OK, your best $1000 or less 'recording rig' for my singer to record vocal ideas

BillyZeppa

Power User
Hey y'all. So my singer has asked me what to buy for his home setup so he can record ideas between sessions.
He needs -
1) PC
2) Stereo audio Interface (with basic midi)
3) Stereo monitor speakers

The rest we can cobble together.
What do you think? What are the best quality interface and monitors that can fit the budget - best PC (desktop) for the job/budget?
(He will be getting Sonar, and will be recording up to two tracks at once, but may be playing back full band sessions.)

I have a pretty good idea what to get if the budget was a little higher - but i just priced a RME babyface and it almost uses up the entire budget...
...and haven't shopped for a setup in over two years...
Thanks guys.
 
Thanks rook. I'll take a look.
Regarding the PC choice - I confess i have never owned a laptop - can you use a mouse and a large screen monitor on a laptop these days?
 
can you record vocals in I phone like many do with guitar??? if it is for ideas only and not tracks why set up a home studio?(unless he wants to) we used to use tape recorders.(back in the day) they make many hand held recorders that are digital and have dual mics and seem to do a good job for just recording.
 
can you use a mouse and a large screen monitor on a laptop these days?

Yes you can use both. You will need an open USB port for the wireless mouse bud. There are blue-tooth mouses (mice?) but I don't find they work very well. A larger monitor should be plug and play with an HDMI cable.
 
can you record vocals in I phone like many do with guitar??? if it is for ideas only and not tracks why set up a home studio?(unless he wants to) we used to use tape recorders.(back in the day) they make many hand held recorders that are digital and have dual mics and seem to do a good job for just recording.

Yeah for just capturing ideas, use a voice memo app on an iphone or android phone. Modern equivalent to those old micro-cassette recorders.
 
Just to chime in, a laptop works great. Self-contained when you are on the go, in the studio I hook up a keyboard, mouse and large screen monitor so that I can use the laptop display for plug-ins, etc., while the DAW is on the big screen. I also use Sonar, btw, and it works fine on the laptop.

TT
 
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