The full retail version of Creative Labs Soundblaster LIVE card comes with a version of Cakewalk Gold Express. It's basically a limited version of Cakewalk Pro. It also comes with limited versions of a few other programs that capture to .WAV and process/edit, maybe Soundforge? Anyway, with Cakewalk you get 8 tracks of 44khz digital audio, either 256 or 512 (I forget) tracks of digital midi, full sheet score printing with chords and lyrics, and I forget what all else since those are the features I mostly use. The bi/directional midi controls my Yamaha keyboard or works quite well all by itself. The SPDIF input could plug direct to my Lexicon MPX 100 if I wanted effects to run that way, but in fact I am not concerned with or capable of providing a full digital path so I usually plug mikes, instruments, etc direct to a Mackie mixer and run the bus outputs to the analog inputs on the SBLive. I suppose you could lay down two tracks at a time by panning full left and right but I haven't tried it, preferring to lay down a track at a time and mix down. I use a Tyan Turbo Titan MB with K6-200, 64 megs RAM and a 5400 RPM Maxtor IDE Ultra33 drive. This equipment should be considered the absolute bare minimum for this sort of application, in fact more than a few will tell you it can't be done at 44khz CD quality at that level of equipment. It works here but I'd rather run at 400 Mhz with a 7k RPM drive. And SCSI would be nice. And how about $299 for the Cakewalk Pro full release with 64 tracks of audio, or the deluxe version with unlimited tracks... got a few grand I can borrow?

You can spend a LOT of money for multiple A/D conversion channels going into a PC. The SB Live gives you just a couple but they work and are inexpensive. If you decide to try this be sure to get the full retail version as the "value" version won't contain the software or daughtercard.

My website: www.mv.com/ipusers/echobeach

Feel free to email questions, and when you burn your dreamed-of folkie CD send me a copy, eh?