much interest there is in a particular feature, but as very few Audacity users vote I don't think it is very representative.

[J,R,D, Ltd]

ASIO drivers are available for most sound cards that have been designed for music production, but not usually for cheap general purpose sound cards.

Unfortunately that is all I have right now.

Do you know how to setup aggregate devices in VAC for multi track recording?

I've added your vote to "Record from multiple sound devices at once".

Thanks!

Are a certain number of votes needed before a feature is added or do the votes just set the priority of the feature requests?

The votes just give a rough indication of how much interest there is in a particular feature, but as very few Audacity users vote I don't think it is very representative.

Well from what I can see, the list is kind of hidden, maybe if it was a poll or topic on the forum then it could get more votes.

[steve]

Do you know how to setup aggregate devices in VAC for multi track recording?

Sorry, it's a long time since I've played with VAC, and back then I was using CoolEdit rather than Audacity. I mostly work on Linux these days. I've posted something about using multiple sound cards on Linux here: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 92#p146769