Digitizing audio files

I have a 4-track tape that I want to digitize using Sound Forge. I was
thinking of playing the tape back on a 4-track deck into my computer's
sound card one track at a time. However the timing would likely be off.

Arny Krueger...

You can manually synch them with good multitrack editing/mixing software.

Mr.T...

But since it's an analog deck with speed fluctuations, wow and flutter etc.
not easy to do for two or more passes.
(Unless you like the timing/phasing problems that would be introduced of
course :-)

Is there any way I can input 4 separate tracks at one time and save
them to separate tracks in Sound Forge? Is there such a thing as a

Arny Krueger...

I guess. I'm not a Sound Forge expert - what you want to do would be easy in

Geoff...

SoundForge is a stereo audio editor and can only record mono or stereo. It
does not attempt to do all things.

There are many 4, 8, or more channel audio interfaces available, but you
would probably need to go to a more sophisticated computer or music store to
find one. Zillions available online.

Audition.

Mr.T...

Possible in Audition, *not easy* to get good results though, if you want to
get rid of the speed variation problem.
You would have to use Vegas rather than Sound Forge for a Sony alternative.

multi-track sound card?

Jeff Findley...

I don't own the above, but they do seem to indicate that you can buy
multi-track sound cards.

Matt Ion...

Even with a standard sound card, you wouldn't have to do it one track at
a time... you could do it in two passes, two tape tracks to two stereo
input channels at a time. It shouldn't be too hard to line up two
stereo tracks, although it might require different software - last time
I used SoundForge it only did a single stereo track.

Mr.T...

Yes, still does. Vegas is Sony's multi-track editor.
I line up audio tracks all the time for video work, and by simply
introducing a click at the start, it is easy to get within a couple of
samples.
The bigger problem is that there will be speed variations (or wow and
flutter variations if you like) between two playing's of an analog tape
which are far greater than that.

However there are plenty of multi-track sound cards available for a
reasonable price anyway.

Arny Krueger...

Tons of them.

Mark D. Zacharias...

Having read your post and several replies, I'm thinking you'll be better off
mixing down to stereo prior to importing into the computer. Borrow equipment
if necessary. You can keep the 4-track master or import the channels
separately for future needs.

Mark Z.

Laurence Payne...

Yes, there are multi-port soundcards.
is one place to look.

You have a few issues.

Check that your 4-track machine WILL output 4 separate tracks. Many
of them have only two in/out channels. You can export a stereo mix
but not all 4 separate tracks.

Sound Forge, last time I looked, was a stereo wave editor, not a
multitrack recorder. WILL it record 4 tracks at once?

If you import the tracks two at a time, you have synch issues. It's
easy enough to line up the tracks at the start. But, unless the tape
speed is absolutely stable, they'll drift apart. They MAY stay
acceptably close over a short song. But it's a matter of luck.