wanting to upgrade to some actual equipment. HELP

[kodymakesnoise]

the most recording I've done has been using a usb guitar hero mic to record some guitar right now i have fl9 and what little i have recorded has been through there using edison, i also own asio, reason, and audicity
I want to upgrade to some actual equipment (on a very tight budget)... but I'm not sure what i need i was looking at a behringer xenyx 502 but I got to thinking and (not sure if im right here) i dont think that would send more than a single signal to my computer. so i wouldnt be able to indivdually edit each track

so the question is.
How do you get more than one signal when you have multiple tracks going in.
What would be some basic equipment i would want to look at.

sorry for the newbness but any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Shadow_7]

Are there sticky's at top that answer these question? I haven't looked myself. But generally you need mic + cable + stand + preamp + converter + computer (or other capture device). Something like an H4n is sort of an all in one for a few of those things(preamp+converter[ADC/DAC]+storage). But the real question is what do you already have? If you have nothing, it can add up quick and get expensive.

You'll probably want to start with a multi-channel interface. One that has preamps included, to include a method to monitor via headphones. Which is something that you wont find on your typical USB mic(s). One channel, generally input only. How many channels do you need? What's the budget? Zoom H4n if you want an all in one sort of thing. Don't even need a computer for that. Emu 0404, UA-25, Mobile Pre, or other options if you only need a couple of channels. And other options if you need more. If you don't already have mics + cables + stands + boom arms + ..... it will add up quicker than one realizes.