So My band wants to record and basically I'm the only one who has some clue on how to do this we have a pretty decent mixer/PA system and run the line out to my laptop and then into audacity but the sound card is not up to snuff for recording. So I was planning on getting a new soundcard and since its a laptop that leaves only usb soundcards. Essentially I'm asking what a good usb soundcard (if any) for recording is.

any help would be awesome thanks guys.

rme...
usb cable, proprietary transfer protocol for ultra low latency
and increased transfer rates...
http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php

I have been looking into this stuff and was thinking of using this to add firewire to my laptop. The reviews are pretty encouraging but I have no personal experience.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16839130004

That RME stuff looks interesting too.

Peace,
S

If you don't need something ridiculously expensive, the Tascam US-144 is what I am curently using. It's not as feature-laden as some of the other more expensive units out there on the market, but it does what I need it to do. :)

I have been looking into this stuff and was thinking of using this to add firewire to my laptop. The reviews are pretty encouraging but I have no personal experience.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16839130004

That RME stuff looks interesting too.

Peace,
S

i use a lacie fw 800 express card with a macbook pro, it has been stable for me so far.
if you are looking for only 2 in/ 2 out there are many inexpensive solutions, but if you are looking to be able to record up to 8 tracks and expand, you might want to invest in something that can maintain in an upgrade situation.
no matter what you get hardware-wise though you should research compatibility with your specific os/ machine first... i believe asio 4 all is still a preferred option for audio management on windows systems... these aspects effect the performance of the interface.

well i don't need features i just need a decent line in, it doesn't even need to be a mic input because we plan to run it straight from the mixing board that we have.


(mainly just something that doesn't cost to much and will replace the line in on my laptop with a better one.)

Check out the M-Audio FastTrack USB.

I got it as a gift and it works quite well, even with my slow azz netbook. It has a line in, line out, and some xlr inputs for mic (barebones) and I have been impressed with how little latency it has when being used as a midi controller and also how easy it was to interface with the few recording packages I've used.

I actually bought an Boss 8-track about a year and half ago because I found the whole computer recording thing a little bit daunting when I began to investigae it- so many different ways to go (software and hardware wise) and tons of features and models to consider. But after I finally starting playing around FastTrack unit, I found the simplicity of it to be a nice transition into computer-based recording with out all the standard decisions you have to make when get into a new element, like trying to decide what you need and what you don't- when you really have no idea.

I think it retails for about $99 US, but you can find them used for half that and it sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

It was really easy to use- the only snag I experienced was not having the most recent sound drivers for the device- it was causing some delay when I used to play my keyboards. But since then it's pretty much been a breeze.