[Svartalfiar]

What do you have that’s actually a separate stereo input? A single mic is nearly always a mono input (if you see a stereo signal, it’s the exact same L/R)(three wires doesn’t mean stereo - balanced and stereo are NOT the same thing). You mention you’re going in from a mixer, but are your sources actually L/R? You have separate L/R physical mics, whose channels are each faded completely L or R going to the main out?

Does this recording actually need to be separately tracked?

[Svartalfiar]

Forgot to mention, if you actually do have the full stereo setup / requirement, you can always just buy a recording device, then copy that over to the laptop after. Marantz, Zoom (not the Chinese web video company), Tascam, Sony, and a couple others all make small handheld-sized, battery or plug powered, XLR or 1/8, audio recording devices. Record to SD/miniSD, then just drop it on your computer.

[Paul R.]

Yes, the signal from the mixer is sometimes from multiple sources and mics, mixed down to stereo. (L/R fades are often partial, BTW, as anyone who's played with being even amateur "recording engineer knows.) I also experiment with binaural recording. AND, I have a lot of old analog recordings on or from LP's (and various assortment / compilation tapes made on my Nakamichi recorder) that I want to preserve. They may be a little noisy, but the actual dynamics of the recordings are often far superior to modern "Loudness Wars" junk (including many a "remastered" reissue). Not to mention the musical content itself.