Audacity

[Chuckskyline]

I can't find any answers and I've searched everywhere.

I have a Tascam Model 12, I've hooked it up to my computer via USB. I'm trying to multitrack record. As in, 5 mics in, 5 individual mics recorded.

I'm using WASAPI.

Its only showing 1 channel mono 2 channel stereo.

I was lead to believe that "12 in / 10 out USB audio interface function (USB Type-C connector)" would give multitrack recording.

How do I make it work?

I've tried switching everything to USB, to LIVE. I have the board set on USB multi.

I have the software and the firmware updated along with all drivers.

Yet, I only can record 1 track with all 5 mics.

Did I just waste my money? Thank God for returns.

What equipment do I need to make it easy to plug in 5 mics and record 5 mics. I would assume (1o out) would mean 10 tracks recording but I guess I'm either wrong or stupid, or both.

 

[shredd]

wrong or stupid, or both

I feel yo' payne, brutha. I'm usually BOTH.

On a more constructive note, I was gunna suggest reading the sticky-posts at the top of this category. "the answers" are in those, about 94% of the time...

 

[-mjk-]

You need to use the ASIO driver for that device.

 

[Chuckskyline]

ASIO drivers are not compatible with audacity

 

[-mjk-]

ASIO drivers are multi-channel and you need a real DAW to get it to work properly.

 

[Chuckskyline]

So in order to work through Audacity, you would need to use a DAW or another digital interface that is supported by audacity. It doesn't seem like the Tascam Model 12 is compatible because of the drivers it needs (as far as multitracking) If you only need one track it works great.

I downloaded Ocenaudio and was able to get multitracking working because it does use ASIO drivers.

 

[-mjk-]

I downloaded Ocenaudio and was able to get multitracking working because it does use ASIO drivers.

You just answered your own questions. Audacity is not really a DAW, it's a free editor. It doesn't fully support multitrack music production. For multitrack operation you need an ASIO driver.

It doesn't seem like the Tascam Model 12 is compatible because of the drivers it needs (as far as multitracking) If you only need one track it works great.

This is a limitation with Audacity and you need to understand this. You're working with WASAPI and that is the limitation. This has nothing to do with the Model 12 at all. This is about the capability of the audio driver you are using.

So in order to work through Audacity, you would need to use a DAW or another digital interface that is supported by audacity.

Nope. All you get is stereo no matter how you slice it.

Use that other DAW or get Reaper or something that is designed for real music production.

 

[Chuckskyline]

>Nope. All you get is stereo no matter how you slice it.

You're wrong, You can multitrack in Audacity.

It is possible, to multitrack in Audacity. However it appears to be a driver issue. The Tascam Model 12 needs ASIO drivers which Audacity doesn't support. Its a simple as that.

I could get another audio interface that works with Audacity and plug in my Model 12 to it and it would probably work.

 

[BazzBass]

No. Model 12 has it's own asio drivers. What am I missing here?, go get Reaper.

$60 for a license that so far has lasted me 7 years......

 

[-mjk-]

I could get another audio interface that works with Audacity and plug in my Model 12 to it and it would probably work.

Please post a link to such an interface.

From the Audacity manual:

"WASAPI: In 2005 the WASAPI application programming interface (API) was introduced starting with Windows Vista. WASAPI isolates audio more from the kernel so providing greater stability, allows a few further multi-channel devices to work without ASIO and provides lower latency than MME and Windows DirectSound.

On the other hand, direct hardware access under WASAPI is limited to a WaveRT driver which only a few built-in devices support (also, Audacity and many other audio programs do not support it). Latencies under WASAPI are higher than under WDM-KS because MME and DirectSound are both emulated over WASAPI. To compensate for this, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Store Windows Store applications on Windows 8 can support offloading of audio processing to hardware which was dropped with Vista. This is a necessary step for modern battery-dependent devices where software audio processing on the CPU would rapidly deplete battery life.

WASAPI has two significant benefits for Audacity.

24-bit recording is supported (Windows DirectSound supports 24-bit recording, but the PortAudio API Audacity uses does not support 24-bit input under DirectSound).
From version 2.0.4 onwards, Audacity supports recording computer playback (even where sound devices do not support this) using [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/coreaudio/loopback-recording?redirectedfrom=MSDN Windows WASAPI loopback recording. For the audio to be captured, the audio device playing the audio must be in shared mode ("Exclusive Mode" unchecked in the Windows "Sound" Control Panel).

Recording With Audacity
As distributed, Audacity comes with support for Windows MME and WDM drivers. MME drivers work fine for simple stereo recording and playback, and are available on all versions of Windows where Audacity will run. However, neither these nor most WDM drivers will provide multi-channel recording; if you try to send multiple inputs to Audacity with these, you will only be presented with a series of separate two-channel "recording devices" from which one can be chosen, instead of the number of input channels there actually are.

macOS
Mac Sound interface
macOS is standardized on the Core Audio interface. Audacity fully supports Core Audio."

 

[-mjk-]

You're wrong, You can multitrack in Audacity.

I'll address this in a separate post.

That guy is using a Mac. Windows users pretty much have to use a 2 channel interface with a Master bus. When I talk about multitrack recording, I'm coming from 24 track analog tape experience with full control over each track on a separate fader on the mixing console. Sure you can open a mixer window and mix with your mouse but that doesn't give you separate outputs to the outside world. You're still dealing with two channel audio. That's not using the Model 12 as a mixing console.

I literally said "It doesn't fully support multitrack music production" and I stand by that statement.

 

[-mjk-]

No. Model 12 has it's own asio drivers. What am I missing here?, go get Reaper.

$60 for a license that so far has lasted me 7 years......

Audacity doesn't support ASIO and it looks like it doesn't support WASAPI either because of the WaveRT driver limitation. Yeah, Reaper would solve the problem in about 10 minutes.

 

[ButchA]

I have Audacity on my laptop. Trust me... Trust me... Been there, done that, consulted with studio DAW engineers, etc...

AUDACITY IS A "WAVE EDITOR"

It is not a DAW, even though it does have a means of recording and opening up various tracks. Try to MTR with Audacity. Go ahead. Record a drum machine(1). Then record a rhythm guitar(2). Mute the drums(1) and carefully listen only to the rhythm guitar(2). You will hear "bleed over" from the drum machine(1) onto your guitar track(2).

But then again, hey... it's a FREE download! It is fantastic for examining .wav files, closely listening to them with headphones. Correcting something where a certain phrase was just an eyelash too early. Simply add teeny tiny microsecond amounts of silence to correct it. File>Save>Export.

But in closing, NOTHING compares to being able to visually see the sliders, the whole tracks as they were recorded, all the knobs, buttons, display screen, etc... Perhaps I'm "old school" and will always use a Tascam MTR!