Building a home recording studio for <$1000

[nolanfan34]

I have the MBox2 for work, and use ProTools as well. I am NOT an audiophile, but it is simple enough for me to figure out and use. ProTools has an amazing range of possibilities, none of which I'll even end up using since I'm only recording basic audio for an audio program I produce and host.

It connects to my laptop via USB. Can't get much easier than that. They do recommend a dedicated hard drive for recording the tracks onto. I would also say you need a fairly powerful PC to run the software on as well.

Can't speak to the rest (I just picked up a Sennheiser e935, but it's more of a speaking/interview mic), but the MBox has been a good all-in-one solution for me.