Spec me a home studio

[sist_si]

Hi guys,
Hopefully this is the right forum, if not - sorry!
I'm interested in getting into the home/mobile production lark and was wondering if you could help spec me a PC and bits n bobs to do so! If I can get to the stage where I can work on demo's for our band I'll be happy.

My friend has just spent a fortune on a top end Mac but I reckon I can get some good results for much less money.

What I need:

A fairly fast PC. I was thinking 2-3GB of RAM, a quick HDD and perhaps a dual monitor setup (I can sort out monitors myself).

Software - I'll need something to produce, arrange and mix in. I wouldn't mind keeping this all s/ware side if possible so I don't have to have a physical mixing desk.

Samples, Plugins + Midi Keyboard - I'd love a good range of samples (strings etc) and a little mini Korg or something to play them through. If software plugins aren't great I was also thinking a POD would come in handy for amp simulations?

Sound Card - My friend has one of the 'Edirol' external cards and that's pretty cool.

Mic(s) - Perhaps one or two Shure SM57's? I think guitar can be plugged directly into the soundcard (or via the pod if I get one).

So, that's it I think. Have I covered everything. I'm new to the game but have a fair amount of studio experience albeit from the playing side.

Thanks for any help/recommendations.

 

[crazyDAJT]

a good soundcard, one with balanced audio. M audio and terratec do some if my memory serves me correctly.

one of these two

http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=26

pick the big on up for about £100, good for rooting lots of different audio sources

PC, general fast PC, quite, or put it in a different room using KVM's

softwares, no idea

mic's,

Behringer B-1 sound really good (can get them for less than about £70), i know people band Behringer kit but they are relay nice mics
http://www.behringer.com/B-1/index.cfm?lang=eng

 

[fireflyfx]

Obviously depends on budget, but a big screen laptop is the way to go if you want a mobile recording setup. Any core 2 duo over 2GHz, at least 2 gigs of RAM, a 7200rpm hard drive and high rez 17inch screen. Extra performance and grahical power of a desktop not really needed for music studio.

Then attach a usb audio interface with pre amp. (not a good idea to plug guitars and mics straight into souindcard they need to go through a preamp). Again depends on budget- good cheap option is M-audio Mobile Pre Usb, but much better is the Digidesign Mbox 2. This comes with Pro Tools LE 7 software, which is excellent.