Hey all, eventually I would like to set up a studio in my bedroom, I already have an Apple iBook, Roland TD-6 electronic kit and a couple of guitars to hand. I have been looking to purchase a sound card, which i think my final choice, which is an M-Audio Firewire 410. I am also wishing to purchase a sampler, and I have been looking at the Roland 303 Dr Sample or 505. Will I be able to use the sampler in a software version for example importing sounds in Cubase or GarageBand or will the hardware sampler be much better. I will not be using anything for live work, just laying tracks down using the equipment above?

I am quite new to the whole technology side of things, and just need some advice on the setup above, I would want to make songs such as electronic/dance/acoustic. For example Lemon Jelly or Mr Scruff. Cheers!

yo bro.. if you are using cubase sx i strongggggly suggest you use the software sampler..called halion. I know these big multi million dollar studios and most of them get rid of there hardware samplers because software can do all that plus much more. with hardware your limited to the memory of the sampler.. as opposed to using a software sampler you can have 200 gigs of samples if you want. software is the best way to go period if you ask me.. the only catch is that your computer has to be strong enough to power it.. depending on your needs.. now if you have a new ibook i don't think you'll have a problem.. but if you have a old school computer then you might face problems like latency and other performance issues. go software.. i heard halion is good. but i would recommend logic pro which comes bundled with exs24 sampler. you can convert on the fly.. akai convert. giga convert , sf2 convert. ect.. plus there are sample cd's that offer exs formats on there cd's which load up there samples automatically. so to answer your question go software it's all you possibly could need and want.