DAW or straight to computer/16 or 24

[dapper]

I'm in the market for a DAW. This is for a band with guitars, banjo, piano, and maybe a drum kit. I'm not sure if 16 tracks is adequate, or whether I should go up to 24.

Portability is a huge issue, so I was wondering if I can make a good recording directly to my computer with not a huge amount of gear, or is it more efficient with a DAW? (I don't have a car.) I have a new, powerful laptop.

Also, which 16 and 24 DAWs do you recommend? I've heard some bad reviews with quite a few of them...if any of you experienced home recorders have had a great experience with one of them, please let me know! A good 16 or 24 track DAW with good editing and mastering features is ideal.

Regards,
dapper

PS sorry if this shows up multiple times, i've been having problems posting!

 

[Bulls Hit]

One option is to use your laptop with a firewire interface like the presonus Firepod. This gives you portability and will let you record 8 tracks at a time

 

[dapper]

presonus Firepod sounds great, I'm looking at it on musician's friend. A definite option.

 

[BigRay]

then...get an all in one like the AKAI DSP 24

I'm in the market for a DAW. This is for a band with guitars, banjo, piano, and maybe a drum kit. I'm not sure if 16 tracks is adequate, or whether I should go up to 24.

Portability is a huge issue, so I was wondering if I can make a good recording directly to my computer with not a huge amount of gear, or is it more efficient with a DAW? (I don't have a car.) I have a new, powerful laptop.

Also, which 16 and 24 DAWs do you recommend? I've heard some bad reviews with quite a few of them...if any of you experienced home recorders have had a great experience with one of them, please let me know! A good 16 or 24 track DAW with good editing and mastering features is ideal.

Regards,
dapper

PS sorry if this shows up multiple times, i've been having problems posting!

 

[dapper]

So bulls hit, with the presonus firewire, I don't need anything else other than a laptop, some mics and cables, and my instruments? I'm still kinda fuzzy.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Yep as long as your laptop has a 1394 firewire port, you're good to go

 

[dapper]

Excellent, I think I've made my decision. Would you say the fact that the Presonus doesn't go higher than 24/96 negligible?

 

[Bulls Hit]

I would recommend you don't go over 24/48 on your laptop, unless its got a 7200 rpm drive. Even then there's no advantage in 96K. All you get are bigger files