Do I need a compressor????

[JPlush76]

I have a small home studio I'm putting together, PC based using Cakewalk's Sonar program, echo Gina input system and a maudio pre amp.

My main concern of course is warm vocals and drum sounds.

Do I need to get an external compressor to record the vocals and drums or should I just use the interal compression built into cakewalk?

thanks in advance!

also what would be a good compressor choice for under $200?

 

[gbondo9]

Thats about the same setup as I have. For now, I just use the software, and I get by, but I want the versatility and quality of the hardware and soon I will be purchasing an RNC ( http://www.fmraudio.com/ ). As most of the people on this board would agree (and if you do a search for compression, or RNC, you will see), its the best bang for the buck (<$200).
http://store.yahoo.com/mercenary-audio/realniccom.html

There are lots of other options out there as well. The Behringer composer for only $99. Joe meek makes some good compressors (unsure of prices at this moment. And there are lots of higher end (and lower end...and mid range) compressors out there (and software plug ins), that Im unfamiliar with.

Hope this helps.
Todd