Need help on Soundcard

[siaoboy]

Planning to do some basic recording at home and my requirement is as follow

As i have no band and basically solo,i will only need 2 input. One for vocal and another for instrument (either acoustic/electric guitar or keyboard)

Im very new with this and planning to do "multi-tracking" and from what i gather , most people seem to be going with the digital implementation using external soundcard like the Presonus firebox and Lexicon product.

Will need advice here. What is the most recommended soundcard i should get? Presonus Firebox or any other recommended product.

I only have instrument and mic Shure SM58 and no preamp. I heard dynamic mic like SM58 is not suitable for Firebox? Is it true?

Thanks

 

[smurfpiss]

There really needs to be a definitive guide for project studios sticky'ed!

The Firebox is definitely a top contender in that price range, IMO you can't really go wrong with it. However you might want to try all in one solutions like the Line6 Studio or Toneport series, which allow you to record some pretty nice guitar sounds with their software like POD Farm or Gearbox at very low latency without squeezing too much power from your PC.

Dynamic mics will work fine with any audio interface that has XLR inputs.

 

[U'aint]

It's pretty common that dynamic mic needs a seperate pre-amp to boost. I got the firebox too, really good for its price comparing to the other same range firewire audio interface. The closest is the Sapphire Pro LE, which is 500 over bucks.

 

[siaoboy]

Thanks Smurfpiss and U'aint. I was browsing thru the web and came across the Line 6 Toneport UX8 and it is currently on sale at@595. How does this compare with the Firebox in term of bundled application as well as ease of use?

Most importantly, the reliability of the unit plus the quality of the recording(built-in preamp) will be my utmost concern

 

[U'aint]

Seriously, i dun think you will need that many amount of inputs of the ux8, I say go for the firebox, its has the right amount of input for small home recording studio and it is also portable enuf to be transported around in a backpack. I always bring it along with a laptop so I can run my software when jamming.

Reliability wise, you can count on the firebox, sturdy enough coz its entirely made of metal and the preamp can get really loud if you turn the knob all the way.