New. Unlearned. In need of Advice.

[Chordorganblues]

EDIT: I realize now that this is probably better suited for the "Newbies" board. I'll post this there. Sorry.

Hello. I have been recording music played by myself with a Boss BR-1180cd which has been recently removed from the picture. I am now considering to take this opportunity to change to a more direct to PC sort of approach. I am, however, woefully unknowledgeable. I want to have flexibility and quality but I really am trying to not spend a lot of money, at least not yet.

So as I understand it, in order to bridge my XLR cables and instrument cables to my PC I need something like this guy: M-Audio Fast Track Pro
Do I have the right idea?

What other sort of equipment am I likely to need? Do I need any particular features out of my soundcard?

And while I have your attention. . . ProTools? Logic? Other? I don't own any yet.

(I am aware of, and apologize for the fact that I'm asking about so much in one thread. I'm just trying to get my bearing in a strange new frontier.)

 

[TeyshaBlue]

EDIT: I realize now that this is probably better suited for the "Newbies" board. I'll post this there. Sorry.

Hello. I have been recording music played by myself with a Boss BR-1180cd which has been recently removed from the picture. I am now considering to take this opportunity to change to a more direct to PC sort of approach. I am, however, woefully unknowledgeable. I want to have flexibility and quality but I really am trying to not spend a lot of money, at least not yet.

So as I understand it, in order to bridge my XLR cables and instrument cables to my PC I need something like this guy: M-Audio Fast Track Pro
Do I have the right idea?

What other sort of equipment am I likely to need? Do I need any particular features out of my soundcard?

And while I have your attention. . . ProTools? Logic? Other? I don't own any yet.

(I am aware of, and apologize for the fact that I'm asking about so much in one thread. I'm just trying to get my bearing in a strange new frontier.)

First off, the interface you choose will become your soundcard. The Fast Track Pro is decent. The next thing you'll want to examine is the software to run on your computer to record with. Since you have experience with the Boss, you're already familiar with some of the basics of multi-tracking. I think you'll find that this will transfer into the DAW arena quite well. For recording software, I'd recommend Reaper for a couple of reasons:
1. It's free to try. If you decide to keep it, they ask for a $60 donation, but the copy you have will continue to work with full functionality regardless.
2. There's a ton of Reaper users on this board, so help and advice should be easy to get.

I don't use Reaper myself, as I'm currently running Sonar Producer 8. But Reaper has a good rep for stability and usability.

How capable is your computer? Does it support Firewire? What CPU? How much RAM, etc....