When recording a podcast one of the key decisions you’ll face is whether to record in single track or multitrack. Each method has its own advantages and ideal use cases, so understanding the difference will help you choose the right approach for your project.

What is Single Track Recording?

Single track recording captures all audio sources (e.g., multiple microphones, sound effects, and background music) into one combined track. This means that everything is mixed together as it is being recorded.

When to Use Single Track Recording

• Quick and Simple Production – If you’re recording a solo podcast or a live discussion where post-production editing is minimal, single track is an easy solution.
• Livestreams & Live Performances – When audio needs to be processed and broadcast in real-time, single track recording is the best option.
• Limited Editing Needs – If you’re confident in your sound levels and don’t need to adjust individual voices separately, this method can save time.

Pros of Single Track Recording

Faster Workflow – No need to sync or edit multiple tracks.

Smaller File Sizes – Takes up less storage compared to multitrack recording (single track recordings are usually in the MB range).

Simple Setup – Ideal for beginners or quick turnaround projects.

Cons of Single Track Recording

Less Control in Post-Production – If one speaker is louder than another, you can’t adjust them separately as easily.

Limited Flexibility for Mixing – Background noise or overlapping speech is harder to fix.

What is Multitrack Recording?

Multitrack recording, as the name suggests, records each audio source onto its own separate track. For example, if you have two podcast hosts and background music, each element would be recorded independently.

When to Use Multitrack Recording

• Professional Podcast Production – If you want clean, adjustable audio for multiple speakers, multitrack is the way to go.
• Interviews with Multiple Guests – Keeps each voice separate, so you can adjust volume, clarity, or remove noise individually.
• High-Quality Mixing & Editing – Perfect for adding effects, fine-tuning volume levels, and creating a polished final product.

Pros of Multitrack Recording

More Editing Control – Adjust individual audio sources for a cleaner mix.

Better Noise Reduction – Remove unwanted sounds from a specific track.

Enhanced Mixing & Post-Production – Add effects or music without impacting voice clarity.

Cons of Multitrack Recording

Requires More Storage – Each track is recorded separately, so file sizes are larger (multi-track is usually in the GB range).

More Complex Workflow – Editing multiple tracks takes more time and precision.

Setup Can Be More Involved – Ensuring all tracks are recorded correctly takes attention to detail.

Which One Should You Choose?

• If you want a quick, no-fuss recording with minimal editing, go with single track.
• If you want maximum flexibility and professional-quality audio, multitrack is your best bet.

At Hello Studios, we use professional mixers like the Mackie DLZ and Rodecaster Pro, both of which allow multitrack recording for high-quality podcast production. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced podcaster, choosing the right recording method will help you achieve the best results.

Ask Us For Your Preference!

When you’re in studio recording, you can ask our producers to switch over your recording to Multi-Track before you get started, as our automatic setting is Single-Track. Of course, you can also inform us ahead of your session of your preference and we’ll make sure you’re set up accordingly before your session starts.

Editing in Multi-Track

Editing a multi-track audio file is a little more involved than editing a single track, as briefly mentioned before. You’ll need a more advanced audio editing software to even be able to open the file- we use Adobe Audition, and will be guiding you how to edit in Adobe Audition in this section.

What to Expect

When you import a single track file into Audition, it will naturally only open one file on your workspace. However, Multi-Track records up to 14 separate audio files and when imported into Audition, will open 14 individual audio files. This is why editing in Multi-track is more defined- every microphone channel gets separated into high tones, low tones, combined mic channel 1 and mic channel 2, so on and so forth.

Isolating Multi-Track Audio

This part is flexible depending on your file- usually when editing in multi-track we just need the combined high tone and low tone mic channel for one person being recorded, which simply means listening through each of the 14 channels and finding the right one. Typically, every 3rd file is the mixed high tone and low tone channel.

Mixing Down Multi-Track to Single-Track

In Adobe Audition, they make combing tracks into one final product very simple. You’ll need to import all your files, then open a Multi-Track project file. That way, you can simply lay each file down (or next to each other if your recording got separated into 30 minute sections), then “mix down” the project file into one single track recording.

Still confused? Ask our editors for help next time you’re in studio!