Sound channel and audio track are 2 audio terms that we often contact in shooting, recording, and post-production. But they are confused because of the similar concepts. Hence, this article comes to help you have a deep understanding of the three terms.

Sound Channel

Sound channel refers to the independent audio signals captured or played back in different spatial positions during sound recording or playing. A sound channel represents an audio signal. The mono means that only one audio signal is recorded, while the dual-channel means that two audio signals are recorded. Stereo expresses the recording of the left and right audio signals with the spatial position of the dual channels.

We should know that the recording will come in mono when only one microphone is activated, even if the stereo is selected. Because the two sound channels record identical audio signals. The recording comes in stereo when using two microphones or a microphone with two mics. For example, if we use Traxshot for stereo recording, we need to switch the Traxshot to S1 or S2 mode.

Audio Track

Audio track refers to the storage of audio signals on the medium. Among the early tape recorders, 24 track tape recorders were popular. The 24 tracks here represent 24 parallel strips on a two-inch-wide tape. Each strip can be used to record an audio signal. Now the commonly used digital recorder is to record the sound on the hard disk or memory card. Digital recorders generally support multi-track recording. Like MixPre-3 II, supports recording 5 audio tracks simultaneously.

Perhaps you have a simple explanation of the 2 terms?

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