What kind of interface and pro audio card should I get?

[mojobone]

Thanks for all the feedback Mojo. You are being a real friend. The best kind I could hope to have.

I've begun looking at the Line 6 POD Studio UX2 because I plan to use sequencing for everything except guitar and vocals and the POD has most of the kinds of guitar effects I'll want to use and amp modelling etc... It didn't say specifically zero latency but not many of them do after looking at your Sweetwater link. I'll be sequencing the bass, drums and synth sounds for playback and then record guitar and vocals over the top on separate tracks. I noticed that only some of the Audio interfaces come with a DSP mixer and wondering if thats already in my Cubase 5. If not then I'll have to get that and it seemed to me there was another piece of software needed to map samples to the keys. I'll need that too if its not already integrated into Cubase 5.

You should look at the manufacturer's site as well as the Sweetwater link; most retailers are not going to tell you anything that might prevent your purchase of the products they offer, though Sweetwater is way better at asking the right questions and trying to understand your particular needs and concerns than most others. You might want to call my guy, Alan Finkbeiner, at Sweetwater, 800-222-4700, ext 1339; we're on EST, here.

Also, you might want to consider the POD X3Live as an interface; among other things, (like a wah and volume/tweak controller pedal and MIDI footswitches) it offers all of Line 6's bass amp models.

[gongchime]

They probably recommended Windows Vista Premium because it was the only computer in thier stock powerful enough to even dream of running Cubase 5. Indonesians aren't known for their purchases of high tech devices capable of launching nuclear weapons having just come in from the rice fields.

I've copied and pasted the optimization info from the first article and will read it in a bit. I did notice it said its best to do a fresh install of Vista but the CD my computer came with says Aedupac not Windows Vista so wondering if I even have a version of Vista to Install. We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy.

Yeah, the PODX3Live looks even better.

[mazz]

The Zoom R16 looks like a nice option because you can use it without a computer and then transfer files to the computer and you can use it as a DAW front end. I'd first check to see if there are drivers for Vista, though.

[mojobone]

Check out the new R24?

[gongchime]

I went ahead and got the LIne 6 PODUX2. Funny thing about that is that its the most popular external sound module in Indonesia according to the sales staff at the store. After reading the documentation it in fact says it also functions as an outboard sound card so I'm thinking now I don't need to buy a different dedicated Pro Audio module which is very cool indeed.

I don't have my mic, guitar, cables, headphones here yet so can't really test the UX2 but just firing it up and looking through, it looks like it has everything I need. It even knows how classic guitar sounds are set up and has them as presets identifiable by the songs names they were used on. It will even tell you if the guitar had single coil or humbuckers and if the pickups were in the bridge position and what not. Just slick.

I'm looking forward to get up and running to try this baby out. My guitar will be here in a week but my other stuff might not get here till August. Oh well. It will all get here eventually.