Well, I'm not used to dealing with a total newbie, which I assume you are.....I'm assuming you have no experience recording anything? Is that correct? Do you play an instrument? Any experience making any kind of sound at all? Electric Keyboard? Electric Guitar? etc..... or are you a complete beginner?
If the answer is "Yes, I'm a total beginner!" then I would suggest something for you that I have never suggested to anybody......
You might have better luck if you first go to the bookstore and get one of those "Home Recording for Dummies" books. No offense, there really is such a book at the book store. I'm not sure of the exact title, but a book like that seems like a great start for someone who is really a total beginner. It can explain all of those "silly dumbass questions" that a lot of beginners may have, like what is meant by tip-ring-sleeve, or what is xlr, or what does a preamp do, what is phantom power, should I mic it or go direct in, or why would I use a compressor, or how do I eq a vocal track, etc.etc...
I dont know how much or how little you already know, and I dont usually recommend reading books and trade mags, hands on experimenting is preferred, but in your case - if you really are totally new to this - it might help you quite a bit.
Also, there are 3 or 4 forums online that may have bits and pieces of the information you need. No single forum will have everything you need to know about your specific gear list, but if you search several forums and you are able to put two and two together pretty well, you should be able to extrapolate useful informtaion that will allow you to look at your own gear and figure out what each thing does. No two pieces of gear are identical (unless one is a Behringer copy of another! LOL!!) but they are similar enough that you can figure them out after you get used to the common signal routings and the common terminology.
Harmony Central is a runaway zoo, but if you can sift thru the crap and the potty mouth stuff, there is some very good information buried in there somewhere.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/index.php
The Recording Project is much mellower, but has several knowledgable people and a good history of informative threads.
http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/index.php
Tascam Forums is a good place to learn a few tricks. Dont be fooled by the Tascam-specific nature of the place, there is plenty of good info there that you can adapt to your own uses, and some extremely knowledgable pro and semi-pro people hanging out there.
http://www.tascamforums.com/
Sound On Sound has a lot of good info and articles, but you'll have to hunt for it.
http://www.soundonsound.com/
Do a Google on "PA Bible" or "sound reinforcement".....Shure has a PA Bible, EV has one, and there is one from another company. They are aimed at doing live sound, but live sound has many principles and applications that can be translated to the studio, especially the basic terms and basic signal routing stuff.
EV PA Bible
http://www.prosoundweb.com/install/commentary/kc/ev/pabible/pab_01_p1.shtml
Shure Educational
http://www.shure.com/booklets/default.asp
One last tip......I've noticed that the weakest link in the quality of most forums is.......you guessed it...... the Search function. Searching and search logic is almost a fine science in and of itself. (Why do you think the two guys who started Google are getting so rich??) So try to be lenient with your searches.....instead of searching for "DOD 430 QX" try just searching for "graphic eq" or "parametric eq". The more generalized your search is the more results you'll get to sift thru. And, like jkokura says, make sure you are searching full text, not just titles or subject lines.
Hope this helps you start out on the right track....... (pun intended!)
SC
