[Hellbound]

Okay I want to build a mini recording studio for myself but I know nothing about good computer software for recording or what else I should be using along with the software. The only laptop I have is a Dell inspiron 600m is this computer good enough? I would assume so. I was thinking of purchasing a boss br-1600cd for now seeing that it looks like it has everything that I need. I'll start reading up on this forum to get some ideas but I'm really liking how the br-1600 looks would it be a good investment? Thanks alot.

[jacksonplayer]

I'm a big believer in desktop recorders, rather than using a PC. I hate having to deal with driver conflicts, glitches, and all the other crap that seems to go along with PC recording, even though you can ultimately do a lot more with PC recording. I have a Korg D3200 that I am very happy with, but the BR-1600 seems like a pretty good value, also.

I doubt your laptop is going to have enough processor power to work well as a recorder, but you might be able to do mixdowns on it.

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I've had a BR1180CD for about 3.5 years & I'm very pleased with it. I use it for about everything, although I still assemble drum tracks in ACID then burn a stereo mixdown of them to a CD & import them to the BR.

I also take it on nearly every vacation & use the onboard amp-sims to record quick ideas as a scratch pad, then bring it home & re-record the tracks with the POD XTL.

You can also just use it as a master recorder, burn your tracks to CD, then import them into your own software recording if you like. It really depends on how many tracks your song needs. I have mine midi'd up in sync with the computer all the time with either ACID for when I'm assembling drum tracks, or with Cubase when I'm sequencing my Alesis QS7.