You want to record those great tunes you've written right? You have a band project going and you need a place to record your work? You got the material, but you need to record that demo for the record companies?
Well, building your own recording studio is a great place to start.
When you're based on computer recording, good audio recording software is essential. You need software that doesn't use up all the resources in your computer, but still has the power to get the job done.
You should look for audio recording software featuring:
Great quality, low latency, audio recording (16 bit, 24 bit or 32-bit-float at frequency 41000 Hz or higher)
Low latency midi recording (support for ASIO drivers)
Good mixing capabilities (i.e. multi tracking)
Good plugin support (VST/DX software synths and samplers, effects plugins)
Good Mixdown/Export capabilities (you should be able to export your final mix/recording to a high quality audio file which you can burn onto a CD, ship to a record company and get the deal of your dreams!)
Now onto the audio recording software:
In my opinion these are the most important things to look for in audio recording software.
The sound card (a.k.a. audio interface, sound interface) is one of the most important parts in your recording studio computer.
Audio interfaces handle the input and output of audio (and midi) to and from your computer. A few pieces of advice here on what to look for in a good audio interface for recording purposes.
The following benefits are what you should get out of great audio cards:
Support of great audio quality, both input and output.(24 bit, 96000 Hz, high quality audio)
Capability of low latency sustained recording of both audio and midi.
If you intend to use recording software like Cubase SX, the sound interface has to support ASIO drivers.
Among the variety of audio interfaces I can recommend the M-AUDIO Audiophile 24/96 for any home recording environment.
In recent years the USB and Firewire external audio interfaces have grown to be of good quality as well. So if you plan on using your laptop as a studio computer, or you simply don't have any PCI slots to spare in your computer, this would be the way to go.