Best choice for the $- Audiophile 24/96?

[austinm08]

new soundcard - Audiophile 24/96 or Alesis Multimix 8USB mixer?

I'm considering getting me an Audiophile 2496 because all I have now is the cheap soundcard (Realtek AC'97..VIA)that came with my computer, which is fairly old itself.

My signal chain is:
Shure SM-57 --> M-Audio AudioBuddy (dual mic preamp-direct box) --> Line In

So I'm just wondering, is the Audiophile 2496 the best choice with a low price? thanks

-also sorry if this has been asked before. I'm sure it has.. and I looked around a little but didn't find anything-

Edit: I think it would be a better idea to get the Alesis Blem MultiMix 8USB Mixer off MusiciansFriend for $130.. rather than a soundcard for 100.. because then I would be spending only 30 more dollars and wouldn't have to worry about the soundcard (right?) and I'd have the ability to use 8 inputs if I needed to down the road.

 

[wx3]

SM-57 ---> Audio buddy ---> Audiophile 24/96

Would be a great start as a beginner. The audiophile is a reliable card and everyone has atleast one sm-57 kicking around.

 

[austinm08]

SM-57 ---> Audio buddy ---> Audiophile 24/96

Would be a great start as a beginner. The audiophile is a reliable card and everyone has atleast one sm-57 kicking around.

What would you say in reply to my edit above?

 

[austinm08]

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Please read the whole post.

 

[Mindset]

I didn't really like the Alesis usb mixer that much, it gave me all sorts of problems & quality wasn't that good. I ended up getting the 24/96 with a behringer 1222-fx pro mixer. It gave me more exceptional quality then the usb mixer... but if money is an issue, I would still get the audiophile rather the usb mixer.. Should save your money a little bit longer, and get a little bit better things.

Expecially when the mixer your thinking of getting, is a blemished version of the regular product... also you'll probably get a delay in your recordings since for one, it's not usb 2.0, and for 2, USB would be too slow to use...

 

[austinm08]

I didn't really like the Alesis usb mixer that much, it gave me all sorts of problems & quality wasn't that good. I ended up getting the 24/96 with a behringer 1222-fx pro mixer. It gave me more exceptional quality then the usb mixer... but if money is an issue, I would still get the audiophile rather the usb mixer.. Should save your money a little bit longer, and get a little bit better things.

Expecially when the mixer your thinking of getting, is a blemished version of the regular product... also you'll probably get a delay in your recordings since for one, it's not usb 2.0, and for 2, USB would be too slow to use...

So will you explain a little further on the Behringer 1222? Do you just have a guitar cord plugging in to your line in port? one track at a time?