A multichannel recording and analysis system is now in use for beamforming, signal processing, and noise‐field studies on large acoustic arrays. Each of the 252 data channels records and reproduces signals from dc to 20 kHz with a reproduced‐signal to system‐noise level difference of more than 40 dB and a maximum timing error between channels of less than 3 μsec. Timing signals giving 1‐μsec time resolution and digital signals with housekeeping and manually set information are also recorded. A real‐time playback system reproduces the original time and voltage relationships for all 252 channels simultaneously. A second playback system processes 40 channels at a time through a 40‐channel A‐to‐D converter and a 40‐channel 1024‐point FFT processor. This system produces digital tapes containing the signal samples the auto‐spectral‐density data and the cross‐spectral data for the 40 input channels. The data on these tapes is either plotted, further processed by a computer, or combined with other output tapes to produce the cross spectra between any pairs of the 252 input channels. Examples of current rises of this system are given.