Hi Sue,
I would recommend option #2 because this is probably the most flexible and
least expensive solution. It is indeed possible to record more than two
channels simultaneously onto a computer-based system. The Avisoft-RECORDER
software (http://www.avisoft.com/recorder.htm) for instance can handle up to
32 channels (from a single application instance). There are both
sound-activated and timer-controlled triggering modes available. The
recorded wav. files itself and a dedicated LOG file will contain exact time
stamps.
This software is compatible to any multichannel audio interface or
soundcard. A well-suited model would be for instance the
M-AUDIO Delta1010LT
(http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html) You could
install 4 of these 8-channel boards into your computer, which would provide
a total number of 32 simultaneous channels.
Another solution would be to use several cheap external USB or FireWire
audio interfaces (preferably with integrated microphone preamplifiers) than
could be attached to a single PC via an external USB 2.0 HUB:
- M-AUDIO Mobil Pre USB
(http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB-main.html)
- Aureon 5.1 USB MK II (http://sounden.terratec.net/)
- MAYA44 USB (http://www.audiotrak.net/maya44usb.htm)
Note that you will need additional microphone preamplifiers for those audio
interfaces that only provide line inputs. A suited 8-channel preamplifier
would be for instance the SM Pro PR8 (http://www.smproaudio.com/PR8.htm).
Best regards,
Raimund Specht
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Avisoft Bioacoustics
Breite Straße 20 A
13187 Berlin
Germany
tel +49 30 48476986
fax +49 30 48476987
www.avisoft.com
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