Looking to begin recording/composing at home- advice appreciated!

Hi Folks, Over the past couple of months I have found myself doing significantly more work at home in terms of songwriting, recording and mixing projects. I study Music Technology at college and as such I have a grasp of how the recording process works, and have now been using such equipment for the past year and a half, however I've decided that I would be interested in starting to set up my desktop to be able to record and mix music more effectively. I'm still currently using a built-in soundcard and I have almost nothing else of note in terms of equipment. I'd be looking to be purchase: -A sound card (doesn't need to have too many inputs/outputs because I would only be using 1 mic, a keyboard, and running a line-in with an electric guitar. preferably USB 2.0 if this is possible to save me a PCI slot?) -A decent condenser mic- I'm not looking to spend vast quantities of money, but I'd quite like to get something which can get clear sounding vocals. I'd also be recording some demos on acoustic guitar with this. If prices are too much for condensers I suppose something like an SM58 would perhaps be sufficient for vocals and all-round use? -A basic velocity-sensitive keyboard just to have some control over software synths (into Reason/sequencers etc.). I was looking at the M-Audio Keystation 49e; it seems to be good value for money from a reputable company? Unfortunately I'm completely new to actually purchasing this equipment so I don't have the best judgement here! -Some monitoring headphones; I don't really have the room/budget for monitor speakers, so I figure if I could get a nice set this will come in handy. -A Mixer of sorts? I'm not sure how much other pieces of equipment are necessary for my needs. While I'm aware this is going to set me back a fair bit I'd be looking to not spend an absolute fortune; I don't honestly need the highest quality equpiment, especially considering a lot of my compositions are computer based anyway! In terms of my desktop setup, I'm fairly sure it is more than capable of handling the hardware: -Vista x64 (I'll need to look into driver compatability for this OS, I'm assuming) -Intel Core 2 E8600 (2 x 3.33Ghz) -ATI Radeon 4870 -4GB RAM -Approx. 720GB space overall, mostly free! In terms of software I'm currently using REAPER and Reason 4. Thank you very much for reading, your advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Heres what I have: Thats like $400, I'd try to use your existing sound card though. I' d go pci just because of lower latency and less chance of power interruptions ~Rob.

Hi, the best thing to do is keep it simple if you are limited to price. This would cover all your needs. An interface for instruments, vocals and built in keyboard etc. It also is a sound card as well. . I would have got one of these but I had already bought the toneport UX2 before this was released. I use an SM58 for vocals and have had very good results from it and you can use it live.

If you are going to use headphones for monitoring your mix, go with in-ears. Headphones create a false stereo image, as the left and right channel are not direct...they are seperated. When the sound bounces in the headphone cup...and ear canal, it gives the listener a false sound stage. In ears are direct, and requite a lower volume to monitor. It creates a more consistent listening environment. Make sure that you dont buy consumer level product as they have a tendency to color the EQ by boosting bass or highs. You want a flat response. AT LEAST a dual driver, but prefferably a three driver unit.