Complete home recording studio

[Ryuuzaki]

Hello!
This is my first post here.

I've been writing music for about 5 years now, using programs such as Harmony Assistant and Guitar Pro. Now, I've never liked the quality of sound with these programs, but never really had the chance to try out anything new (financially).
However, I feel that now is the time to start building my own small home recording studio...

Thing is, I have very little (almost no) knowledge about recording and mixing and such, having always used the above programs. So basically, I'm asking what I need to have a complete beginner's studio. Everything... If I could also get some suggestions as to which of each type that I need (what I mean is, if you say I need a Mixer, that you also state which brand and model is good). Please note that money is a bit of an issue.
Not to say I want the cheapest of everything, but something with a good price/quality ratio.

What I'm looking to do is record Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboard/Synth and Vocals.

I know I'm asking a lot, but I would greatly appreciate any input and suggestions on this. So, thanks in advance!

 

[suprstar]

I assum you want to record with your computer, since you seem to have one already. Standalone recorders aren't really cheap..

Do you want to records a lot of tracks at once? Or is 2 tracks at a time sufficient? If 2 at a time is ok, then a little $100 USB mixer is pretty much all you need.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/?sku=630166V

Just plug it into your PC, plug your mics/instruments into it, and record away..

If you want to record a lot of tracks simultaneously, you'll need a firewire interface with enough channels for your purposes. Presonus is a good name. This particular one, the FP10, has 10 ins and 10 outs, costs $400, and comes with Cubase LE. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/?sku=242036

 

[Sir_Doof_Alot]

The Alesis Multimix works OK for recording to your computer, but I'll tell you right now, getting the right drivers for it is a pain in the -you-know-what...

You have to have "ASIO drivers" for it, and there are alot of free kinds, but in my case, nothing worked. I finally found usb-audio.de... It took about 75 bucks out of my wallet, but at least the drivers did work. If you go with a USB mixer, I'd suggest the Alesis USB Multimix 2.0.. not the original. The drivers for the 2.0 are on Alesis' website.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-MultiMix-8-USB-2.0-8Channel-Mixer?sku=801473
The price is a good bit higher (300 bucks compared to 140), but I'd suggest it before I would ever suggest the original to anyone.

But like suprstar stated, firewire would be a good choice.

 

[suprstar]

Really, it doesn't come with working drivers?? Damn, that's the last thing I'd expect to be an issue with it.. I own a similar one - a little Yamaha mixer (MW-10) that worked perfectly right out of the box. I am running asio and never experienced a single problem with em. The MW10 isnt in production anymore, this is the next generation - it's basically the same thing with some fx:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/?sku=637172

Takes rca's for 4 channels too, which is real handy.