Multiple microphones -> 1 computer

[Daverz]

I am doing consulting work for an small audiobooks firm that wants to have the ability to record 3,6 and 12 microphones into a computer for the ability to record mp3's of audiobooks they are working on in the developmental stages.

Obviously, standard sound cards only have 1 input for mic..so I have a few questions

1. What sound hardware would I need for 6-12 mics through one computer

2. Would the solution to getting it hooked up, be wireless, or are there routers/adapters to handle multiple microphones into one computer?

3. If special hardware is needed, please point me to some of the better sites on the web for purchasing audio equipment.

I know it's a newbie question, but thanks for the help!

[dwk123]

Your requirements will probably be driven more by how they want/need to record and handle the multiple streams than by the hardware.
Handling multiple mics is the entire point of most pro/studio cards, so getting a mult-mic setup is not the problem. Check pro-oriented vendors for a wide range of options that probably range in price from "slightly more than you were expecting" to "holy cr*p that's expensive". An ADAT based solution using an external A/D w/ built-in mic preamps is probably going to be the easiest and cheapest way to get started, but that tops out at 8 channels so you'd need dual ADAT channels to get up to 12.

The software will be the key - do they want to do 2/6/12 simultaneously as a single multi-track session? Do they expect to have 3/6/12 completely independent sessions recording simultaneously but separately etc.

A couple places to start your search
www.audiomidi.com
www.zzsounds.com
www.8thstreet.com

[EDUM]

Have a look at http://www.esi-pro.com/
Their firewire products seem to be able to do the job.
I understood they become available real soon.
Although I have to admit that they promise this already a rather long time

Ward

[Daverz]

Thanks for the links

They want to have, somewhere between 6-12 sitting around with mics, recording into a standard laptop simutaneously.

For software, what would be decent software for this sort of thing?

[mcs]

Why would you need to record 12 seperate channels for audiobooks? Couldn't you simply use a mixer and record one or two channels with a standard soundcard (probably in the computer already)?

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen

[dwk123]

Originally posted by mcs
Why would you need to record 12 seperate channels for audiobooks? Couldn't you simply use a mixer and record one or two channels with a standard soundcard (probably in the computer already)?

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen

Reading the latest reply, this is also my question. It sounds like what they are looking for is 6-12 different 'actors' all sitting together reading a *single* book. If this is true, then Mikkel is right and what you want is a multichannel mixer, and don't need a multichannel sound card at all.

Originally, I thought there would be 6-12 *different* books being recorded at the same time, but that doesn't make any sense particularly if this is a small outfit.