Tascam Us 122, recording my band Options

[jebbels]

I just bought a g4 powerbook. I want to record my band, mostly as a demo, but possably to distribute at shows, if it turns out good enough. I saw that the Tascam us 122 comes with a paired down version of Cubase. I need a recording program . When I've tried recording through the mic input of my comupter the sound comes out crackling and week.Will the tascam improve the quality of the sound I'm recording? Is the version of cubase good enough(non of the adds are very specific about about the paired down programs features)? Our funds are very limited which is why I thought this could cure both my sound quality issue and program needs at the same time.

[rickenbacker]

Although note that the Pro Tools route is something of a closed path - most plug-ins, soft synths etc are primarily available as VST or Audio Units which don't work with Pro Tools. If they are available for Pro Tools, they're always more expensive.

The Mbox is a nice bit of kit, but you can't even buy one, fool about with Pro Tools for a bit and then switch to using your Mbox with Logic or whatever - at least not officially. Some people have managed to get their Mbox working with another sequencer, but it's not as application-neutral as any other interface and it's a process fraught with headaches, from what I read.

There's always Cubase SL or Logic Silver (or the Gold package) for very good prices - buy one of these and a separate audio interface (say, a US-122 or one of the Emagic USB devices) and you can upgrade both elements as your needs develop.

As you have a G4 PowerBook, it's worth considering that Logic is becoming the de facto sequencer for Mac users. Owned by your computer's OS developers and fully optimised for the G4 chip, Logic has a lot going for it.