[wackocrash5150]

I also work in the computer industry and have a bit of a home recording setup. Here's what I have and feel free to ask me any questions.

Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
MSI P35 Platinum Motherboard
8 Gigs of PC2 6400 RAM (I know XP 32-Bit only sees 4 gigs)
3 x 500 Gig SATA II Hard Drives in RAID 5 configuration
2 x nVidia 7600GT 256 MB PCI-E Video cards (for multimonitor support)
3 Acer 19" Wide LCD Monitors
Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio (just for normal sound and music playback)
Windows XP Professional (I've tried Vista-64 Bit and it was a nightmare!!!)

Presonus FirePod (Now known as the FP10)
Presonus FaderPort
Pair of Fostex PM-04 Monitors
Line6 POD XT Live

OK .... now that I'm done bragging (hey, it's a nice system that i've worked at for a while .... lol) this setup gets some pretty darn good results using Cakewalk Sonar 6.21 and a few VST Plug-Ins. I use AmpegSVT for my Bass guitar. I've tried Amplitube2 before but didn't really like it. It had some very good presets and a plethora of authentic options but just didn't have the feel and response for me. I currently record at 96 KHz just because it gives me the option to. I've recorded at 48 KHz in the past on my old Edirol UA-25 and it turned out just fine. USB vs Firewire? Anything more that 2 tracks at a time and I suggest firewire. Sure, theoretically USB 2.0 has higher data throughput but firewire has better sustainable rates rather than burst rates. Firewire cards with an NEC, Texas Instruments or VIA chip/controller seem to work well, VIA being the most preferred. Digital recording can be overwhelming in the beginning, partly due to having so many options. I would say that my 2 best investments in my setup have been the Presonus FirePod & Faderport. Decent mic preamps in the FirePod and the FaderPort makes it feel like a mixer without all the desk space.