As far as a sound card goes, I'm going to go a little off the beaten track and recommend
a Seasound Solo EX, with a couple of provisos...
1) Seasound itself is out of business. There is still an active users group that's actually more helpful (and knowledgeable, IMHO) than Seasound itself was.
2) Your computer needs to be running Win 98 SE for best results. That seems to be true for a LOT of the software out there-98 SE still gives the most consistent results.
If you can live with those 2 provisos, I'll tell you why I recommend the product...
1) You get a rackmount (2U) breakout box with 2 mic preamps (with phantom power, if you decide to get condenser mics), 2 line inputs, and a whole gaggle of outputs, including mains, aux, control room, and dual headphone jacks. You also get a PCI card that plugs right into your computer and handles the interface-it hooks to the breakout box via a ribbon cable. This setup means you can plug any mic into the front of this thing and get sound, without having to buy anything else. The mic preamps are good, not great, but until you gain experience, the quality issue will be a moot point.
2) Brand new equipment (limited quantities) is still available. Go to the users group website (
www.seasoundaudio.com) and there will be a link to a distributor that still has product.
3) The prices are VERY reasonable. The unit originally sold for about $850. You can get a brand new one now for less than $200, including shipping. That's a LOT of soundcard and inputs for under $200.
I've got one that I've been using for about 9 months. It's a nice piece of equipment, and it works well with the Sonic Foundry software (I'm using Vegas, Sound Forge, and ACID).
Most importantly for you, it's cheap and easy.
