Any audio recorders in this forum? Thought I'd ask....

[Vigilante]

want to get into recording on my PC. My initial needs are pretty simple I think. I've got a laptop, and the onboard audio-in sucks as expected. So I'm looking for a way to record from a mic to PC with best quality sound.
What product or setup might you recommend?

And if I may go a step farther. What if I wanted to have 4-channel recording and MIDI I/O as well? So if I had some friends over we could all play and record and not have it sound like we were all cramming up against one mic through an adapter to my stereo-in in the laptop? Any product recommendations? And naturally, I'm on a budget, I don't need the highest quality stuff for chart-topping sounds, but something starter that I'm not embarrassed to own. That creates sound worth listening to.

Any ideas?
Well actually, any product links?

thx

 

[LNCPapa]

Can you give me an estimate on budget?

 

[Vigilante]

Hopefuly spend less then $200us. Hopeing under $150. Cause I just need something real simple for a mic input that is decent.

I was looking around for hours last night and it seems M-Audio has decent stuff for around my price range. I was comparing these:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/search/detail/base_pid/701386/src=01340

and

http://www.averyelectronics.com/Electronics/Avery/shop.php?mode=Electronics&item=B0001AVUXA

Not necessarily from those stores. But those are the products. I like the 2nd one better, and it has about a $350msrp while the 1st one is more like $250.

Would either of these work for my needs? Would I need to buy other equipment? Cause my laptop doesn't have Firewire, just USB1.0. So the 2nd would require me to use my PC somehow, or get a PC-Card firewire for the laptop.

Any thoughts?