How do you work with stems ?

[smartel]

I've converted online ( bandlab , spliter AI etc) live dual-mono audio
so i could make them sound a bit better

i had a few individual files (bass , drum , vocals and others*)
and i also had stems (aac) the sounded a bit better

and the stems imported in Vegas (VMS) and cakewalk as the main dual mono track (no bass , no drum etc)

but in audacity i had 5 dual mono tracks (main , drums, bass , vocal , and others*) this is 10 tracks looks like i can't export more than 8 with audacity

Their must be an easier way to work with them ...
i want to clean up artifacts and add a few vst

any suggestions ?

*others being guitars , melody ...

[davexnet]

The first consideration is artistic, what do want to do to your stems with regard to sound modification,
second is logistical, how/can Audacity be used to manipulate the tracks to do what what you want in terms of mixing and export, etc.

For example , with a multi track project open, you can use mute/solo to hear individual or groups of track
and use the Select button (CTRL key to select more that one) to apply effects to the seleced track(s)
and mix to a new track and/or export
just those tracks (usually mix to stereo is automatic)

Audacity can do it, but its interface takes a bit of getting used to