newbie SC advice

[vrmarlar]

Hey folks.

Hope somewhere here has a little advice. Here's the rundown:
I've got a nice new desktop (with a terrible integrated sound card) that I plan to use for most of my recording. Right now I'm learning the ropes for Cakewalk.
Basically, I'm going to be laying down most of the tracks myself, so multiple inputs aren't that important (but I guess it would be nice to have at least 4 just in case). I've been using a shure sm57 and a cheap mic preamp (although I think I'm about to invest in the studio projects vtb-1) to lay down tracks for vocals and acoustic intruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc.). I've a got a nice acoustic/electric Takamine, but I've found I get alot of distortion if I plug it directly into the sound card. I also want to lay down tracks using an electric bass and was wondering if they could be run directly into a sound card. Or is it best just to mic the amps for electric instruments?
Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for a sound card with the bare essentials ( hopefully under $200) since like I said its mainly just going to be for personal recording.
I apologize if this is a worn out subject on this board.

Thanks for reading,

Rich

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Bare essentials, 2in/2out unbalanced RCA + SPDIF + MIDI = M-Audio Audiophile 2496: $149

Bare essentials, 2in/2out balanced 1/4" = Echo Mia: $199

Bare essentials, 4in/4out balanced 1/4" = m-Audio Delta44: $230

You can only run line level signals into a soundcard, thus any sort of direct interface with a line level output will work. (e.g. Sansamp DI boxes, Line6 POD, Johnson J-Station, etc etc etc). Whether you choose to go direct or mic an amp is up to you...it all depends on your equipment and the sound you're going for.

That said, running bass DI is very common via preamps and DI boxes (Sansamp Bass Driver, Bass POD, ART Tube Mic Preamp, etc). Guitar usually doesn't sound that great direct, but these new amp modelers like the POD and all its clones do a good enough job at fooling people that you'll probably get a much better sound with one if your amp and/or room and/or mics aren't that great.

One of the biggest benefits of running direct is that you can record without making a lot of noise. With the bass you can also very often get a much more managable, mixable sound than trying to mic a bass rig. Combinations of direct and micing are also used...there are no hard & fast rules. (note when people say "direct" in this context, they don't mean just plugging a guitar into a soundcard...they mean running the guitar into some kind of gizmo and then taking a line out of the gizmo into the soundcard)

Slackmaster 2000