Helpful ReplyHow many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface?

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tenlbham
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2018/12/14 14:51:58 (permalink)

How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface?

I have a portable studio setup consisting of a laptop (Toshiba Satellite A665, intel i7 1.8GHz, 8GB RAM, recently upgraded drive to Samsung EVO 860 SSD, running Cakewalk) and until it got caught in the flood of Hurricane Harvey, a Mackie Onyx 1640 firewire mixer.  Connected the mixer to laptop via PCI ExpressCard and could record all 16 channels off the board at once.
 
I'm looking to replace the mixer finally, but firewire mixer interfaces don't seem to be nearly as prevalent as when I bought all this stuff 10-ish years ago.  Can USB handle that many channels now?  Are there limitations based on the interface, based on the computer hardware, or anything else?
post edited by tenlbham - 2018/12/14 16:26:12

Ben C
Studio DAW:  Sonar Professional, Windows 10, AMD FX 8320 8-core 3.5GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1220i.
Mobile DAW:  Toshiba Satellite, Cakewalk, Windows 10, Intel i7 Quadcore 1.7GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1640 w/ firewire.
Groovy B Productions
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    AT
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 15:07:17 (permalink)
    Yes.
    #2
    tenlbham
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 15:30:49 (permalink)
    AT
    Yes.

    "Yes" to what?

    Ben C
    Studio DAW:  Sonar Professional, Windows 10, AMD FX 8320 8-core 3.5GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1220i.
    Mobile DAW:  Toshiba Satellite, Cakewalk, Windows 10, Intel i7 Quadcore 1.7GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1640 w/ firewire.
    Groovy B Productions
    Finding Reason
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    fret_man
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 16:30:26 (permalink)
    Yes, USB interfaces can handle 16 tracks.
    #4
    fireberd
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 17:19:02 (permalink)
    The Roland USB Studio Capture has 16 channels (12 analog preamp channels).
    https://www.musiciansfrie...487e-8d55-16f266a0be8b

    "GCSG Productions"
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    GaryMedia
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 18:04:33 (permalink)
    My Midas M32 is USB-connected. It does 32 tracks simultaneously with no issues.  That's also a pretty common recording setup in remote events where I'm capturing 32 tracks from a Behringer X32 X-USB port. 
     
    The laptop I use for remotes is a 2008-ish Lenovo 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo writing to a 7200RPM 500GB Seagate drive in a caddy for the DVD port.  All is well. 

    CbB Win10 | Mac Pro 12-core 3.33GHz/48GB | TCL 55" 4K UHD | 480GB SSD | 6TB HDD RAID-5 array| 1.5TB SSD RAID-0 array | Midas M32 | 2x Audient ASP800 |  UAD-2 Duo PCIe | Adam A7X.
    http://www.tedlandstudio.com/articles
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    abacab
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/14 19:29:17 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby mettelus 2018/12/14 19:47:47
    USB2 audio interfaces are fast enough for recording. 
     
    USB, Firewire & Thunderbolt: Which Is Best For Audio?  Is USB2 good enough?
    https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/usb-firewire-thunderbolt-which-best-audio

    DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ... 
    #7
    tenlbham
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/15 16:02:54 (permalink)
    Great information and feedback.  Thanks, everyone!

    Ben C
    Studio DAW:  Sonar Professional, Windows 10, AMD FX 8320 8-core 3.5GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1220i.
    Mobile DAW:  Toshiba Satellite, Cakewalk, Windows 10, Intel i7 Quadcore 1.7GHz, 8GB RAM, Mackie Onyx 1640 w/ firewire.
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    gswitz
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/15 16:21:09 (permalink)
    According to Bob Katz, Mastering Audio p309, the theoretical limit is 218 mono tracks for USB 2.0 but the practical limit is 107 at 96 kHz 24 bit.

    StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen.
    I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
    #9
    soens
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    Re: How many tracks can I record simo with a USB interface? 2018/12/21 10:13:06 (permalink)
    … also depends on your computer specs and how good the interface drivers are.
    #10
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