Help choosing sound card for PC

[Dnunen]

So I just ordered a new laptop that is going to be used solely for the purposes of recording. Can anyone recommend a good external sound card for me? I'll be recording my own solo/acoustic stuff at home, as well as some full band (standard rock set up) in various locations. Is there something else you guys would recommend as far as interfaces go? Thanks for any info.

[Brock]

Price range/desired quality?

[MWR]

http://www.digidesign.com/products/mbox/

I've heard the mbox is pretty good but it's not cheap at $499. You get all you need in one package which is pretty cool.

[Brock]

http://www.digidesign.com/products/mbox/

I've heard the mbox is pretty good but it's not cheap at $499. You get all you need in one package which is pretty cool.

Only 2 inputs, which might not be the best for full-band situations (of course you could use a mixer, but it can't me mastered into individual channels afterward). The Digi001 is the next step up from them and is a very good PCI-based setup (if you can afford it).

[Dnunen]

Price range/desired quality?

I don't really know what the standards are so it is hard to say. A couple of hundred is no problem. I would like something that would give me some good crisp sound for solo acoustic stuff. Full-band is somewhat secondary.
Thanks for the input.

[Dnunen]

That Mbox is cool, but it almost more than I need. I don't need much in the way of studio/editing because I use Acid Pro for that. Also, I'm not real interested in MIDI. Really I just need a sound card that serves as a good interface. Oh, and instruments and vocal are miced by a comination of Shure m57 and m58s. Thanks again.

[Speenis]

i really don't know what im talking about, but this might be a good idea....
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid ... id/701373/
although im sure tbill will shoot this down

[Brock]

That Mbox is cool, but it almost more than I need. I don't need much in the way of studio/editing because I use Acid Pro for that. Also, I'm not real interested in MIDI. Really I just need a sound card that serves as a good interface. Oh, and instruments and vocal are miced by a comination of Shure m57 and m58s. Thanks again.

Do you have a mixer? Do you care about losing the ability to remaster tracks after recording?

EDIT: and by that i mean you won't be able to adjust the volume levels of each instrument/mic

[Dnunen]

I don't have mixer at the moment, but won't I be able to adjust volumes and EQ after recording using an editing program? Right now I'm thinking of going with an m-audio quattro http://m-audio.com/products/m-audio/quattro.php. I like this over the Mbox because it has the capability to expand by adding something like the Omni I/O http://m-audio.com/products/m-audio/omni.php. That way, if I end up recording drums or live full band I'll have something like 10 I/O. The Mbox is limited to two. The problem is that this will be a little expensive. Any comments or suggestions?

[Brock]

Well, my only issue with that is that Digidesign is the best in the business in terms of quality; m-audio is bleh. Whatever you get will need to be ASIO- (or compatible) compliant in order to be able to separate the different sources into separate tracks and edit their individual volumes later. I would recommend anything Digidesign, and hell, if you're willing to bump up your price to, say, around $1300, you could get a Digi002 Rack and have up to 32 individual tracks. But my guess is no.

[Dnunen]

Your guess would be correct. Plus, I need to go the USB route since this is off of a laptop. I've done a little more digging around and I'm now leaning toward a Tascam US-428http://tascam.com/product_info.php?pid= ... _recording. That seems like it would serve as a mixer, preamp, and soundcard all in one, adn there are multiple I/O's. Thanks again for the help.