| the 1 gig might be your RAM; or is it really an external/removable storage device/stick? If not, if it's installed internally in your PC that's your RAM. 1's not bad, but more is always better w/ DAWs. I would think most PCs come w/ 1 gig at least, these days. 512k a few years ago...
I haven't used a USB interface yet, but from my research it appears you might only be able to send a stereo-mix/2 track signal with it.
Firewire will allow as many inputs/tracks as you have available with the interface. Can anyone else confirm this? USB only allows 2 tracks at a time?
Firewire's also faster than USB.
and as for mastering, that tends to fall outside of the realm of most of these free/cheap program suites. You'll be able to EQ and normalize, etc; but real mastering software is going to be much pricier.
I'm looking at the Presonus Firepod as a main contender, interface-wise.
It's in the $400 range, and allows 8 simultaneous inputs. |