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How much card space should you allow for a multitrack podcast?
Published by Take & Track
Count every channel the recorder saves, including any stereo mix. Four isolated microphones plus a recorded left/right mix means six channels. At 48 kHz and packed 24-bit PCM, 90 minutes of six-channel audio takes 4.6656 GB before overhead.
Read the armed-track list
Four microphones plugged in can produce very different files. A stereo mix alone writes two channels. Four mono isolates write four. Recording those isolates together with the stereo mix writes six. Read the track-arm settings and inspect the test file in an editor before estimating the full session.
One minute per mono channel at these settings costs 8.64 MB. In this example, six channels cost 51.84 MB per minute. Add a 10-minute sound check and 20 minutes of possible overrun to the 90-minute programme. A two-hour recording budget then becomes 6.2208 GB, before headers or any unrelated files already on the card.
Separate the card budget from the copy budget
Two independent storage destinations holding that entire two-hour six-channel recording each need at least 6.2208 GB for the audio. Together they account for 12.4416 GB across the two devices. Keep the fly-away mix, editor exports or project caches on their own lines if the destinations will also contain those files.
Do a short playback of each microphone in isolation. A six-channel file can occupy exactly the expected space even if one channel is silent or routed to the wrong source. Label the channels while the microphones are still in front of you.