Vista and Sound Recording.

[Coldkilla]

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/134/untitlednf3.jpg

I have 3 Digitech pedals for my band that plug into USB ports. What I'd like to do is somehow be able to record all 3 channels simultaneously. However, I've only been able to make 1 pedal work at a time as I have to set it to the "Default device".

I would like to know:

A. Do I need some certain software that will take all the "microphone inputs" and allow me to record the 3 recordings all at once?
B. Is there no way to do this unless going through a mixer?
C. If there is anything I need to purchase (minimal cost), please label them here so I know what to look for. Thanks.

 

[Coldkilla]

Perhaps the USB thing got confusing. Basically I'd like to have 3 USB imputs, that can record all at once. How can this be done?

 

[vshah]

i haven't tried this, but maybe you could try running multiple instances of audacity, and setting each one to record from a different source? not sure if that is possible though.

crap.....just tried it and it doesn't work

 

[vshah]

I know that on the mac there is a program called "LineIn" that you can use to mix together multiple inputs in software...don't know of anything like that for windows however

 

[Modelworks]

Have you tried Asio ?
Not sure what software your using or what drivers you have , but I know that asio has the ability to bypass the windows mixer entirely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_stream_input_output

I use it for playing back music on my pc because the windows mixer can't do bit perfect audio reliably. But I did a church install with an maudio delta card with 8 in/outs that used asio for the interface.

Edit:
This is taken from the asio4all site:

Q: Any hints on using ASIO4ALL with USB devices?

A: After some initial troubles with earlier revisions, the driver now appears to work just fine with numerous USB devices. one thing to not do, I mean: not ever! is to check the DMA box with USB devices. If you do not need all the additional software gizmos like EAX, EQ, Fake3D-Whatever... it is recommended that you _not_ install the drivers shipped with your USB audio interface. Windows has a built-in generic USB audio driver that works with most devices. Thus, if you want to have honest, no-nonsense, low-latency audio playback/recording with your USB audio interface - by all means: stick with the Windows driver! This is especially true for consumer grade stuff, where you can be assured that the drivers shipped with it are most likely 'consumer grade' as well.