Computer solution to recording 16+ tracks simultaneously

[rockanomicon]

I am beginning the process of laying out a budget for a studio. Nothing fancy, more or less for local bands and friends to jam and have a place to record. What I want to be able to do is record 16+ tracks simultaneously, via a PC or Mac, if its even do-able within a reasonable budget. I was looking at a few interfaces but even the RME and MOTU units seem to plateau around 8 or 12 tracks simultaneously.

Right now I am thinking about running into an Alesis HD24 XR and dumbing the tracks into the PC afterward......that is, if there is no way to do it directly.

 

[Anonymous]

in case of this requirements i would go for a high end soundcard like a lynx or event (e.g. 2xGina) combined with a fitting mixer (yamaha or a+h)

take a look here to get some impressions
http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/

 

[lockbody]

... but even the RME and MOTU units seem to plateau around 8 or 12 tracks simultaneously.

Not true, a RME9652 will record 24 tracks @ 24b/44.1-48k simultaneously, if your computer can handle it. I used to regularly record 12-16 tracks with one and a Behringer DDX3216 with CubaseSX3.

In fact, a 9652 and a 3216 with an adat card found used on ebay is a cheap, powerful, and flexible recording setup. Add a couple of UAD-1 cards, etc... some outboard preamps.... you'll really have something.

 

[DaveBorn2Rock]

I'm not really familiar with the setup you have right now, but what I'd do for 16 simultaneous tracks would be to get a presonus firestudio and then a presonus digimax 8-input preamp or something and lightpipe it into the firestudio. I think you can do that for up to 24 tracks and it's the cheapest option (with good quality) that I'm aware of.

 

[Silverwulf]

Yeah, depending on the quality you want, you could pick up a pair of used Firepod's for about $500. Chain them together and you have 16 mic pre's ready to roll.

It doesn't take as much processing power to track 16 tracks simultaneously as you would think. One time we tracked 16 tracks with an old Dell of mine that had a 3.2 Ghz P4 with 1 GB of RAM and had no problems. Mixing is another story. You'd need something more powerful to mix down all the tracks you have, especially applying effects in real time. But as far as tracking goes, you could do it on the cheap with minimal processing power needed.