Live drum recording, how do you hook up multiple mics in DAW?

[33thc33]

I'm going to use 4-6 separate mics for drums. I'm recording on a computer using either FL Studio or sonar.

I want to use every mic in a separate channel. Do I need a soundcard with multiple inputs or is there some other way to route my mics? thanks

[C00kie]

I want to use every mic in a separate channel. Do I need a soundcard with multiple inputs or is there some other way to route my mics? thanks

Yes, you need a soundcard with lots of inputs, and as many mic preamps as well. For the latter you could also use a mixer with DirectOuts on every channel.

[TankEyes]

If you're going to record a band/drumkit, a cool option would be a firewire/usb mixing desk. It's just like a normal analog mixing desk but each channel can be routed into your DAW separately (you won't need a seperate audio card or preamps) You can get some decent quality cheap ones with 8-16 channels. You save heaps on cables too, as all the audio channels run through the one firewire/usb cable.

[33thc33]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to look into that usb mixer. I hope I'm understanding you correctly when you say the usb mixer can route all my inputs to separate channels in my DAW, if so that will solve all of my problems.

[metamorphosis]

Actually as long as you're running 24-bit, you don't need preamps for drums, generally-speaking. They're loud enough that most mics, even dynamics, will pick up probably around ~-20db or higher, which is what you want.

[2496]