Chris,

I did precisely what you are doing now for my first four albums. I have a Zoom 1044MR 10-track digital recorder with built-in CD burner. I recorded, multitracked and mixed the albums on it, then produced a master which I gave to a manufacturing firm for CDR copying or pressing. And I like to think that I did a very decent job of it, mixing up to 6 or 7 tracks in some cases.

In fact I have just recorded and produced Les Sullivan's first album using the same kit, which (the album) is receiving such acclaim, so I am a little smug about it. However...

It has to be said that I did have recording studio and recording kit experience from the past, so my learning curve was an easy one. And I used 2-3 more experienced artists than me for their views on the mixing. It is important to get second opinions on this, even if you choose to ignore them in the end - the end product will be more "rounded".

Then, for my fifth album, I went into a studio. The engineer was Martin Atckinson, he is the sound consultant for luminaries such as the soprano Kiri Te Kanawa and in the folk world for Dave Webber/Anni Fentiman, Grant Baynham and Hilary Spencer, Mike Nicholson, Johnny Collins, Graeme Knights etc. Martin is a professional with an excellent pedigree and loads of experience, and I am sure that I could not have matched his product with my kit and knowledge. It's not only the recording kit (I think the new ones like yours and mine are brilliant), but the knowledge that you "buy" in a studio, that makes the difference.