Recording sound card?

[Viking Kong]

I am inquisitive of a sound card for personal recording, if I should get one rather than using onboard. Do they make them with midi or XLR? I'd be recording electric guitar. Or maybe a decent mic that plugs into the sound card with a 3/4" jack? I'd prefer to actually mic up the amplifier than running the amp straight into my pc. I don't have a budget right now, but I want to get some ideas of what I should get in the future. Have had all this music in my head for a while and really want to get it all recorded and mixed etc. Will need better speakers as well because I don't think my cheap $30 logitech's will be adequate enough, maybe speakers that can plug into the sound card as well? I don't know.

Would like advice for recording sound cards, speakers etc.

[h264]

http://www.amazon.com/E-MU-0404-USB-Audio-Interface/dp/B000IXNE3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375157763&sr=8-1&keywords=EMU0404

[NewKID]

an audio interface would be a better option.

[bchampion96]

I am inquisitive of a sound card for personal recording, if I should get one rather than using onboard. Do they make them with midi or XLR? I'd be recording electric guitar. Or maybe a decent mic that plugs into the sound card with a 3/4" jack? I'd prefer to actually mic up the amplifier than running the amp straight into my pc. I don't have a budget right now, but I want to get some ideas of what I should get in the future. Have had all this music in my head for a while and really want to get it all recorded and mixed etc. Will need better speakers as well because I don't think my cheap $30 logitech's will be adequate enough, maybe speakers that can plug into the sound card as well? I don't know.

Would like advice for recording sound cards, speakers etc.

 

You cannot buy soundcards with integrated XLR or MIDI. The connectors are too bulky for this. I'd get an external (USB) audio interface. I use an M-Audio fast track, and I would recommend you check them out. For mic' ing an amp, a shure SM57 is a safe bet to run into your audio interface. The Fast track I have has a pair of RCA outputs on the back that I use to get sound form my computer out of my stereo. Feel free to message me for more info

[mr moose]

Believe it or not I use a soundblaster lx live external USB. They are discontinued but they have line out and line in so it essentially is 2 ch. in and stereo out. The latency is not noticeable, I use reaper to record and layer multiple tracks. I use a small two channel mixer to preamp and provide phantom power for my condenser mic and to allow the connection of keyboard, guitars etc without constantly changing the settings.