How many tracks can AA3 handle?

[jefflaurence]

Haven't experimented but was curious..I know there can be limitations as to the track count, but about how many can be recorded and used in a mix with Adobe Audition? In the very early days of digital workstations we had a Spectral StudioTracks system that would only give us 6 tracks!...and I mean SIX only. THREE stereo, or ONE voice track, TWO for effects in stereo, and TWO for stereo music.. and ONE left over for misc stuff..and that would max out a 386 computer system running at 32MHZ!..BIGGEST hard drive I had to do this with was a whopping 525MB SCSI drive..and it was all SO noisy it had to be mounted in a rack outside of the control room..and cooled with a 13" rack fan.

In two studios we are running commercial grade DELL Precision PCs with 4G of RAM and core-duo processors for Adobe Audition. I save all audio to external hard drives.

And then to add a few plug-ins I bet I can melt these CPUs huh?

I miss my Otari 5050 and a reel of 3M Grand Master 256..and Editall block and a GEM single edge blade..Where's my Blaisdell China Marker?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I can give you a "bottom" number which will impress no one. I maintain and supervise a church sound system so I participate in a forum where people gather who do that. I know a number of people are feeding a Firewire connection from their digital mixing boards that bring 16, 24 or more channels into the computer.

I don't have that kind of facility so I put out a request and someone sent me a DVD with a bunch of 14 track sessions "raw". All the channels are picked up pre-fader. The faders on the board are used to control the live sound for the congregation. The recording is full-out, no mixing, no muting. I have been using the DVD to learn how to pull 14 channels of sound into A.A. and to then start editing and mixing. So, to no one's surprise 16 to 24 channels is no challenge.

I am left with the same question that you posed, Jeff. What is the upper limit? Maybe 64 channels? 96? I don't expect to be doing any project where I need that many! But curios minds have to know.

Oh.. a post script. Then I began playing with the files and my pitiful little sound card. Can I add a track after the fact? Found out my little card will duplex. I can playback in headphones from the exiting tracks while "scat singing" a bit of harmony with the others. I guess I could sit down some afternoon and start adding tracks, one after another until A.A. screamed like Jack Benny: "Now cut that out!" I had no idea my sound card will playback and record at the same time.