Ok, so I am a simple college guy with a tight budget but a passion to begin recording. I have a PC with substantial gusto, but i need a whole recording setup... including mics, a mixer, software, and anything else im probably unaware of or forgetting. If anyone could suggest to me what i should get for a basic recording setup, probably for typical 'rock' bands. thanks.

okay, what kind of background knowledge, if any, do you have about recording?

will you be multi-tracking?

what are the specs on the computer?

firepod and some ok mics would be a good start pal.

I have only a limited background on recording, but i plan on doing multi-tracking. I have tried doing some basic recording of myself playing guitar, but cannot get any playback in the recording programs so i cannot edit the sound at all. However, I am looking to get a fairly complete set-up for recording a typical 4-piece rock band.

The specs for my computer are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 4200+
2 GB of 'performance' RAM
250 GB internal HD + 160 GB external
Soundblaster Live! sound card for my current speakers
EMU 0404 soundcard for recording, but that has not really been working for me to well.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what I am coming from and what I am looking for.