Hi. Anybody know how to record 4 instruments "live" but on seperate tracks so the whole mix can still be edited for volume etc, without having a million bucks worth of equipment? any help would be appreciated. Thanks

cooledit pro/adobe audition and either a multitrack sound card (preferable), or 2 sound cards.

in cool edit's multitrack, you can set each track to only record either left or right from a particular sound card. a multichannel card will usually show up as 2 or more separate devices. you just have to sort out what instrument's for what, and it'll all be fine.

I suggest you look at the M-Audio Delta 44 for multi-track recording. I use one and it works quite well. I'm the audio engineer for my friend's band and I use Adobe Audition with a Delta 44 and a M-Audio Transit to record 6 tracks. If you're going to use microphones on any of the inputs you'll either need a mixer to act as a mic pre-amp or a dedicated microphone amplifier.

If you want to go for a dirt cheap solution to recording, you could get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (If you dont mind recording @ 16bit 48khz). It can record up to 4 tracks at one time. As said, youll also need to invest a little in preamps and mics. Adobe Audition is also a good choice for multitracking and mixing.

Thanks. I do have another sound card instaled but i'm reluctant to try it as its a piece of junk. Re the seperate left + right story, do I have to split the lead coming out of the pc? Also, can you use both "line" and "mic" inputs? it seems windows only allows you to select 1. Thanks again.