Sound Cards with Multiple Line Inputs?

[jharris01]

I am looking for sound cards with two or more line inputs for a project I am involved with. The purpose is for analyzing multiple sound signals (well three in my case) using specialized software. I know M-Audio has a couple of models but I am looking for alternatives. Any suggestions?

[andrew603]

You do have a couple of options from M-Audio, like the FastTrack Pro (4x4) or FastTrack Ultra (8x8)

MOTU MicroBook (4x4) comes to mind, looks like it's a new product, don't know much about it.  I know MOTU has been around a while and has a good following.

I'm pretty sure all the major Mixer manufacturers have some variants with usb/firewire interfaces built into the mixers.  Yamaha MW Series, Beheringer Xenyx USB, Alesis MultiMix 8 USB2, all come to mind.  Prices are all over the place here.

There's also some stuff from Apogee Electronics, but I think all their stuff only works for Mac OSX, not sure.

I would say that the MOTU MicroBook looks like what you want, on paper.

That's all I got for now...  I've been using M-Audio gear for years now, so I know more about them than others I've mentioned, and can't really comment on the other brands, except for maybe Yamaha (since I have two Yamaha MG mixers, which are both great).

[Tom]

There's the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, which has a LINE IN and a VERSA JACK...which can be configured as a second LINE IN.  (I'm using one, now, in my XP machine.)

[jharris01]

I thought the Santa Cruz didn't have a dedicated line in. Good to know!

[Tom]

It sure does!  VERSA JACK, MIC IN, LINE IN, FRONT SPEAKERS, REAR SPEAKERS.  The VERSA JACK can be set to ANALOG IN, ANALOG OUT, or DIGITAL OUT.  I always have my VERSA JACK set to a second LINE IN.

[jharris01]

Versa Jack indeed!

Thanks for the recommendation guys. I forgot to mention my needs are a bit odd. The card's sound chip must have its own sync clock and be able to record each line input as discrete sound channels. I found that many M-Audio cards can do it but not the Santa Cruz (mixes the versa jack through stereo mix). If this is incorrect, Tom, let me know.

[endre1952]

Just an idea: perhaps using two separate USB sound cards with some dedicated software would serve your purpose? I've been thinking that this might be a possible way to record four channels of audio or more.

[jharris01]

If the USB doesn't introduce syncing delays during recording, then I guess it could work.