[Jack-Devel] Processing multichannel inputs in JACK

[David Kastrup]

Benny Alexandar <ben.alex at outlook.com> writes:

> Hi,
>
> I have a requirement to process and analyze more than 5 audio stereo
> inputs simultaneously capture and analyze using a client program.
> How it can be achieved with JACK.

You use a sound interface with more than 5 audio stereo inputs.  Nothing
special is required to work with those, and there is a whole slew of
them.  Personally, I am using a Mackie Onyx 1640 mixer with Firewire
card that has 8 mono and 4 stereo channels and delivers 18 channels (2
additional channels for the Main Mix).  But of course there are other
devices delivering similar functionality.

It's also common to have sound interfaces with 8 analog inputs of their
own able to synchronize on an ADAT source where you employ another
8-channel A/D converter in order to get 16 (or 24 channels) of result.

For more comparable results, there are interfaces like an RME Digiface
which accept several A/D converters (which you need to set up such that
they synchronize to a common clock).

Of course, the solutions with additional A/D converters are not exactly
cheap, so a multichannel mixer with computer interface, though quite
bulky, might be the most affordable option once you cross the "8 analog
inputs" threshold: few dedicated sound interfaces have more than that.

-- 
David Kastrup