Multi Channel Recording on Macbook

[danamtl]

Hey guys,

So I have a 13" white macbook with Soundtrack Pro installed in it. A friend of mine has a Behringer Xenyx 1622 fx mixer, which he used to record stuff on his PC. I'm planning to buy it, but i'm not sure it works the way I want to. It has an USB Audio interface that captures the sound from the mixer to the notebook, but I'm not sure if I can make multi channel recordings with it.
I know I can record a single track at a time, but I've been told I cannot make several tracks at the same time and have them separated on my soundtrack pro project (ex. guitar, bass and drums, each on their own track).
Is that possible? Or do I need another sound card?
I've read through some forums but I can't seem to find this answer. But I do see a lot of people telling other people to buy M-boxes and stuff. I think that's too expensive for me now.
Any thoughts?

Sorry for my english. Not my native language.

 

[Village Idiot]

It looks like it may be able to record separate tracks. You have to see if it's compatible with your software. I'll look some more tomorrow for you, as I don't have a lot of time for the rest of the night.

 

[BenB]

The Xenyx 1622 has USB interface for computers, so you don't need any other hardware besides it by itself. But, I"d test it first. Take your Mac to the mixer, plug it into your USB port, and see if it recognizes it. You may need to install drivers, but I doubt it.
BEHRINGER: 1622FX

If it works, STP will give you the option of 16 inputs/outputs. A Mac only has two I/O's built in, so by default, that's all you see. When you connect external hardware that expands that ability, the system reflects this in all applications that record multiple tracks. FCP, Logic, STP, etc. But test it first, make sure before you buy.

M-Audio is "OK" quality stuff, I'd look at Presonus before I ever purchased M-Audio stuff.

One thing to remember, you can get units that only do I/O, don't have a mixer, as STP, Logic, FCP, etc, have mixers in them already. So something like a Presonus Firestudio or the like may be cheaper. But if you can get this unit for a good price, well, there you go.

Remember, that the EQ and FX you set in the mixer are recorded into your software (STP), and that's the end of it. If you use the software mixers in STP, you can always go back and change the FX, EQ, etc. So it makes more sense to do your sound FX, sweetening, EQ, reverb, mixing, etc, inside your software, and just use the external hardware as an I/O device, sending the raw signal to your recording software. Just something to think about.