Wadda ya mean, "money is an issue??" All you G** D**n teachers out there making $70G's a year with three months off to boot.... You're probably sitting at home now wondering what to do with your summer. Why don't ya get a summer job, or would that be too much work for one of you "teachers?"
Sorry.... I'm TOTALLY kidding, and can empathise well. I'm a teacher too, and I have a pretty humble but "good enough for me" home studio with a lot of "bang for the buck" type gear.
Computer: Celeron 466Mhz processor (not over-clocked.)
7200rpm HD (Quantum Fireball, 20gig)
384 Megs ram
17" monitor
Acer 6x4x32 CD burner (comes bundled w/ Nero)
Delta 44 soundcard (audio) (comes bundled with
Gigasampler)
D-Man PCI soundcard (midi+audio if necessary)
Cubase VST 5.1 (24bit version)
Steinberg LM4 MKII Drum module.
Other stuff: Peavey TMP1 mic pre
Behringer Composer Pro expander/compressor/limiter
(2 channel)
Behringer MX802 mixer
Rode NT1 condensor,
Sure SM58 mics, plus a couple
of other crappy ones.
More other stuff that nobody will care about...
As far as the computer goes, you can't even buy this stuff any more (except the soundcards), but I get 24 tracks (+/- depending on how much EQ, FX, etc.) of 24bit audio at 44.1khz for playback. I can record four tracks simultaneously with no drop-outs (never tried more....). You could probably buy a used computer like this for next to not much.
The other stuff I have been totally happy with. I know there is better stuff out there, but until I can afford more, and until my skills catch up to the limitations of my gear, they certainly serve their purpose.
Anyway, hope that gives you a bit of a perspective. I'm off to find stuff to supplement my unit on Forces acting on Structures and Mechanisms for Grade 5....
Happy teaching!!
Chris