Hey Bee, I keep it pretty bare bones, I have a Samson C01U USB large diaphragm condenser mic (about $90 from Amazon) that plugs directly into a USB port. I use it with free Audacity software to record tunes by friends that I want to learn and occasionally make pretty decent multi-track recordings with it as well. I'm looking into getting a Rolls GCI 404 audio interface ($100 from Zsounds) so I can use my analog mics and go in direct with amps as well and put vinyl to CD.Good luck.