Best Sound card for Recording Multiple radios ?

[JLM7424]

I want to build a computer system from some spare parts i have I,am wondering Opinions on it.

1. How many Sound cards can a computer handle ?

2. Is their a special card out their for this type of stuff Communications recording with
like 4 Recordable inputs, Crazy Thought What would the goverment Use?


I will Be Building it on my Old gaming platform before I Upgraded :

AMD Athlon™ FX FX-62 | Asus crosshair MB | 4Gb DDR2 800mhz ram
Wd Raptor 10k HD | Basic Video

Suggestions Appreciated on Sound cards for Hi end Results
I either want to go with multiple X-fi 's or a really good hi-end do it all .

[rvictor]

Keep in mind that if all you are going to be recording is scanner audio, you don't need top end "hi-fi" frequency response.

Dick

[tekshogun]

Check this out: Emu 1212M PCI 24-Bit/192kHz Balanced Interface (Windows) from zZounds.com! a card from E-MU, one of the cheaper ones out there and it has 4 inputs I believe

M-Audio also makes 4 (or more) input audio cards but because they are made for high quality sound recording, they tend to cost way more than something like the above.

In the past, I have used the Lexicon Omega which comes with Cubase LE (a multi-track recording software). Lexicon Omega from zZounds.com! This puppy is external and works via USB. It also has 4 inputs that you can route to individual tracks in whatever software you are using (like the cards mentioned above are capable of).

If you are not trying to do multi-track recording, you can find a cheap mixer (such as something Radio Shack may sell) and run a single input into your existing sound card. Unless you are recording a bunch of transmissions at once (why?) then the mixer lets you choose what channels to record and at what levels right on the board.

In the end, I would just go with a cheap/decent multi-input sound card (internal or external) and get a multi-track recording package (if it does not already come with the hardware). There are lots of programs out there should you need one so I can not honestly begin to suggest one as I use M-Audio Pro Tools for music recording.

Good luck on your search and project.

[MPSCS]

Two sound cards will give you four mono channels to record. Connect one radio to the right channel, and one to the left channel of the stereo connector of each card.